Trump Administration Denies Passports To Americans Living On Border: Report

Liza Hearon

The Trump administration is accusing hundreds and possibly thousands of Hispanic Americans along the Texas-Mexico border of obtaining their citizenship using fraudulent birth certificates and the government is denying them passports as a result, according to a Washington Post report.

Some passport applicants have been turned down in the United States and sent to immigration detention facilities, while others have been left stuck in Mexico because their passports are getting suddenly revoked when they try to re-enter the country. Individuals that the Post spoke to said they’re baffled and have been using their birth certificates since they were babies.

According to the Post, it’s unclear precisely how many people are affected by this issue. But it comes as the Trump administration has increasingly gone after U.S. citizens in its crackdown on legal and illegal immigration. Over the last year, the administration has created a “denaturalization task force” to strip citizenship from people it says obtained it through fraud and has attempted to discharge immigrant military recruits who were seeking citizenship.

The State Department said it hasn’t changed any policy or practice on passport applications.

“There are numerous reasons why a customer may be asked to provide additional documentation or information. The burden of proving one’s identity and citizenship falls on the applicant for a U.S. passport regardless of where the application was submitted,” a Department of State spokesperson said in a statement.

The State Department said it is looking for additional documentation from applicants with birth certificates filed by midwives or “other birth attendants” who are suspected of fraudulent activities. Midwifery is common in rural and underserved communities along the border.

It’s unclear why the crackdown on birth certificates from midwives appears to be happening now. In federal court cases in the 1990s, several midwives admitted to fraudulently filing Texas birth certificates for babies who were born in Mexico. This led to the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations to deny passports for people born to midwives in the Rio Grande Valley.

In 2009, the ACLU settled a case with the government over the issue, and the number of passport denials seemed to fall, The Washington Post reported. The State Department didn’t respond to a question from HuffPost on why the denials were happening again.

Related...

This Alternative To Detaining Immigrant Families Works. Trump Just Won't Use It.

Family Separations Are A Betrayal Of America's Immigrant History

How A Group Of New York Moms Is Reuniting Separated Migrant Families

Also on HuffPost

Undocumented immigrants who turned themselves in after crossing the border from Mexico into the U.S. await processing near McAllen, Texas, on April 2, 2018.
Undocumented immigrants who turned themselves in after crossing the border from Mexico into the U.S. await processing near McAllen, Texas, on April 2, 2018.
Families who crossed the border near McAllen, Texas, on May 9, 2018.
Families who crossed the border near McAllen, Texas, on May 9, 2018.
A U.S. Border Patrol spotlight shines on a mother and son from Honduras on June 12, 2018, in McAllen, Texas.
A U.S. Border Patrol spotlight shines on a mother and son from Honduras on June 12, 2018, in McAllen, Texas.
Central Americans seeking asylum wait as U.S. Border Patrol agents take them into custody on June 12, 2018, near McAllen, Texas.
Central Americans seeking asylum wait as U.S. Border Patrol agents take them into custody on June 12, 2018, near McAllen, Texas.
A Honduran mother stands with her family at the U.S.-Mexico border fence on Feb. 22, 2018, near Penitas, Texas.
A Honduran mother stands with her family at the U.S.-Mexico border fence on Feb. 22, 2018, near Penitas, Texas.
U.S. Border Patrol agents take a Central American family into custody on June 12, 2018 near McAllen, Texas.
U.S. Border Patrol agents take a Central American family into custody on June 12, 2018 near McAllen, Texas.
U.S. Border Patrol agents take a father and son from Honduras into custody near the U.S.-Mexico border on June 12, 2018, near Mission, Texas.
U.S. Border Patrol agents take a father and son from Honduras into custody near the U.S.-Mexico border on June 12, 2018, near Mission, Texas.
A Central American family waits to be taken into custody on June 12, 2018, near McAllen, Texas.
A Central American family waits to be taken into custody on June 12, 2018, near McAllen, Texas.
Central American migrants wait as U.S. Border Patrol agents take people into custody on June 12, 2018, near McAllen, Texas.
Central American migrants wait as U.S. Border Patrol agents take people into custody on June 12, 2018, near McAllen, Texas.
Two women and a child who crossed the border on Feb. 22, 2018, near McAllen, Texas.
Two women and a child who crossed the border on Feb. 22, 2018, near McAllen, Texas.
A Honduran child who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border with her family on Jan. 4, 2017, near McAllen, Texas.
A Honduran child who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border with her family on Jan. 4, 2017, near McAllen, Texas.
U.S. Border Patrol agents take Central American immigrants, including this young child, into custody on Jan. 4, 2017, near McAllen, Texas.
U.S. Border Patrol agents take Central American immigrants, including this young child, into custody on Jan. 4, 2017, near McAllen, Texas.
A Honduran woman and child on Jan. 4, 2017, near McAllen, Texas.
A Honduran woman and child on Jan. 4, 2017, near McAllen, Texas.
A U.S. Border Patrol agent checks birth certificates while taking Central American immigrants into detention on Jan. 4, 2017, near McAllen, Texas.
A U.S. Border Patrol agent checks birth certificates while taking Central American immigrants into detention on Jan. 4, 2017, near McAllen, Texas.
Adults and children await processing near McAllen, Texas, on April 2, 2018.
Adults and children await processing near McAllen, Texas, on April 2, 2018.
Guatemalan immigrant families turn themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol near McAllen, Texas, on May 8, 2018.
Guatemalan immigrant families turn themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol near McAllen, Texas, on May 8, 2018.
U.S. Border Patrol agents take Central American immigrants into custody on Jan. 4, 2017, near McAllen, Texas.
U.S. Border Patrol agents take Central American immigrants into custody on Jan. 4, 2017, near McAllen, Texas.

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.