Judge Upholds TX Birth Certificate Rules

A federal judge has ruled that immigrant mothers in Texas cannot substitute forms of identification when seeking birth certificates for their U.S.-born children. U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman declined Friday to give a preliminary injunction to a civil rights lawsuit on behalf of six children and their immigrant parents, alleging the children were denied birth certificates because their parents could not provide proof of citizenship. The non-profit groups representing the children, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid and the Texas Civil Rights Project, asked the judge to issue an injunction to force the state to accept two forms of identification that mothers could easily provide to obtain birth certificates for their children in the meantime that the lawsuit is decided.