Mexican Americans Delivered By Midwives No Longer Denied Passports

The ACLU has successfully helped to place passports into the hands of nine U.S. citizens who were delivered with the aid of midwives. Last September, the organization sued the federal government after these individuals were denied documentation because of their Hispanic last names and the fact that they had not been born in hospitals. Now, the State Department has created a more comprehensive and - says the ACLU - less prejudiced system for people born to midwives, especially in U.S./Mexican border towns.

Explained a staff attorney with the ACLU Racial Justice Program:

Citizens will no longer be denied a passport solely because of their race, ancestry or because they happened to be born at home with a midwife.

In each of the nine cases, the individual was a Mexican American with a Hispanic surname, and was born in Texas with the help of a midwife. They and other citizens had been previously denied U.S. passports on the grounds that midwife certificates did not provide ample evidence that the person in question had in fact been born in the United States.

That created dire consequences for citizens like David Hernandez. He was born to a midwife - whose house, and all her paperwork, had been demolished 44 years after his birth. The State Department had been concerned that Hernandez might be like other individuals who had forged midwife certificates in order to gain passports.

So. What do you think of the State Dept.’s decision? Dangerous? Risky? Just? Long overdue?

ACLU secures victory in battle to get passports for Mexican Americans [Rio Grande Guardian]