Adopted in America, Facing Deportation

Up to 200,000 internationally adopted children may now be at risk of detention or deportation under the administration of Donald Trump because they never obtained U.S. citizenship, according to immigration attorneys.

Over the past 80 years, American families have adopted more than 500,000 children from abroad. In some cases, reports indicate that children were even taken from their biological families by unethical adoption agencies.

However, not all adoptive parents completed the citizenship process, leaving tens of thousands of individuals who grew up in the United States without legal status.

“Most immigrants understand early on what they need to do to obtain legal status, but many adoptees never questioned whether they had it until now,” said Mónica Dooner Lindgren, a family law attorney in Minnesota, in a recent report by The New York Times.

She also noted that while the State Department states that a valid U.S. passport can serve as proof of citizenship, this does not necessarily prevent adoptees from being detained.

In recent months, the White House has softened its rhetoric around “mass deportation,” but it remains unclear whether this will lead to lasting changes in enforcement practices.

Lindgren added that increased immigration enforcement in Minnesota a state with one of the highest rates of international adoption appears to broadly target foreign-born individuals, without distinguishing between different immigration categories.

This comes as the administration deployed ICE agents to more than a dozen U.S. airports amid ongoing funding disputes in Congress over the growing budget of the Department of Homeland Security.

Democratic lawmakers have opposed additional funding unless restrictions are placed on enforcement practices, including the use of masks by agents and warrantless home operations.

In recent months, federal judges have ruled more than 7,000 times that immigration agents conducted unlawful detentions, often without strong legal justification presented by government attorneys.

As a result, many internationally adopted individuals now fear detention, regardless of whether they may qualify for citizenship.

According to Gregory Luce, an immigration attorney and founder of Adoptees United, an estimated 200,000 adoptees born abroad grew up without U.S. citizenship often only discovering their status when applying for a passport or Social Security benefits.

Congress has previously attempted to address this issue, but gaps remain. A 2001 law granted automatic citizenship only to adoptees under the age of 18, leaving up to 75,000 individuals excluded.

A bipartisan bill, the Protect Adoptees and American Families Act, was introduced in September and would grant automatic citizenship to all international adoptees. However, its future remains uncertain.

Luce explained that many eligible adoptees are now afraid to apply for citizenship, fearing it could expose them to immigration enforcement.

“Naturalization in this environment is much more difficult and risky,” Luce told The New York Times. “People are afraid and the difficult question is: should they apply, renew their green card, or do nothing?”