By now, I expect most folks who care have run across the current dispute in Texas concerning Birth Certificates for US born children of illegal alien parents:
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/texas/article/Immigrants-sue-Texas-over-denial-of-birth-6397723.php
I don’t post political stuff, but this time I’m going to do it. So pull up your “angry response pad” or scroll on down –at least you know what this is going to be about.
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First, I am really irritated that the media keeps reporting this as
“Texas denies birth certificates to children born in the US.”
This is totally untrue, and expresses either ignorance enough to disqualify the news source as a reliable reporter, or a willingness to intentionally bend the facts to make a better headline, or to make a story that fits their own agenda “don’t bother me with the facts, this is the point I want to make.” I don’t know which is which: but no child is denied a birth certificate.
What IS being denied is access to a copy of that certificate (the original is filed with –and remains with –the registrar). For many years, access to birth and death certificates are restricted for many years in order to help control identity theft. In order to get a copy of a certificate, one must prove that they are legally entitled to that copy.
That is a good thing.
But it is the point of contention:
The parents of these children are illegal, and therefore undocumented. And yes, by my use of “illegal” as a description, you may perceive that I have a bias against unregulated immigration. You would be right. I do.
In the past, there was a particular document, issued in Mexico, which was acceptable to establish the identity of this person for the purpose of obtaining a copy of their child’s birth certificate. Texas is now deciding to not honor that document, unless it has a current VISA authorizing the holder to be in the US. In other words, illegal immigrants need not apply.
Note that this is NOT a decision to not issue a certificate for that child, or to refuse to honor a “strict constructionist” view, or any other view, of the 14th amendment to the US constitution. Good GOD we would NEVER advocate going against the Constitution! That is something for the *liberals* to try!
Texas is not doing that.
But what we are doing, what is being done in my name, is an attempt at a defacto end run around the US Constitution. We are changing our procedures so that they have the *effect* of denying, not citizenship, but the ability to PROOVE US citizenship to a child who is guaranteed such citizenship by the US constitution. Those in power in Texas who dislike that guarantee have decided to take it upon themselves to negate it. For any practical purpose, the inability to prove citizenship is the same as to deny it.
One may dislike the problem of illegal immigrants having children in this country as “anchor babies” so that the child at least will be legal here. I am troubled by it myself.
But that is not the point under contention.
The Texas Government has decided to take actions by which children are effectively denied the citizenship of this country, to which they are entitled by the 14th amendment.
That is wrong.
It is past wrong, it is embarrassingly wrong and immoral – particularly for those who say that their only problem with undocumented workers is that they have not gone through the proper process, that they have disrespected the rule of law in this country by going around it.
That argument is now shot to hell.
I, as a Texan, am embarrassed.
I have long supported conservative leaders in local, state and national politics. The last Democrat I supported for office was probably Phil Gramm, back when the only Dems in Texas were Conservative Democrats and REALLY Conservative Democrats. I voted for every one of the Republicans now in State-wide office. Some of them, I have voted for in every election where their name has been set before me.
So that makes this at least somewhat my fault.
I am embarrassed. I did ask them to help “control the border” but I did not ask them to “subvert the US Constitution”
I will have to look more clearly at the ethics of the candidates in the future.
You have broken trust with me.
Random Musings 