The American adoptees who fear deportation to a country they can't remember

[UpInArms]

… snip …

Shirley is not alone. Estimates of how many American adoptees lack citizenship range from 18,000 to 75,000. Some intercountry adoptees may not even know they lack US citizenship.

Dozens of adoptees have been deported to their countries of birth in recent years, according to the Adoptee Rights Law Center. A man born in South Korea and adopted as a child by an American family - only to be deported to his country of birth because of a criminal record - took his own life in 2017.

The reasons why so many US adoptees do not have citizenship are varied. Shirley blames her parents for failing to finalise the correct paperwork when she came to the US. She also blames the school system and the government for not highlighting that she did not have citizenship.

…

Some, like Debbie Principe, whose two adopted children have special needs, have spent decades trying to secure citizenship for their dependents.

She adopted two children from an orphanage in Romania in the 1990s after watching them on Shame of a Nation - a documentary about the neglect of children in orphanages following the 1989 Romanian Revolution, that sent shockwaves around the world when it aired.

The most recent rejection of citizenship came in May, and was followed by a notice stating that if the decision was not appealed in 30 days, she would have to turn in her daughter to Homeland Security, she said.

…more horror here:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy1n438dk4o

[Diamond_Dog]

1. Legal adoption should automatically include U.S. citizenship.

That to me should be the simplest solution. But Trump, miller, Vance, etc. are so hell bent on deportation of anyone they possibly can, we can’t count on compassion and decency here any more.