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Reports of denials of passports to US citizens born near Mexican border

  1. Original Date Announced

    August 29, 2018

    Press reports that the administration has been accusing hundreds, possibly thousands, of Latinos along the border of using fraudulent birth certificates since they were babies and denying them passports. In a statement, DOS said that it “has not changed policy or practice regarding the adjudication of passport applications.” [ID #629]

    Washington Post article
  2. Effective Date

    August 29, 2018

Current Status

Fully in Effect

Original Trump Policy Status

Status: Reported
Trump Administration Action: Change in Practice
Subject Matter: Citizenship
Agencies Affected: USCIS DOS

Pre Trump-Era Policies

  • June 24, 2009 DOS during the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations denied passports to people who were delivered by midwives in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley. A 2009 government settlement seemed to have mostly put an end to the passport denials. Attorneys reported that the number of denials declined during the rest of the Obama administration, and the government settled promptly when people filed complaints after being denied passports. "Following the 2009 settlement of a class action lawsuit, DOS agreed to implement new procedures for review of passport applications by Mexican Americans who were born with the assistance of a midwife at the US-Mexico border." 2009 Settlement

Documents

Trump-Era Policy Documents

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