Take the time to inform yourself about this special class of adoptees: They assume they are U.S. citizens. And then some issue arises and all of a sudden their citizenship is denied or questioned, or found out to be legally non-existent. As young adults they find themselves deported to their “home” nation, yet they know no one there (having grown up in the USA) and usually no longer speak their native language. Outrageous. Just another example of the “never quite belonging” way adoptees get treated in our society.
Form the website change.org:
Joao Herbert was adopted from Brazil at the age of eight by a family in Ohio. A charge for attempting to sell marijuana, although a first offense, landed him in immigration detention, after which he was deported to Brazil in 2000. Joao Herbert was murdered in Brazil in May 2004.
Korean adoptee Matthew Scherer learned he lacked citizenship when he applied for a U.S. passport. He subsequently obtained permanent resident status, but upon traveling to Korea was identified by the Korean government by his original Korean name and now is blocked by Korean law from returning to the U.S. and threatened with conscription into the Korean army.
Jennifer Haynes was adopted at eight from India and sexually abused by her adoptive father, after which she passed through 50 foster homes on her way to adulthood. Married to a U.S. citizen and mother of two young children, Haynes was nonetheless deported to India in 2008.
Adopted as a toddler from Thailand in 1979 by a family in Florida, John Gaul completed a sentence for theft and check fraud in 1996 after the new immigration law went into effect. A judge was prevented under the new law from acknowledging adoption as an extenuating circumstance, and he was deported to Thailand in 1999.
Tatiana Mitrohina was born in Russia in 1978 with physical deformities that led to her adoption at fourteen to California. She suffered from childhood-related PTSD and postpartum depression. Following a charge of abuse of her son, the court recommended counseling and medication, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement have detained her in preparation for deportation.
This is horrifying! Thank you for bringing this, and other important issues, to our attention. I really had no idea that this could happen. I will visit Change.org to see if there are any initiatives going on to prevent such things from happening. If not, I will contact my State Senators. If anyone else has ideas how to fight against these abuses, I would love to join forces.
A shameful way to treat those who were purchased, welcomed and forever!
Here is the online petition, but a couple of calls to your representatives is even more powerful. http://www.change.org/petitions/citizenship-for-all-us-intercountry-adoptees
I agree, this is horrifying. It is just another example where children are seen as a commodity. How better is there to send a message “you were there for your parents to be able to have the wonderful experience of parenting…but now that you’re adults no one cares about you” ??
There are a lot of instances where people forget adoptees are adults with separate issues from children. This is just one of the more tragic of many
Thank you for blogging, Dr. Raible.
This is really messed-up! Did the aparents not re-adopt in the US or do what was necessary to obtain the certificate of citizenship (coc) and certificate of foreign birth. I know the false birth certificate is a hotbed for many adoptees, but as an AP it is my understanding that obtaining the COC and then following up to obtain a birth certificate (certificate of foreign birth) prevents deportation from ever being an issue. The COC is now mailed automatically about a month after the adoption is completed in the child’s birth country.
It sounds like in some of these instances the people did have citizenship but were deported anyway– is that correct?
A shame that parents wouldn’t take this final step to be sure that their children were citizens of this country and that agencies don’t follow up to be sure that the children (oh, but wait, mine couldn’t make any more money from me!)
Sigh. The misunderstanding about COCs and the Child Citizenship Act are too widely misunderstood. None of these adoptees were citizens because it was not retroactive and didn’t cover anyone over the age of 18 and who did not come to the US on an IR3 visa. Please also sign this petition http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-the-deportation-on-russell-green-and-other-adoptee-immigrants. Russell’s case is urgent because he’s facing imminent deportation.