In this Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015 photo in Sullivan City, Texas, a woman who is in the country illegally shows the footprints of her daughter who was born in the in the United State but was denied a birth certificate. Lawyers for immigrant families denied birth certificates for their U.S.-born children by Texas health officials who refuse to recognize as valid certain forms of identification will argue for a federal judge to intervene against the state. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
The Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Lawyers for immigrant families denied birth certificates for their U.S.-born children by Texas health officials told a federal judge that if certain forms of foreign-issued identification cannot be accepted, a state agency must provide another option.
A federal judge heard Friday from immigrant rights lawyers seeking an emergency injunction, saying families are being harmed by the stricter standards. Lawyers for the state say there are other avenues besides the contested consular identifications to get birth certificates. The judge said he'd rule later.
Dozens of families and children sued the Texas Department of State Health Services after local authorities refused various foreign identifications. The agency wants the suit dismissed.
The parents, from Mexico and Central America, aren't U.S. citizens, but the Constitution guarantees the right of citizenship to their U.S.-born children.
In this Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015 photo, in Sullivan City, Texas, a woman who is in the country illegally plays with her two-year-old daughter who was born in the in the United States but was denied a birth certificate. Lawyers for immigrant families denied birth certificates for their U.S.-born children by Texas health officials who refuse to recognize as valid certain forms of identification will argue for a federal judge to intervene against the state. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
The Associated Press
In this Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015 photo, in Sullivan City, Texas, a woman who is in the country illegally walks with her two-year-old daughter who was born in the in the United State but was denied a birth certificate. Lawyers for immigrant families denied birth certificates for their U.S.-born children by Texas health officials who refuse to recognize as valid certain forms of identification will argue for a federal judge to intervene against the state. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
The Associated Press