Federal Judge Makes MAJOR Ruling In Anchor Baby Case, 10/17/15, breitbart.com
(Breitbart) – A
federal judge signed an order on Friday that denied a preliminary injunction in
a lawsuit filed by citizens of Mexico and several Central American nations
claiming entitlement to birth certificates for their children born in the
United States. They sued the Vital Statistics Unit of the Texas Department of
State Health Services saying the agency denied them the certificates because
they did not possess the required identification.
As reported by
Breitbart Texas in July, the parent plaintiffs of the 23 children claimed that
the state of Texas violated their children’s rights because the Fourteenth
Amendment provides that any child born on U.S. soil is an American citizen as
well as a citizen of the state where they reside. The plaintiffs and their
children reside in Texas. La Union del Pueblo Entero, Inc. (“LUPE”) is
also a plaintiff in the case. LUPE describes itself as a non-profit organization
dedicated to promoting the health, education, labor, and civil rights of
indigent farm workers and other low-wage workers in the Rio Grande Valley.
The illegal immigrants
filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Austin in June stating that the birth
certificates were being denied because of their immigration status. The
plaintiff illegal immigrants argued that, “Such refusal is de facto based upon
the immigrant status of the Plaintiff parents.”
In the lawsuit, the
parents did not refer to themselves as “immigrants,” or “illegal immigrants.”
They referred to themselves in their legal capacity “as next friend.”
In the petition filed
in federal court in the Western District, the parents cited the Equal
Protection Clause and the Supremacy Clause, and alleged that their rights were
being violated under these sections.
At issue was the form
of identification that was being required of parents by the Bureau of Vital
Statistics in border communities. They claim that officials in Hidalgo,
Cameron, and Starr counties denied them birth certificates that were lawfully
theirs and their children’s.
In the past, a form of
identification called “matriculas” or “matricula consular” was accepted for
issuance of the birth certificates. As the name suggests, this form of identification
is procured from the consulate. The plaintiffs complained that they are now
only allowed to show their drivers licenses, or a border identification card,
and that visas are required with passports.
As noted in the
Court’s October 16th order, Texas law provides an extensive list of
acceptable forms of identification, including a passport, Form I-94 accompanied
by the applicant’s Visa or Passport, a Mexican voter registration card, or
foreign identification with identifiable photo of applicant. A single primary
identification document is sufficient to establish identity. Absent these
primary forms of identification, an applicant may submit two forms of secondary
identification, or one form of secondary identification and two forms of
acceptable supporting identification of different types.
As reported by
Breitbart Texas, the communications spokesman for the Texas Department of State
Health Services, Chris Van Deussen, said the state of Texas has never accepted
the consulate form of identification. He said matriculas are not reliable
because the issuer of the ID does not verify the data or documents that are
shown when procuring the identification. The state spokesman said the
department must verify that parents are who they claim to be. He said the agency
must not only issue birth certificates, but make sure that valid information is
provided. The intent is to not facilitate identification theft or other fraud.
Van Deussen denied that the ID requirements had anything to do with immigrant
status.
The parents complain
that their children are not able to obtain government benefits, including
health insurance and social welfare programs, and that they cannot enroll their
children into school or get day care services.
The federal court
judge concluded in the order on Friday that the plaintiffs have established, at
a minimum, that deprivation of a birth certificate results in deprivations of
the rights and benefits which inure to them as citizens, as well as
deprivations of their right to free exercise of religion by way of baptism, and
their right to travel; however, the Court declined to issue a preliminary
injunction.
The judge found that
the illegal immigrant “Plaintiffs have presented evidence that the lack of a
birth certificate for a Texas-born child presents grave difficulties to a
parent seeking to obtain public assistance in providing that child food,
shelter and medical care. In addition, Plaintiffs have presented evidence that
the lack of a birth certificate makes it impossible for at least some parents
to have a child baptized.” The Court opined, “The Court thus finds Plaintiffs
have sufficiently shown a substantial threat of irreparable injury to the
Plaintiff children and parents to meet the first element necessary to obtain a
preliminary injunction.”
A preliminary
injunction is an extraordinary remedy and the Court noted that to grant a
preliminary injunction is the exception, rather than the rule. A party may be
granted relief only if they show that they have a substantial likelihood of
success on the merits, a substantial threat that failure to grant the
injunction will result in irreparable injury, and that the threatened injury
out-weighs any damage that the injunction may cause the opposing injury. They
must also show that the injunction will not disserve the public interest. Under
this standard, the Court declined to give relief to the Plaintiffs at this
stage of the legal proceedings.
The 27 page federal
order stated that Texas had both a “clear interest in protecting assess to
[birth certificates],”and that there are valid concerns about the reliability
of the matricula. The Court wrote that the State had “provided evidence which
substantiates other governmental agencies, including the FBI, the Department of
Justice and United States Immigration and Custom Enforcement, [which] have
expressed concerns regarding the reliability of the matricula.”
The Court continued,
“Plaintiffs have not presented any evidence which suggests Defendants have
improperly focused on and excluded the matricula and foreign passport without
visa as forms of secondary identification.”
The Court also
concluded that Plaintiffs have failed, at this preliminary stage, to meet their
burden of showing a substantial likelihood of success on the merits.
In denying relief at
this juncture, the Court concluded in its summary that “although the Plaintiffs
have provided evidence which raises grave concerns regarding the treatment of
citizen children born to immigrant parents, this case requires additional
determinations which can be made only upon development and presentation of an
evidentiary record which thoroughly explores the facts and circumstances of the
issues raised in this case.”
The Office of the
Texas Attorney General represented the state in the lawsuit. In a statement obtained
by Breitbart Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton said, “Today’s ruling is an
important first step in insuring the integrity of birth certificates and
personal identity information. Before issuing any official documents, it’s
important for the state to have a way to accurately verify people are who they
say they are through reliable identification mechanisms. We will continue
defending DSHS’s policy on safeguarding Texans’ most sensitive information and
vital documents.”
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/10/17/illegal-aliens-lose-battle-birth-certificate-lawsuit-texas/
http://www.teaparty.org/illegal-aliens-lost-battle-birth-certificate-lawsuit-texas-125249/
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