Texas Lawsuit over Birth Certificates Refusal of Illegal Parents

Children born in the United States are entitled, by law, to U.S. citizenship, regardless of the immigration status of their parents. Since 2013, Texas authorities have been placing barriers to undocumented immigrants trying to obtain birth certificates for their U.S.-born children.

Immigration advocates say that Texas has changed its rules to enforce difficult standards; such as: having a U.S. driver’s license, visa, Mexican electoral card or other alternative identification from parents who have no access to U.S. issued papers. Since the enforcement of these new standards, hundreds of immigrant parents along the southern Texas border have been denied birth certificates for their natural born children. Texas state officials say they have always been reluctant to use identity documents that are not backed by reliable forms of identification. 

Chris Van Deusen, a supervisor for over 400 local registrars for the Department of Health Services, commented, “We monitor local registrars for compliance. If we encounter a local registrar that is accepting identification that doesn’t quality, we’ll let them know.”

Denials of birth certificates have increased substantially since the Obama administration announced its efforts to protect millions of immigrants from deportation. Immigration lawyers have filed a lawsuit arguing that Texas’ policies are an ‘unconstitutional, discriminatory political tactic’ since the state registrars now refuse to accept identification cards issued by foreign countries. If your loved one has been detained by the ICE, you may be in need of a bail bond. If you are looking for a bail bond in Dallas, Houston, Austin or elsewhere in Texas, reach out to us immediately.