SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
The U.S. State Department has accused hundreds of Latino citizens who live near the U.S.-Mexico border of having fraudulent birth certificates. Some have been refused reentry into the U.S. after traveling in Mexico, with officials accusing them of actually being Mexican citizens. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
'Ethnic Cleansing by Bureaucracy': Trump Administration Denying Passports, Accusing Latino Citizens of Having Fake Birth Certificates
"First vilification...Escalated raids and border militarization. Family separations...Now, mass revocations of citizenship."
Aug 30, 2018
Offering the latest proof that its assault on immigrants' rights is based in racism rather than a concern for citizens' safety, the Trump administration has accused hundreds--if not thousands--of Latino Americans of having fraudulent birth certificates and has refused to issue passports to many, while detaining and threatening deportation for others.
The Washington Post reported Thursday that hundreds of Latinos living near the U.S.-Mexico border have been denied passports and passport renewals and have been refused reentry into the U.S. after traveling south of the border, with the State Department alleging that they had been born outside the U.S. even though they have American birth certificates.
One citizen was detained for three days after presenting his passport while attempting to re-enter the U.S. from Mexico. A deportation hearing is scheduled for 2019. Another was denied a passport renewal and asked to provide his parents' rental agreement from when he was a baby and evidence of his mother's prenatal care to prove his citizenship--but was again denied after he sent the documentation to the State Department.
The department claims South Texas is rife with residents who have been posing as U.S. citizens since they were babies, issuing a statement to the Post that there is a "significant number of fraudulent citizens along border."
"I don't think this piece is getting the freakout it deserves." --Kelly Hayes, journalistAs evidence, the Trump administration has pointed to decades-old federal cases in which midwives in the region admitted to selling U.S. birth certificates to some families who needed citizenship--but it has no proof that those who have been targeted are not U.S. citizens.
Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama also denied passports to people who had been born in the Rio Grande Valley, for the same reason. But passport denials were nearly eliminated after 2009, when the ACLU challenged the practice.
Now, according to attorneys in South Texas, cases of the State Department questioning Hispanics' citizenship have gone up again.
"We're seeing these kind of cases skyrocketing," Jennifer Correro, an attorney in Houston, told the Post.
On social media, Trump critics compared the State Department's practice to "ethnic cleansing" and expressed concern that it could fly under the radar in a country overwhelmed by President Donald Trump's ongoing legal battles, attacks on the press, potential confirmation of a second anti-choice Supreme Court justice, and dozens of other causes for outrage.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Offering the latest proof that its assault on immigrants' rights is based in racism rather than a concern for citizens' safety, the Trump administration has accused hundreds--if not thousands--of Latino Americans of having fraudulent birth certificates and has refused to issue passports to many, while detaining and threatening deportation for others.
The Washington Post reported Thursday that hundreds of Latinos living near the U.S.-Mexico border have been denied passports and passport renewals and have been refused reentry into the U.S. after traveling south of the border, with the State Department alleging that they had been born outside the U.S. even though they have American birth certificates.
One citizen was detained for three days after presenting his passport while attempting to re-enter the U.S. from Mexico. A deportation hearing is scheduled for 2019. Another was denied a passport renewal and asked to provide his parents' rental agreement from when he was a baby and evidence of his mother's prenatal care to prove his citizenship--but was again denied after he sent the documentation to the State Department.
The department claims South Texas is rife with residents who have been posing as U.S. citizens since they were babies, issuing a statement to the Post that there is a "significant number of fraudulent citizens along border."
"I don't think this piece is getting the freakout it deserves." --Kelly Hayes, journalistAs evidence, the Trump administration has pointed to decades-old federal cases in which midwives in the region admitted to selling U.S. birth certificates to some families who needed citizenship--but it has no proof that those who have been targeted are not U.S. citizens.
Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama also denied passports to people who had been born in the Rio Grande Valley, for the same reason. But passport denials were nearly eliminated after 2009, when the ACLU challenged the practice.
Now, according to attorneys in South Texas, cases of the State Department questioning Hispanics' citizenship have gone up again.
"We're seeing these kind of cases skyrocketing," Jennifer Correro, an attorney in Houston, told the Post.
On social media, Trump critics compared the State Department's practice to "ethnic cleansing" and expressed concern that it could fly under the radar in a country overwhelmed by President Donald Trump's ongoing legal battles, attacks on the press, potential confirmation of a second anti-choice Supreme Court justice, and dozens of other causes for outrage.
Offering the latest proof that its assault on immigrants' rights is based in racism rather than a concern for citizens' safety, the Trump administration has accused hundreds--if not thousands--of Latino Americans of having fraudulent birth certificates and has refused to issue passports to many, while detaining and threatening deportation for others.
The Washington Post reported Thursday that hundreds of Latinos living near the U.S.-Mexico border have been denied passports and passport renewals and have been refused reentry into the U.S. after traveling south of the border, with the State Department alleging that they had been born outside the U.S. even though they have American birth certificates.
One citizen was detained for three days after presenting his passport while attempting to re-enter the U.S. from Mexico. A deportation hearing is scheduled for 2019. Another was denied a passport renewal and asked to provide his parents' rental agreement from when he was a baby and evidence of his mother's prenatal care to prove his citizenship--but was again denied after he sent the documentation to the State Department.
The department claims South Texas is rife with residents who have been posing as U.S. citizens since they were babies, issuing a statement to the Post that there is a "significant number of fraudulent citizens along border."
"I don't think this piece is getting the freakout it deserves." --Kelly Hayes, journalistAs evidence, the Trump administration has pointed to decades-old federal cases in which midwives in the region admitted to selling U.S. birth certificates to some families who needed citizenship--but it has no proof that those who have been targeted are not U.S. citizens.
Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama also denied passports to people who had been born in the Rio Grande Valley, for the same reason. But passport denials were nearly eliminated after 2009, when the ACLU challenged the practice.
Now, according to attorneys in South Texas, cases of the State Department questioning Hispanics' citizenship have gone up again.
"We're seeing these kind of cases skyrocketing," Jennifer Correro, an attorney in Houston, told the Post.
On social media, Trump critics compared the State Department's practice to "ethnic cleansing" and expressed concern that it could fly under the radar in a country overwhelmed by President Donald Trump's ongoing legal battles, attacks on the press, potential confirmation of a second anti-choice Supreme Court justice, and dozens of other causes for outrage.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.