Petition: Stop denying our children their right to a birth certificate

To: Texas Department of State Health Services
From: Marco Malagon, Princeton, Texas
Date: January 25, 2016

Last August, my wife and I were thrilled to become parents. As a proud a father, I am committed to making sure my child has more opportunities than I did growing up. But soon after his birth I found out that because I am undocumented, the state of Texas would deny my son – a U.S. citizen – his birth certificate.

And it’s not just my family: across Texas parents are struggling to get documentation for their children.

Sign to demand that the Texas Department of State Health Services stop denying birth certificates to children of undocumented parents.

Without a birth certificate, these children won’t be able to access basic services guaranteed to U.S. citizens. They can’t be enrolled in school and their parents can’t authorize medical staff to treat them in an emergency. This practice is designed to punish undocumented parents and make it harder for their children to access services they have a right to.

After much pushing I got lucky at the clerk’s office and they finally found a workaround for me to obtain the document. But many offices in Texas are not helping people in my situation; a friend of mine has a one year-old baby who still has no birth certificate. She’s worried about whether she’ll be able to enroll her child in daycare or how she will get health care for her baby.

This practice discriminates against US Citizen children and is unacceptable. The Constitution says that children born in the U.S. are granted full citizenship; it’s not up to Texas to deny that right.

Please sign my petition and demand that the Texas DSHS stop denying children of undocumented parents their right to fully-documented citizenship.

Sign the petition:
https://www.change.org/p/texas-department-of-state-health-services-stop-denying-our-children-their-right-to-a-birth-certificate