Between 15,000 and 75,000 foreign-adopted children face deportation without status, and Congress is sitting back and watching_1

Leah Elmquist, who was adopted from South Korea as a child, only became a U.S. citizen and obtained her passport right before her 40th birthday in 2022. She served in the Navy for ten years, excelling in her duties but facing barriers to promotion due to her lack of citizenship status. After her military service, she harbored fears of being deported.

A significant number of children adopted from abroad, estimated to be between 15,000 and 75,000, continue to lack U.S. citizenship due to legal oversights. Despite the U.S. Congress acknowledging these gaps, no action has been taken to address them. Many of these so-called “undocumented children” were adopted decades ago by military families and now face the threat of deportation, with some having already been expelled.

According to an AP investigation, these children predominantly hail from countries like South Korea, Ethiopia, Romania, and Belize, armed with adoption documents signed by judges and stamped by government officials that assert their rights as children of American families. However, their adoption did not automatically grant them U.S. citizenship.

As they reach adulthood and attempt to obtain passports, driver’s licenses, seek employment, or apply for government benefits, many are shocked to discover that they are not U.S. citizens, plunging their lives into disarray. The constant government rhetoric targeting undocumented immigrants only heightens their anxiety about being reported.

In response, they started the Adoptee Rights Campaign, gaining support from organizations like the Southern Baptist Convention and liberal immigration advocates. There’s widespread frustration and confusion over the government’s failure to resolve these issues.

The field of international adoption gained momentum in the 1950s due to the Korean War, with a strong demand for infants in the U.S. and a desire in Korea to reduce its population. In their eagerness to facilitate adoptions, governments, including Korea, overlooked the critical step of ensuring adoptive children gained citizenship; some entered the U.S. on tourist or medical visas.

In 2000, Congress recognized the unjust legal predicament faced by adoptees. With nearly 20,000 children being adopted into the U.S. each year, a lack of standardized procedures for supporting adoptive families became evident. Congress passed the Child Citizenship Act, granting automatic citizenship to adopted children. However, this law only applies to those under the age of 18, excluding anyone born before February 27, 1983.

Bipartisan support exists for rescuing children through adoption, with many churches promoting international adoption as a biblical calling. Yet, Hannah Daniel, public policy director for the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, noted her decade-long efforts to expand citizenship to all legally adopted individuals without success. In the current political climate, dominated by partisan debates over immigration, any proposals aimed at providing citizenship pathways remain stalled.