by Jake Rollow
EL PASO, Texas—A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives this month would make it easier for persons born outside of hospitals but within the United States to gain U.S. passports. It would especially benefit Mexican Americans who live along the U.S.-Mexico border, whose complaints of prejudice and harassment by the U.S. State Department are mostly unresolved. H.R. 2812, introduced June 10 is sponsored by Rep. Solomon Ortiz (D-Texas), and cosponsored by four Hispanic House colleagues. All are Democrats representing jurisdictions in the border states of Texas and Arizona.
If successful, the bill would require that a U.S. birth certificate signed by a midwife be considered sufficient evidence of U.5. citizenship. It would also prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity or ancestry of applicants for U.S. passports. By tradition and be cause of access and expense, many Mexican families engage midwives. The practice is common along the U.S. border.
Linda Arnold, founder and director of Casa de Nacimiento, a state-licensed birth center in the border town of El Paso, explained the issue’s increasing significance.
Since June 1, when the State Department put into effect the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative~ U.S. citizens have been required to show passports to re-enter the United States at land crossings. Because many residents cross the border frequently, this makes possession of a passport a necessity in day-to-day border life.
A practicing midwife herself, Arnold told Weekly Report that along the border, some Mexican nationals have been reported to offer midwives up to $10,000 to sign fraudulent U.S. birth certificates for children not born in the United States. Doing so made it easy for the children to claim U S. citizenship, and created a way to make a good amount of money in the practice of midwifery, which wasn’t strictly regulated.
Now the State Department requires parents of children delivered by midwives to show proof in addition to U.S. birth certificates to obtain a passport. Arnold said she Understands the State Department’s dilemma, but does not believe the process should be as demanding as it has been. In 1987 the state of Texas started licensing birth centers.
Arnold said she believes children with certificates establishing their birth at such centers should be eligible for passports without having to obtain additional documentation.
That is not always the case, she said. Arnold said Mexican mothers who give birth at simultane Casa de Nacirniento, even after producing notarized letters from the center stating their children were born in the United States, are still having trouble gaining passports for their children from the U.S. State Department.
“That, in my opinion, is prejudice against this particular demographic,” Arnold said.
The American Civil Liberties Union agrees. Last September the ACLU filed a classaction lawsuit on behalf of nine plaintiffs alleging that the State Department unfairly challenged the citizenship of Mexican Americans delivered by midwives in the Southwest, requiring excessive documentation to prove their entitlement to citizenship. The suit is still pending.
Mary Darling, a midwife and the director of another licensed birth center in El Paso, Maternidad La Luz, said she also believes Mexican parents and their Mexican American children are being harassed.
Maternidad La Luz provides all mothers a letter they can use when applying for the child’s passport. It includes the dates of all visits to the center for prenatal and postpantum care as well as the date of birth at the center. ~That seems to be working for our clients,” Darling said.
Darling said the majority of women who give birth at Maternidad La Luz live outside the United States. About 18,000 babies have been delivered there since the center opened 23yearsago, she stated. Arnold said 14,000 babies have been born at Casa de Nacimiento since she founded it in 1985.
According to the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, in 2008 there were 4,285,555 children born in the United States. Of those, 38,390, or nearly 1 percent, were born outside of hospitals. Hispanic Link.
