WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.), Mazie K. Hirono
(Hawaii), Susan Collins (Maine), and Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) yesterday introduced
the Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2019. The bipartisan bill would close a loophole
in the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 (CCA), which has prevented
internationally-adopted children, who are now adults, from receiving U.S.
citizenship despite being raised by American parents.
“Thousands of children who were adopted from
abroad and raised in the U.S. by American parents have been denied citizenship
because of a loophole in the Child Citizenship Act,” said Blunt. “These
children, who are now adults, should have been given the same rights afforded
to other adoptees under the CCA. This bipartisan bill will fix current law to
ensure these individuals have the stability and opportunity they should have
had when their families welcomed them into the U.S.”
“Due to a loophole in the Child Citizenship Act,
thousands of internationally-adopted children, who were raised by American
parents, have been denied the same rights of citizenship as biological
children,” said Hirono. “These adoptees were raised as Americans in
American families and would have received the stability and security that the
Child Citizenship Act provided if they had been under the age of 18 when that
law went into effect. The Adoptee Citizenship Act would fix this loophole and
right this wrong.”
“Individuals who were legally adopted by loving
U.S. parents, raised with American values, and are now contributing members of
our society should not be denied citizenship due to a technicality in current
law,” said Collins. “Our bipartisan bill would address this loophole,
and I encourage our colleagues to support it.”
“As Co-Chair of the Congressional Coalition on
Adoption, I believe that all kids deserve more than just a roof over their
heads and a bed to sleep in—each and every child deserves a loving home, and
adoption makes that possible for so many children around the world,” said
Klobuchar. “Our bipartisan bill closes a loophole and makes citizenship
automatic for all adopted children regardless of their age at adoption. These
adoptees grew up in American families. They went to American schools. They lead
American lives. This bill would ensure that international adoptees are recognized
as the Americans that they truly are.”
The CCA guarantees citizenship to most
international adoptees, but the law only applies to adoptees who were under the
age of 18 when the law took effect on February 27, 2001. The loophole denies
citizenship to adoptees who were age 18 or over in February 2001, even though
they were legally adopted as children by U.S. citizens and raised in the United
States. The legislation introduced today fixes this problem by making
citizenship automatic for international adoptees who were legally adopted by
U.S. citizens as children, regardless of how old they eventually were when the
Child Citizenship Act took effect.
Without citizenship, these international adoptees
face many barriers, such as having trouble applying for a passport, license, or
student financial aid. In some cases, they have been deported to the country in
which they were born, where they may have no known family and little chance of
succeeding.
In addition to the bipartisan congressional
support for the Adoptee Citizenship Act, the legislation has garnered
widespread praise among the nation’s leading adoption advocacy organizations.
“Adoptees who join American families as children
grow up with American values and contribute to our nation’s communities in
every way,” said Joy Alessi, Director, Adoptee Rights Campaign. “Passing
the Adoptee Citizenship Act will provide the benefits and protections that many
adoptees did not receive during their adoption process. Citizenship is critical
for economic stability, family preservation, and social legitimacy. Finally,
equal citizenship rights will strengthen our national values by empowering
adoptees to participate in American democracy. We thank Senators Hirono, Blunt,
Collins, and Klobuchar for their bipartisan leadership and urge all Members of
Congress to support the Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2019.”
“For far too long, tens of thousands of
international adoptee children of American parents have lived their entire
lives without U.S. citizenship due to an oversight in a law that was intended
to help them,” said Daniel Sakaguchi, President, National Asian Pacific
American Bar Association. “Congress now has a chance to fix that law and
change lives. We thank Senators Blunt, Hirono, Collins, and Klobuchar for their
leadership and commitment to these adoptees. We urge all Members of Congress to
support the Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2019.”
“Americans celebrate when children find families
through adoption,” said Chuck Johnson, President, National Council For
Adoption. “Fixing technicalities that have unintentionally prevented
thousands of legally adopted children from obtaining their U.S citizenship is
right and necessary. The Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2019 accomplishes this
important goal.”
“The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute
is so grateful to the congressional leaders who are using their platform to
eliminate barriers to permanency. The Adoptee Citizenship Act addresses a
serious loophole that has left several thousand foreign-born adoptees who were
legally adopted by American parents without their rightful U.S. citizenship
status,” said Bethany Haley, Interim Executive Director, Congressional
Coalition on Adoption Institute. “The adoption community is grateful to
Senators Blunt, Hirono, Collins, and Klobuchar for taking the initiative to
solve this problem once and for all for the adopted children of American
citizens."
“Adoptees for Justice is excited about the
introduction of the Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2019 in the U.S. Senate,” said
Becky Belcore, Co-Director, Adoptees For Justice. “This represents a big
step forward towards all intercountry adoptees having U.S. citizenship, which
should have automatically been granted when they were first adopted by their
U.S. citizen parents."
“Holt International greatly appreciates the
Senators for taking the lead on the Adoptee Citizenship Act,” said
Susan Soonkeum Cox, VP Policy and External Affairs, Holt International. “We
strongly support this important legislation, which is long overdue, and will do
all we can to assure its passage.”
“Every child who was lawfully brought to the
United States and adopted by U.S citizen parents should be a U.S. citizen,” said
Dr. Diane B. Kunz, Esq., Executive Director, Center for Adoption Policy.
“Unfortunately, until the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 was passed, citizenship
for internationally adopted children was not automatic. But the law passed in
2000 did not cover all international adoptees, leaving some adoptees without
U.S. citizenship and the rights and privileges of which, as the children of
American parents, they should have. The Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2019, if
passed, will rectify this gap and right an injustice to adoptees that has
existed for too long.”
“We must protect and foster the basic unit of our
society, the family,” said Richard MacIntyre, Partner, Family Coalition for
Adoptee Citizenship. “This bill will provide the long awaited right to
citizenship for deserving adoptees and security to their American families.”