ICE deports man with U.S. birth certificate after traffic stop
If you thought US citizenship would stop ICE from deporting you, think again. A 25-year-old man who says he was born in Denver and provided documentation to prove it was detained after a Texas traffic stop and deported to Mexico, raising new questions about how immigration enforcement is handling citizenship claims in the field.
He was held for five days and said he feared being detained for months, so he decided to sign documents agreeing to a quick deportation so he could rejoin his wife and newborn daughter, who live in Mexico.
“Eventually I told them what they wanted to hear because I wanted to speed up the process and return and see my daughter,” Morales said in an interview.
Morales and his lawyer provided the Texas Tribune copies of his Social Security card and his birth certificate, which shows he was born in Denver. They also shared a Denver hospital record showing that he was admitted to the hospital the day he was born.
So, we were led to believe citizenship settles the question. In practice, it may depend on whether you can prove it fast enough, in the right place, to the right person.
To someone who cares.
Because if agents get (as reported) bonuses for deportations but no reprimands for unlawful deportations, then there's no incentive for them to follow the law.
Of *course* that birth certificate wasn't good enough.
It didn't have his picture on it....