For over 150 years the U S Constitution was recognizing children born in the country as citizens, regardless of whether their parents were citizens or not.

But for the first time in the state of Texas, birth certificates were not being issued to those children born of undocumented parents. A civil rights lawsuit was also filed against the Texas Department that alleged discrimination on the basis of immigration.

A lawyer who was representing the women stated that the deluge of refusals for issuance of birth certificates began last year. “I’ve never seen such a large number of women with this problem. In the past someone might be turned away, but it was always resolved. This is something altogether new.”

According to the lawsuit the women who had requested birth certificates for their children in some counties were asked to go back, as they did not have sufficient proof of their identities. State law however allows the use of a foreign identification proof if the mother lacked a driver’s license issued in the state of Texas or even if she is armed with a US passport.

But the local officials told the women that they would no longer accept the photo IDs issued by a foreign country or a foreign passport without a current U S visa.