October 18, 2016 - 12:28 PM
LAFAYETTE, La. - The Latest on a lawsuit challenging Louisiana legislation that has prevented some foreign-born U.S. citizens without birth certificates from obtaining marriage licenses (all times local):
1:45 p.m.
A Louisiana lawmaker who sponsored legislation that has prevented some foreign-born U.S. citizens without birth certificates from obtaining marriage licenses says she will push for an amendment.
A federal lawsuit filed Tuesday claims a state marriage law that took effect in January is unconstitutional and discriminates against immigrants.
After the suit's filing, Republican state Rep. Valarie Hodges told The Associated Press that she never intended for the 2015 measure to prevent legal immigrants from getting a marriage license. She called it "basically a technical oversight." Hodges has said the intent of the law was to prevent marriage fraud.
Viet "Victor" Anh Vo is a U.S. citizen who was born in an Indonesian refugee camp. He claims in his lawsuit that court clerks in three Louisiana parishes denied his application for a marriage license because he couldn't produce a birth certificate.
___
10 a.m.
A Louisiana man is suing to challenge a state law that has prevented him and other immigrants from obtaining a marriage license because they couldn't produce a birth certificate.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court claims the marriage law amended last year by state lawmakers violates the constitutional rights of 31-year-old Viet "Victor" Anh Vo.
Vo told The Associated Press that he and his fiancee were stunned when a court clerk rejected their application for a marriage license two weeks before their February wedding.
A Republican lawmaker who sponsored January's changes in the state's marriage laws said it was designed to crack down on fraudulent marriages.
But Vo's lawsuit claims the law violates his constitutional rights and was intended to discriminate against foreign-born people.
News from © The Associated Press, 2016