Charitable organizations in the Houston, Texas area began asking for proof of citizenship or legal residency as a condition for giving gifts to low-income families this Christmas.

The Salvation Army, one of the largest charitable institutions in the country, along with a group affiliated with the Houston Fire Department, are among those who make it a condition that at least one member of a family be a United States citizen. Both groups ask to see the children's birth certificates or Social Security cards before dispensing the gifts.

"The point is not to punish the children, but to make sure the parents are citizens, legal immigrants, or on the way to becoming legal residents," said Lorugene Young of Outreach Program, Inc. – one of the three groups that distribute toys collected by the firemen – to the Houston Chronicle. The newspaper reported that the idea that charitable organizations would exclude some children on the basis of decisions made by their parents is disquieting to many pro-immigration activists.

"It is very worrisome to think that a festivity like Christmas should be stained with this sort of thing," stated César Espinosa, executive director of America for All, an immigrants' advocacy group in Houston.

"Usually people focus on adults because it's the adults who make the decision to immigrate, and the children are merely taken along, through no fault of theirs," he explained.

The organizations that are demanding that immigration status be reviewed explain that they are doing so to assure themselves they are making the best decision in regard to whom to help. The group does not review a person's immigration status, but requires identification, a birth certificate, or some proof of his or her entry into the United States.

Other charitable groups do not require specific documentation before they will distribute gifts, but rely on churches to recommend needy families.

"When we distribute toys to 10,000 or 12,000 children, it is impossible to review the history of each one of them," said Fred Joe Pyland, the Houston police officer who supervises the Blue Santa program, which does not consider the immigration status of children before giving them gifts.