US-born kids of migrants lose rights in Mexico

The children of migrants who have been deported from the United States or returned to Mexico on their own due to the economic slump in the U.S face many challenges. U.S.-born children cannot register for any public services including school without going through a lengthy and often expensive legal process.

AP: MALINALCO, Mexico - As a cold drizzle washed over this town of narrow cobblestone streets in the forested highlands of central Mexico, mothers waiting outside the colonial-era cultural center wrapped wool blankets around the infants snuggled in their arms. Other parents tightened plastic bags around folders filled with U.S. passports and birth certificates from California, Ohio and Texas.

One by one, the parents filed inside, sat down before a Mexican government worker and told stories of lives that had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border twice. First, they crossed illegally into the United States for work, found jobs, and had children. Then, they were caught and deported, or left on their own as the work dried up with the U.S. economic slump. Now they are back in Mexico with children who are American citizens by virtue of being born on U.S. soil. Read more. 

Posted by Marlene Medrano.