Mexican government files amicus curiae in suit against Texas agency
In a rare move, the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs filed an amicus curiae brief late Monday in a lawsuit filed by four women whose children have been denied birth certificates by the Texas Department of State Health Services because of the mothers’ legal status in the country.
In the last year, officials in the Vital Statistics Unit of the department have denied parents who are in the country without authorization birth certificates for their children and have told these parents that they will not accept their “matriculas consulares” — photo identification cards issued by Mexican Consulates in the United States to Mexicans living in the country — or foreign passports without a current visa.
The lawsuit, filed in May, includes Mexican, Honduran and Guatemalan plaintiffs suing the department for what they allege is constitutional discrimination and interference in the federal government’s authority over immigration.
“This policy puts the newly born children of undocumented people in a state of drastic vulnerability,” the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a news release issued Monday. “It violates the right to an identity guaranteed by international human rights protocols and blocks their access to basic services like health and education.”
Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/news/mexican-government-files-amicus-curiae-in-suit-aga/nnQY8/
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