[JURIST] A judge for the US District Court for the Western District of Texas on Friday issued a temporary order [text] allowing Texas officials to continue denying birth certificates to children of immigrants. Earlier this year a group of undocumented immigrants sued the state because the state refused to issue birth certificates to immigrants who provided forms of identification provided by foreign governments. In particular the state was refusing to recognize the matricula consular, an identification card issued by the government of Mexico, as well as foreign passports unless accompanied by a VISA. In the order, the judge noted that the plaintiffs provided evidence raising “grave concerns” about the treatment of immigrants’ children, but said more evidence was needed to explore the facts and circumstances of the case.

US immigration law [JURIST backgrounder] continues to be a controversial and heavily politicized area of law at both the state and federal levels. Last month the US Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR) has issued a report criticizing [JURIST report] the Obama administration’s immigration detention facilities, stating that some “are not fully complying with detention standards regarding medical care, legal information and other basic standards of treatment.” In August a California judge upheld her July decision [JURIST reports] and ordered the government to release immigrant children held in family detention centers, “without necessary delay.” In February a federal judge in Texas temporarily blocked [JURIST report] two key parts of a recent immigration initiative announced by US President Barack Obama that would halt the deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants. In November a judge for the US District Court for the District of Arizona struck down [JURIST report] an Arizona law that made smuggling immigrants a state crime because it conflicts with federal laws governing immigration.