TAMPA, Fla. — Imagine hearing your birth certificate is invalid. The same document you've successfully used your whole life. That's exactly what happened to Rosemary Matos.
"When I went to the DMV to renew my driver's license, it was expired about five days; I moved from the state of Illinois to Florida, and they told me that my birth certificate was invalid because it was before 2010. So I needed to receive a new birth certificate in order to receive my driver's license," she said.
Matos was confused. She had never been told there was an issue with her birth certificate.
"I was very upset. I'm gonna be honest with you because I wasn't expecting that. It just really frustrated me. I went into like an emotional wreck state...Because it was like a loophole. So you can't get your birth certificate without your license, and you can't get your license without your birth certificate. So it was really frustrating, and I was very upset," she added.
After trying multiple DMVs, a clerk finally told her to come to Florida State Representative Susan Valdes' office on Friday.
"I was just so excited just to have the opportunity just to come here and just receive my birth certificate because I was afraid of not obtaining my birth certificate and then my license to be suspended. It's just, that's my identity. You know, I have to claim who I am. I'm from Puerto Rico, and I belong here. I'm a citizen," she added.
Friday morning, Matos got to sign on the dotted line and breathe a sigh of relief.
The state representative, along with the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, opened up a pop-up site for Puerto Ricans to get birth, marriage, and death certificates, as well as Child Support Administration (ASUME) certificates, driving history, and internal income tax stamp services.
"Puerto Ricans are US citizens; let me remind us of that. They are US citizens. And they deserve to have a convenient way in order to obtain their fundamental services and documents that all Americans have," Representative Valdes said.
There's a chance there are hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans in Tampa Bay alone that could be in need of updated documents. That's because, in 2010, the Puerto Rican government voided all documents issued before July 1, 2010, requiring everyone to get updated documentation.
"Then we was having an issue with Puerto Rican birth certificate. In Puerto Rico, there was a lot of fraudulent action by people that was in Puerto Rico doing fraudulent actions on the birth certificate. And because of that action, then the Puerto Rico government decided to go with a new style on the birth certificate and change it all the protocol," said Linda Perez, founder of Boricuas de Corazón Inc.
According to the ACLU, that action voided the birth certificates of approximately five million Puerto Ricans, including millions on the U.S. mainland.
Before they made the change, all of the documents were on paper with a yellow border. Now, all birth certificates are blue. Marriage certificates are green. Death certificates are red. The paperwork has a new watermark that will show the word void if someone attempts to copy it. It also features a new seal and stamp that is aimed at making fake documents easier to spot.
Unfortunately, many Puerto Ricans never heard about the big change.
"I wanted to travel to Europe. So I needed a passport. And what we discovered is that my wife was carrying an original birth certificate from Puerto Rico and it was no longer acceptable. So we ended up having to book a flight to Puerto Rico to be able to expedite the process of getting the birth certificate so that we could travel," said Eliseo Santana, the Florida State Director for League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC).
Before the pop-up site in Tampa, that was one of only two options in the state: fly to Puerto Rico or drive to Kissimmee.
"This is only the start. Our plan is that possibly once a month, we will have the offices available here," said Representative Valdes.
On the first day, 17 people scheduled appointments. To add to the relief, they all walked out with their documents in their hands.
Matos said she'd found out by chance, sparing her a flight or drive.
"I'm happy I was able to come here in 40 minutes and get it in five minutes," she said.
There are still so many to reach, however. LULAC and Boricuas de Corazón Inc. are helping to get the word out. Boricuas de Corazón Inc. was established to help the families displaced following Hurricane Maria.
"It was like 300 family initially, right now we have 300,000 families of Perto Ricans right now in Hillsborough County and Tampa Bay area and it's growing," she explained. "Keep it in mind, people are moving because if they don't find a good doctor in Puerto Rico, they can be able to come in the US."
For more information on the services offered and to book an appointment, go to the PRFAA website.
