Lawyers are asking a federal judge to intervene on the behalf of immigrant families who were denied birth certificates for their U.S.-born children because Texas health officials refused to recognize as valid certain forms of identification.
The lawyers asked a federal judge in Austin on Friday for an emergency injunction. The say harm is being done to children and their families who need birth certificates to enroll in school and ensure parental rights.
Dozens of families and children filed suit against the Texas Department of State Health Services after local authorities refused various foreign identifications. The state agency wants the suit dismissed.
The parents, from Mexico and Central America, are not U.S. citizens. The Constitution guarantees the right of citizenship to their children because they were born in the U.S
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