Deportation of Adoptees Continue in the States

Another adoptee faces deportation

Posted: January 25th, 2011 | Author: resistance | Filed under: -ing while brown, can't see 'em | Leave a comment »

U.S. adoptive parents: Make sure your kids have their certificates of citizenship.

From New America Media:

A Korean woman in Arizona, who was adopted and brought to the U.S. when she was eight months old, is facing deportation after a second conviction for theft, reports the Korea Times. The 31-year-old mother of three is currently being held in a federal detention center in Arizona.

According to officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Seo (not her real name) was first convicted on theft charges in 2008, for which she served a seven-month sentence. She was arrested on a second theft charge in 2009, and sentenced to a year-and-half in jail. In January, ICE initiated deportation proceedings against her, requesting for a travel certificate from the Korean consulate in Los Angeles.

As I’ve noted previously, articles about adoption and citizenship often report that citizenship is “automatic” for international adoptees. New America Media repeated the erroneous statement from the original article in Korean:

“Although [she] was adopted as an infant, she is only a green card holder and not a citizen,” says Kim, adding that adoption laws were changed after 2004, long after Seo’s adoption, to grant adoptees citizenship 45 days after their arrival in the country.

This is false. The Child Citizenship Act of 2000 did grant citizenship to internationally adopted children who meet specific conditions. And in January 2004, CIS began to issue automatic certificates of citizenship within 45 days of arrival to children who became citizens under the Act.

However, children who arrive on IR4 visas do not obtain automatic citizenship. Thousands of internationally adopted children are at risk if their parents do not obtain citizenship for them or if they do not file for citizenship on their own. (Note that it’s a much easier process when the applicant is a child.)

In case you can’t tell, I don’t have the energy to froth at the mouth lately (although I can summon a spirited “Fuck you” when the occasion warrants). You can read previous froth about immigration and citizenship by searching the blog.

So the moral of the story is get that certificate of citizenship. That is all.