Alecia Faith Pennington seems to be the victim of a crime most of us probably didn’t know was a crime: her identity is being held hostage. No, her identity wasn’t stolen. According to Alecia, it never existed in the first place.
Born to Christian fundamentalist parents through home-birthing procedures, Alecia claims that in an attempt to keep her “off the grid,” her parents never filed a birth certificate, obtained a Social Security number, or took her to a hospital. Furthermore, she was home-schooled and is thus completely void of any formal documentation to prove she even exists. Of course, in the video below, it’s obvious she does in fact exist, but in a bureaucratic sense Alecia Pennington is not considered to be an actual human being living in the United States.
Her struggles started after she fled the Texas home she grew up in, something documented by her mother Lisa on her blog site The Pennington Point. Lisa is a prominent influence in the home-schooling community and the aforementioned blog is dedicated to various discussions of proper teaching methods.
Glancing over a few posts, it’s not hard to understand what would drive Alecia to the point of desertion. The mother even began selling ointments and oils under a section talking about how they help her get through “hard times” which she directly attributed to Alecia running away from the home. Maybe it was because the house didn’t feel like a home, but rather a Waco-esque compound?
Alecia has since since started a journey to recover the identity her parents are holding hostage. They refuse to assist with the process out of spite, as does the midwife who helped bring Alecia into the world 19 years ago. Now through a social media campaign, including a Facebook and Twitter page as well as her YouTube video posted below, Alecia is asking for the public’s help. She doesn’t know where to turn or even begin the process of establishing citizenship in a country that requires documentation before she can require additional documentation. It really is an interesting but vicious cycle.
She isn’t able to get a driver’s license, go to college, get a job, or anything else that requires proof of citizenship.
Here’s her video:
If you think you have any information that could be helpful to Alecia, shoot her a message. We’ll keep up with the story and could be posting again with an update on Alecia’s quest to recover her own identity and finally move on with her life as a normal 19-year-old girl.
