Passports Denied: Mexican Americans Can't Travel
New America Media, News feature, Roberto Lovato, Posted: Sep 22, 2008
Editor’s note: Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people of Mexican descent were subjected to unreasonable and arbitrary demands to prove that they are citizens of the United States before getting a passport. This includes Texas native, David Hernandez, a decorated Army veteran, reports NAM writer Roberto Lovato.
Texas native David Hernandez, a decorated Army veteran who served his country in different parts of the world, can no longer see the world after his country denied him a passport.
Hernandez and other residents living in and around the U.S.-Mexico border are plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit alleging that, in denying them passports, the U.S. State Department is engaging in a new kind of racial discrimination: non-citizen profiling.
"This all started when I sent them (the U.S. State Department) my passport and they sent me a letter saying that it wasn't sufficient. So, I sent them all kinds of documents -a baptismal certificate, military records, pictures of me in the pre-kindergarten, a copy of my grandmother's birth certificate that showed that she was an American citizen," he said, adding, "and that still wasn't enough. I knew something was wrong when they even started asking me for things like Census documents from the 1930's that don't even exist."
Hernandez and the other plaintiffs say that the U.S. government is denying them passports because they are persons of Mexican and Latino descent whose births were assisted by parteras, or midwives. "The law says that if you're born in this country, have parents who are or who get naturalized, you are a citizen," said Hernandez his voice cracking with anger and frustration. "We were all born here. We're all citizens. The only difference is that we're Hispanic, we grew up poor and we happened not to be born in a hospital. My mother had to pay a partera $40 instead."
Lawyers for Hernandez and the other plaintiffs say they have documented a systematic pattern of racial discrimination among hundreds, perhaps thousands of people of Mexican descent who, like him, applied for passports and were subjected to unreasonable and arbitrary demands for an inordinate and often impossible-to-find documents proving they are citizens of the United States.
For Robin Goldfaden, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which is co-counsel in the case along with other law firms, the passport suit "shows a spirit of disregard for birthright citizenship and a reckless disregard for the actual citizenship of an entire class of people."
Goldfaden pointed out that although midwifery is a long-held tradition among whites, blacks and others living in Appalachia, Texas and other parts of the United States where hospital-assisted birth is unaffordable or unavailable, the denial of passports is only taking place among people of Mexican descent living along the southern border.
"Some of the plaintiffs in this case were born in the 1930s and earlier, when, for example, half of all babies in Texas were delivered by midwives," said Goldfaden, who believes that the case raises concerns beyond those raised by Hernandez and other plaintiffs. "Anytime the government violates due process and the constitutional promise of equal protection as they did in this case, we should all be concerned."
The passport case comes on the heels of intensified efforts to fundamentally alter the definition of who is and isn't a citizen. For several years, members of Congress and anti-immigrant groups in Texas and several other states have proposed state and federal laws denying birthright citizenship to the U.S. born children of undocumented immigrants. Some Texas residents like Father Mike Seiffert also trace such practices to the long history of denying citizenship to different categories of people in the United States.
"I was born in Alabama" said Seiffert, who is pastor of the San Felipe de Jesus Catholic church in Brownsville, "and I've seen this kind of discrimination before; I've seen government officials trying to deny rights to people by not recognizing them as citizens, only here in Texas it's not African Americans, but Latinos."
Seiffert became aware of the passport denial issue in his church. "After a couple of the members of my congregation came to me concerned and even crying because they were denied passports and would no longer be able to see their families in Mexico, I decided to ask the congregation if there were others facing similar situations," Seiffert said. "And 60 people came up and said they had the same passport problem."
He called what happened to members of his congregation affected by the passports situation “disgraceful.” Behind the tears, he said are, "Many members of our congregation (who) won't be able to do what they've done for decades: cross the border to see their families; many won't be able to sustain themselves by doing business as they've always done in Mexico," he said. "There's no hospital around here and when you drive many miles to get healthcare, it's very expensive. So people will also be denied basic healthcare because they will no longer be able to go just across the border to get cheap medicine or see a doctor in Matamorros for $15. This is deeply disturbing and it reminds me of Alabama."
And like in the deep South, the non-citizen profiling in Texas is also inspiring activism among many. "I grew up studying the history of civil rights, Martin Luther King and how he had to fight his own government," said Hernandez, " But I never thought I'd be fighting for my civil rights. Now I understand history in a different way."
Articles by Roberto Lovato
Immigration matters
It's Immigration, Stupid!
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User Comments
John M. Alvarado on Oct 06, 2008 at 17:22:50 said:
The Law must be upheld and enforced. There is no beating around the Bush and nobody should be given the run around when it comes to their rights. The State Dept. is abusing and discriminating American Citizens based solely on their race and that is pitiful. If the State Dept. wants to challenge a persons US citizenship then they better do it on solid ground and abide the LAW, not on plain ridiculous excuses. Miss Rice is responsible for that Dept. and well anybody can see that there's something fishy going on against Mexican Americans. Either she or some big honcho in the State Dept. has got something against Mexican Americans. Looks like the plan is to turn us legal US Mexican Americans into 2nd class citizens and by golly that's not right because there ain't no such thing as that. We are all US Citizen, don't matter if we're of Oriental, African, European, Latin American or of any other descent. So either the people in the State Dept. respect the LAW, in other words or they SHAPE UP OR THEY SHIP OUT! Enough is enough, down with discrimination on anybody. The State Dept. better cut that out!
nativessayno on Sep 26, 2008 at 16:43:19 said:
I can post as much and as ofetn as I please- ty very much. What are you stalking my posts? I write measured, strong opinions based on my subjective experience re: the illegal immigration debacle. if you don't like it; tough.
Rampant fraud people......
dave on Sep 25, 2008 at 22:10:14 said:
nativessayno, you commented on another story just a few weeks ago, not eight weeks ago, but hey I'm not really counting. Anyway, the constancy in your comments has more to do with the sameness in your thoughts and ideas, your broken recordness on this issue. You can take a break from here for a year, and you'll come back saying the same tired old crap about illegals, anchors, healthcare, benefits, stealing jobs, crime rate, Los Angeles service jobs, blah, blah, blah. Give it a rest already! It is obvious how easy it is for you, and how enjoyable it is for you, to blame undocumented immigrants for EVERYTHING! Boo-hoo.
Nezzie, fat chance about me fighting for the same thing you fight for. Fortunately, you are not in the majority. Most Americans see through the bullcrap that you've eagerly bought and lapped up as the truth.
Concerned on Sep 25, 2008 at 13:29:23 said:
I agree with Michael Yun, what is wrong with you people (Nezzie and NativeSayNo specifically)? I would much rather have 50 humble illegal immigrants working in the United States than you two hatemongers. Go back to Nazi Germany. And don't try to say you'd defend the blacks during the Civil Rights movement while you blame all America's problems on illegal immigrants. You two would be first in line to join Alabama police in beating peaceful demonstrators with night sticks and hosing them down with fire hoses.
Donny Cho on Sep 24, 2008 at 13:37:26 said:
David Hernandez,
So, you'd like the DofS to take your word for it that you were born in America so you can get a passport even though you can't document your claim to birthright citizrnship. It's really amusing(amazing?) that you would feel a baptismal record or your grandma's citizenship papers would prove your claim to citizenship. Why didn't you get a driver's license and become naturilzed at some point during your life. Many illegal immigrants have falsified their personal info to get in the US military so that is irrelevant. Can you understand that if the DofS gives you a passport they will have to give 10 million illegal aliens from Mexico the same "honor system" considerations if they claim the same midwifery origins you claim. No documentation, no nothing, just take my word for it, that's what you want. This isn't racial profiling involving Mexicans or Latinos its simply adhering to the law, something all countries do to maintain their sovereignty.
Nezzie on Sep 24, 2008 at 08:32:57 said:
Dave, if you are an American citizen then you should be fighting for the same thing I am. You see, in a free society such as America there are two sides to every story. I am fighting for my side and I am doing everything I can do to fight for my country. Every man and 2 of the women in my history have fought for this country, so I have that right. I can also comment anywhere I want as often as I want, as I am an American citizen, and we have what is called freedom of speech. I don't care who agrees with me or not I am excerising my right to free speech. Yes, I do want birthright citizenship repealed, (14th amendment). I want it repealed all the way back to 1986 when we gave so generously AMNESTY along with chain migration. We do not want our country turned into Mexico, China, India or any thing else, we speak english and we take care of the world! Now we are bailing out the world while continuing to care for illegal immigrants. Who by the way sure got a lot of no doc loans with stolen ss numbers. We are not the world's bank account! My side, I will fight to the death for my country, what country will you fight for?
John Ayala on Sep 23, 2008 at 22:33:21 said:
Institutional discrimination is not new to this nation. The State Dept. I noticed historically did not hire people of color until the late 20th century. So discriminating against native born citizens is nothing new in the 21st century. It's disgraceful!
michael jun on Sep 23, 2008 at 20:33:43 said:
what kind of ignorant fools are you people
nativessayno on Sep 23, 2008 at 09:05:09 said:
2 words, Dave..."rampant fraud". Can not slice or parse those facts. (I have not posted ANY comments here for at least eight weeks so how can I constantly be posting)? I think you are a "plant" poster.
There is a blame game, but one that is not fun. TWENTY OR MORE MILLION in our fragile economy. No more freebies left to be paid on the US taxpayers backs, amigos.
I am blameless...the ramped-up invasion of LA in three years is certainly NOT my fault, Dave. I heartily object to the takeover of my city's service sector job market by foreign nationals! Again, rampant fraud!
I don't agree with Nezzie about the status of a legal citizen's status being reinterpreted. But I do sincerely believe the 14th Amendment is being wrongly exploited and need to be amended to stop abuses. And, btw, I DO blame "migrant workers"for many societal, economic and legal ills!
Again, any actual citizens that are scrutinized and put through red tape unnecessarily, my sympathy for your plight.
dave on Sep 23, 2008 at 07:57:38 said:
I am a US citizen with a spanish last name and look mexican/latino, but I'm not. I know what it means to be racially and ethnically profiled. The last thing I would want to do, nativessayno, is to blame migrant workers. I should be blaming people like you for your constant comments here (don't you have anything better to do?) showing me that you are not open to compromise, and that is exactly what is needed for this "issue."
So Nezzie, I gather you'd like to take away birthright citizenship. Nice. Until that happens, these are US citizens. Get used to it. The blame game is getting tiresome, and it is bad to try to divide people who are fighting very similar things.
Nezzie on Sep 23, 2008 at 06:45:35 said:
Here we go again, why is it that these people have to keep invoking the civil rights era of true American citizens called our black population? Why do they keep using Martin Luther King as an example of what they are going to. There is absolutely no comparison! The reason most of these people cannot get passports is because the parents were illegal immigrants, when their parents crossed our border. There are many black people who do not have birth certificates as blacks were barred from hospitals and midwives did indeed birth their babies from the slave fields they worked in. BTW, they were paid nothing! However, you can best believe there is still a way for us to determine their citizenship! I am getting really disgusted by these illegal immigrants and the pro-illegal immigrant groups trying to tie black Americans in with these people. There is no connection! Truth be told, they too were a part of the slave trade as these people held blacks until they could be sold to the Americans. If we really go back to our constitution their were white people, black people and Indians mentioned, no mention of any other race. So, if your grandmother was illegal, your mother was illegal, then I am sorry, you are an illegal immigrant trying to steal your way into our country and we are saying no. Our economy is in the worst shape it has been in since before the great depression (black kids can tell you what our economy is doing to them, and black men can tell you that as well).
Blacks have an 11 percent un-employment rating, far higher than the hispanic community, I wonder why? We are paying just as much for these illegal immigrant invaders and their children as we are the bailout proposition, by educating the anchor babies, giving healthcare, housing, food stamps and even for god's sake wic! You do the math, add it up. I pay sales taxes as well, however, I also have to pay federal, state, fica, medicare, medicaid and all of the other hidden little taxes I don't even know I am paying. No, no passport to illegal invaders, no going back and forth across that border like it is a revolving door. Blacks got paid nothing, and because of corporate greed, bailouts, and an illegal invasion, they are right where they started fromn 400 years ago, making nothing! Therefore, illegal is a very big issue, as it is directly connected to our economy. No bailout for illegal immigrants any more, enough, is enough!
nativessayno on Sep 22, 2008 at 16:56:42 said:
Maybe these actual citizens should blame the "migrant" workers that are here in the 10's of millions.....you know the very ones committing fraud on the US goverment. the ones that if our government attempts to deport them they scream bloody murder and expect pro bono attorneys, etc. to prolong their stay here. So, for all of the US citizens of Mexican heritage caught in the red tape glitch..blame your southern neighbors.
I understand history in a different way now too...the way that wants us to compare the black civil rights movement with a bunch of inflated-in-importance "migrants". If there were not 20ish million "migrants" commiting fraud on my government this very minute,,,,maybe these US citizens being rigorously questioned would not be expected to more thoroughly prove their citizenship!
The 60's civil rights movement was bloody, daring, scary, highly dangerous and one dealing with bona fide US citizens and their dignity, rights and human rights.
If the profiled US citizen's need to do more to show evidence of proof of citizenship...It sounds like an awful nd indignity and inconvenience. I would not like it either; but consider the very OBVIOUS context with the rampant fraud!
Its a big country and one I am very proud of, and its not ALL about a southern neighbor....!
john francus on Sep 22, 2008 at 15:14:42 said:
The mistakes their parents made are coming back to haunt them.
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