Officials meet to discuss new passport review practices

Elected officials from the Texas border region met with representatives from the U.S. Department of State and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on Tuesday to confirm the end of discriminatory practices that denied passports to scores of border residents delivered by midwives.

U.S. Representatives Solomon P. Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, Ruben Hinojosa, D-Mercedes, and Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso discussed the outcome of a class action lawsuit between the American Civil Liberties Union and the Department of State, which ended in a June settlement requiring new procedures for evaluating the passport applications of those delivered by midwives.

Seventy-five midwives have been convicted of falsely registering Mexican-born children as American, according to the Associated Press. As border residents attempted to comply with new travel regulations that require those returning from Mexico to carry a passport, hundreds were denied on the basis of being delivered by midwives.

Passport applicants were asked to find proof of U.S. citizenship status and look for documents like baptism certificates, medical records and birth announcements. After long waits, many were ultimately denied passports.

"Today’s meeting with top representatives from the Department of State was instrumental as we set standard operating procedures for U.S. citizens who have been denied a passport by the department," Ortiz said in a press release. "The new procedures should benefit my constituents who have endured increased scrutiny based on external factors during their application process."

According to the ACLU, the Department of State is now required to submit any questionable passport applications to a three-member panel for review.

Some former applicants who were denied passports will be eligible to reapply at a reduced fee. Though they will still be required to pay a $25 execution fee, they will not have to pay the $75 application fee.

The Department of State "will not deny a passport application simply because the applicant’s birth attendant or midwife is on the list" of midwives suspected of fraud, according to the ACLU.

"I am confident this settlement will bring peace of mind to many of my constituents as we work to better serve them and I will continue to monitor the progress of the new procedures to ensure that the needs of our community are properly addressed," Ortiz said.