Infuriated Democratic legislators from the southern border region are calling for an investigation into the report that the Trump administration is doubting the U.S. citizenship of Latinos born in the area and denying some passports, with Congress member Joaquin Castro of Texas saying it “represents an unacceptable targeting of people based on their ethnic heritage. It violates the Constitution. It should be investigated by Congress in both chambers, and we should take action to stop it as soon as possible through legislation if necessary.”
Earlier this week, The Washington Post reported that the Trump administration has been re-litigating decades-old claims that midwives from the southern border region had provided false documentation to children they delivered, and is now using those accusations to question the very citizenship of hundreds, possibly thousands, of Latinos in the area. “Lawyers also say that some people who have been denied passports have landed in deportation proceedings,”The Washington Post continued.
The administration responded to the report by claiming that the “border region happens to be an area of the country where there has been a significant incidence of citizenship fraud,” but this is bull. Donald Trump ran on a mass deportation platform, and since taking office and unleashing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), has been chipping away at Latino and immigrant communities in what amounts to an ethnic cleansing campaign. This is another part of it.
In one case, a former soldier born in Brownsville, Texas, has had his passport application denied twice, even after submitting hard-to-locate documents requested by the government. Soldier or not, this shouldn’t be happening to any American citizen. “It is another telltale sign,” said Congress member Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, “of the administration trying to block legal immigration and citizens just because they happen to be Hispanic or Muslim, and that’s tragic and that’s not America.”
But with a complicit Republican-led Congress refusing to address even the kidnapping of innocent migrant children by the Trump administration, “Republican leadership in the House and Senate is unlikely to bow to Democratic demands on any proposed legislation on the issue,”The Washington Post continues, adding this issue to items Democrats must address should they take the House in November. But, it can’t wait. The report indicated that some Latinos are having their passports revoked, and others are even ending up in ICE detention despite being citizens of this country.
"Government officials who violate the law or the constitution will not be immune to legal consequences,” said Congress member Ruben Gallego of Arizona. “Trump’s war on Latino Americans gets even uglier,” tweeted Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon. “What happened to ‘unalienable rights?’”