Undocumented Parents Cannot Get Birth Certificates For US Citizen Children
Dallas County Drawn Into Birth Certificate Debate
by Julián Aguilar, The Texas Tribune
August 5, 2015
Texas’ second-largest county has adopted a controversial policy that advocacy groups say could infringe on the civil rights of U.S. citizens born to undocumented parents.
The Dallas County clerk’s office announced on its website that as of June 1 it no longer accepts a foreign ID known as the matrícula consular as proof of identity for non-citizens seeking to obtain birth certificates for their U.S.-born children.
The move comes after attorneys with the Texas Civil Rights Project and Texas RioGrande Legal Aid sued the Department of State Health Services in May on behalf of U.S. citizen children and their undocumented immigrant parents, who allege the agency is violating the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause by denying birth certificates.
The Texas attorney general’s office has asked a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit. The plaintiffs’ response to that claim is due later this week.
This story has been edited for length. You may read the article as it originally appeared in The Texas Tribune. The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them – about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
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