Texas rights a wrong for some of its children

There is no doubt that, under the 14th Amendment, children born in the United States to immigrant parents are U.S. citizens, with all the rights, privileges and responsibilities of that citizenship.

The same amendment, ratified in 1868, grants them “the equal protection of the laws.”

But cracks often open up between worthy constitutional guarantees and life in the real world.

For three years, some Texas children of immigrant parents have been harmed by one of those cracks. Their rights as U.S. citizens were endangered by our own state government.

Fortunately, as of this week that fault has been repaired.

A 2013 decision from state officials tipped other dominoes to fall. At the end of the line, these U.S. citizen children could not get copies of their birth certificates from county officials.

They couldn’t register for school, obtain medical records or take part in many other rites of childhood they should be able to take for granted like any other U.S. citizen. And children of undocumented immigrants faced potential deportation if they couldn’t prove they were born in the United States.

The denial of rights may not have been intentional, but it was real.

Any parent applying for a copy of their child’s birth certificate must show identification to prove their relationship to the child — an understandable security measure to help prevent identity theft.

But in 2013, the Department of State Health Services ordered county officials to stop recognizing a form of ID known as a matrícula consular, which is issued by Mexican consulate offices across the state.

Department officials said those documents could be easily forged.

Nevertheless, the order disrupted the lives of many immigrant families and their U.S. citizen children. Last year, several families filed suit against the department.

Texas officials have a history of fighting lawsuits tooth and nail. Fortunately, late last week they reached a settlement in this one.

For identification to obtain birth certificates, the state will now accept Mexican voter ID cards mailed to Texas residents under a new law approved in Mexico.

It will also accept certain documents issued by Central American consulates in the U.S.

“This agreement will allow the state to continue to provide necessary birth certificates to authorized people and do so in a way that maintains the security of state birth records,” health department spokesman Chris Van Deusen told the Texas Tribune.

The settlement also rights a grievous wrong.

This story was originally published July 26, 2016 at 6:04 PM with the headline "Texas rights a wrong for some of its children."