Listen Live
97.9 The Box Featured Video
CLOSE

The Salvation Army of Houston will no longer require Social Security numbers from those seeking Christmas gifts, ending a brewing controversy over a policy some critics said was unfairly punishing children.

“It was never our intention to offend anyone with our registration requirement to provide a Social Security number, or to give the impression that we were discriminating against those individuals and families who do not have a Social Security number,” Maj. Chris Flanagan, area commander for The Salvation Army Greater Houston Area Command said in a statement.

The decision announced Thursday to stop asking for Social Security numbers was made by the Houston chapter, but national leadership plans to review identification requirements for the program starting next week, said Maj. George Hood, with the organization’s national headquarters in Alexandria, Va.

A story in the Houston Chronicle this week noted that the Salvation Army and Outreach Program Inc., which distributes toys collected by the Houston Fire Department, require documents that indicate immigration status — birth certificates, Social Security numbers or other paperwork — to register for their holiday charity programs. Generally speaking, Social Security numbers are only available to those legally residing in the U.S.

Both charities have said that although they have asked for such paperwork, they never intended to discriminate against people based on their immigration status.

The charities’ policies had attracted criticism from immigrant advocates, who charged they were punishing children for the actions of their parents by requiring such documentation.

Cesar Espinosa, a Houston immigrant advocate, said that the Salvation Army’s decision to no longer ask for Social Security numbers for the Angel Tree program was “the right thing to do.”

“We’re happy that everyone will be treated fairly and that the true spirit of Christmas has prevailed and children will just be treated as children, not as aliens or anything like that,” Espinosa said.

The Salvation Army of Houston said it only requested a Social Security number from one person per family, with the goal of deterring fraud. It never used the numbers to verify legal status, according to a statement issued Thursday.

The organization said that in most cases, when people had no Social Security numbers, they still received help. Other valid forms of identification include school registration, Medicaid cards, Consular cards, food stamps cards and birth certificates, the organization said.

Hood said that up until this point, the decision on identification requirements have been made locally, although the organization does have a broad policy prohibiting discrimination. He said that policy likely will be codified nationally.

“The national policy that does exist is that we will not use any identification to discriminate against an illegal alien,” Hood said. “All people will be served regardless of our status.”

About 30,000 children are registered for the Angel Tree program locally this year, up 20 percent from last year. The program provides new, unwrapped gifts to disadvantaged children and seniors.