A loophole might let the US deport adoptees. We need Kansas and Missouri senators’ help
Getting to grow up in Kansas felt like hitting the jackpot to me. I was adopted by my parents in 1983 from South Korea. After years of waiting and wanting, they finally received their squalling 4-month-old bundle of joy. My parents never missed an opportunity to lavish attention upon me. Whenever I made mention of the slightest interest in an activity — such as karate, archery or playing the violin and guitar — they would supply me with whatever I needed to pursue my dreams, regardless of cost.
In 2016, I heard rumors that hundreds of American adoptees who were raised here were being deported from the United States back to their birth countries — even after getting an education and working in this country for their entire lives. For months, I had panic attacks, afraid that Immigration and Customs Enforcement could tear me away from my child. My parents reassured me I was a naturalized citizen, but the fear remained. The realization that many adoptees could legally be stripped of their basic human rights and dignity, separated from their loved ones and deported to a country they did not know, whose language they did not speak, was devastating.
Before the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, adoption and citizenship proceedings were two separate, arduous and expensive processes that required legal support. Many adoptees were not granted citizenship, despite their becoming the legal children of U.S. citizen parents. Whether because of bureaucratic oversights, honest mistakes, or abuse and manipulation of the system, many adoptees were left without the same rights and protections as their parents’ biological children.
The Child Citizenship Act attempted to repair this error, granting automatic citizenship to adoptees under the age of 18 at the time of its enactment. However because of an arbitrary cut-off date, a loophole was created and tens of thousands of adoptees were left without access to citizenship.
Fortunately, there is currently legislation awaiting passage in the Senate — the Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2021. Passed by the House earlier this year, the update to current law would resolve the 2000 law’s technical oversight. This new act would grant citizenship to individuals who were legally adopted as children by U.S. citizen parents, regardless of age.
A number of elected officials, particularly Missouri’s Sen. Roy Blunt as co-sponsor of the bill, play a vital role in the outcome of the Adoptee Citizenship Act. It’s imperative that the Senate pass this legislation this year so President Joe Biden can sign it into law. Blunt has been a key leader in the movement toward citizenship for adoptees, and I implore him to act before his retirement at the end of this year. No one — including adoptees who were brought as children by American parents under the government’s promises of rights, protection and opportunity — should have to face another loss of home, family, and safety.
If you are interested in taking action, please contact Sen. Blunt if you live in Missouri, and Sens. Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran if you live in Kansas, and voice your support for an intact Adoptee Citizenship Act and the urgency with which Congress must pass it this year.