The Trump administration is denying passports to hundreds of Americans who live along the US-Mexico border, accusing them of using fraudulent birth certificates and demanding additional proof that they were, indeed, born in the United States, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.
In some cases, those people have reportedly even had their passports revoked, been jailed, and thrown into deportation proceedings, according to immigration attorneys.
One American, whom The Post identified only as “Juan,” served in the US Army, Border Patrol, and currently as a state prison guard — but when he applied to renew his passport, the State Department said in a letter it didn’t believe he was a US citizen, and asked for documents like evidence of his mother’s prenatal care, a baptismal certificate, and rental agreements from his infancy.
“I served my country. I fought for my country,” Juan told The Post, adding that the accusations infuriated him.
Citizens like Juan have come to the government’s attention because their birth certificates indicate they were born with the assistance of midwives in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley region between the 1950s and the 1990s.
