Judge tells Houstonian he’s not a citizen
A federal judge ruled Wednesday that a Houston man — who sued the State Department to force it to issue him a passport so he could join the Army — was in fact not really born in the United States and not an American.
It was a jarring turn of events for David Sanchez, 26.
He was raised in Houston and said he had always been told by his parents that he was born with the help of a midwife in the Texas-Mexico border city of Brownsville.
Still hopes to serve
Sanchez said his lawsuit sought to prove he was an American. But with the ruling by U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal, as well as a detailed family history that came out during the three- day trial, Sanchez said he now wants to find out the truth about himself.
“I believe in who I am, what I stand for and what I’m capable of doing,” he said outside the courtroom. And he still hopes to one day serve in the U.S. military.
During the trial, the State Department contended Sanchez’s citizenship claim was bogus because it was the result of a scheme by a Brownsville midwife to file fraudulent birth records to make it look like children were born in the United States when they actually were born in Mexico
The U.S. government also found a Mexican birth certificate in Sanchez’s name that was issued several months before he was supposedly born in the United States across the Rio Grande in Matamoros.
It carried information about his parents, their ages, occupation and address.
A lifetime of records
Sanchez also has a Texas birth certificate, driver’s license, Social Security card and lifetime of records, from his kindergarten report card from Houston’s Love Elementary to a diploma from United Christian Academy high school.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Goldman said the case was about the facts and nothing personal against Sanchez.
“We understand he is in a tough situation,” Goldman said. “We never thought Mr. Sanchez was being dishonest about where he thought he was born.”
The trouble with Sanchez’s Texas birth certificate began in 2001, when the state was told by what was then the Immigration and Naturalization Service that Sanchez’s birth information was believed to be false and that he should not be issued a copy of a birth certificate should he ever request one.
Sanchez later requested one during his senior year of high school. That led to a 2006 Texas Department of Health hearing in which an examiner ruled that Sanchez was indeed a Texan.
But the federal government stood firm with its refusal to give him a passport, and that led to the lawsuit.
Legal avenues?
It is unclear what will happen next to Sanchez, who said he never explored any options regarding an immigration permit because he has always considered himself an American.
Goldman said he was unaware of any deportation proceedings against Sanchez that were in the works as a result of the lawsuit and speculated on some of the legal avenues Sanchez may be able to pursue to legally reside in the United States.
David Sanchez’s mother, Elizabeth, was the first person to testify in the trial. She described a life that often took the family from one side of the border to the other and described in detail the midwife’s house where she said her son was born.
She also said she was given away as an infant by her birth mother, who had so many children with so many men that her daugh- ter wasn’t sure how many half-siblings she might have.
A rare meeting
The government’s lawyers called Elizabeth Sanchez’s mother to the witness stand. She had not seen her daughter in more than 40 years. When they passed each other in the hallway, the older woman shielded her face and looked away without saying a word.
She testified that her daughter was really born in Mexico, not the U.S as she has maintained throughout her life.
As Goldman and Sanchez left the courtroom, they spoke briefly.
“Nothing personal,” Goldman said. “It is fine,” Sanchez responded.”