A federal judge denied a request Friday for a temporary emergency injunction in the controversy over issuing birth certificates for Texas-born children of unauthorized parents. Instead, U.S. District Judge Robert L. Pitman ruled due to “grave concerns” raised by the case a full evidentiary hearing is needed. The case was brought on behalf of more than two dozen plaintiffs, led by Maria Isabel Perales Serna. It’s stirred debate about the quality and the security of a Mexican identification card known as the matricula consular. Earlier this year in Dallas, worries intensified when the county stopped accepting the Mexican ID and school board trustee Miguel Solis voiced concerns about enrollment snags for U.S.-born citizen children. The suit was originally filed last May on behalf of four Rio Grande Valley women without proper immigration authorization to be in the U.S. The women were denied certified copies of their U.S.-born children’s birth certificates. The suit was brought against the Texas Department of State Health Services, Vital Statistics Unit. Officials said the Mexican consular card wasn’t enough to establish their identity. “It begs credulity for defendants to argue a birth certificate is not a vitally important document. The rights and privileges of citizenship inure to those who are citizens,” wrote the judge in the 27-page order. “The lack of a birth certificate, or other documentation establishing citizenship, presents a clear bar to access to those rights.” Pitman criticized the defendants’ response as inadequate. But the judge also noted that the plaintiffs didn’t build the record sufficiently on the consular identification card that “permits resolution of that challenge.” Pitman concluded, “In summary, although the plaintiffs have provided evidence which raises grave concerns regarding the treatment of citizen children born to immigrant parents, this case requires additional determinations which can be made only upon development and presentation of an evidentiary record which thoroughly explores the facts and circumstances of the issues.” The ruling comes two weeks after an Austin hearing on the case and the children’s civil rights. In an unusual move, the Mexican government filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton called the ruling an “important first step in ensuring the integrity of birth certificates and personal identity information. Before issuing any official documents, it’s important for the state to have a way to accurately verify people are who they say they are through reliable identification mechanisms.” The Texas Attorney General’s Office represented DSHS in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. Jim Harrington, director of the Texas Civil Rights Project, said the judge’s denial wasn’t surprising given the difficulty of getting such injunctions. “There are areas where he wants more proof about what happened to the plaintiffs,” Harrington said. “…Basically, he laid out a road map of what he wants to see at trial before he makes his final decision.” Harrington said more plaintiffs may be joining the suit. He expects a trial date to be set quickly. (Source: The Dallas Morning News)