Should persons adopted from other countries be deported if they commit a crime?

Question

There have been several stories about this recently, see the link below for examples:

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_10011361

Excerpt from the article:

"Kairi Shepherd got caught forging checks to pay for her meth habit. Erlene Shepherd's quirky record-keeping went on trial. And as a result, her daughter has been snared in the morass of sometimes conflicting American immigration laws - legally adopted, a permanent resident, but still facing deportation to a country she never knew."

Answer 1

This is another repercussion of the lax IA laws and regulations and ap's turning a blind eye.

Shall the Constitution be amended for ignorance and self centeredness as well, just like the term "orphan" has for people desperate for an IA baby.

I think if Ap's drop the ball on citizenship for these poor kids than they should be financially responsible if they are forced back to their mother country.

Answer 2

Sad and I believe that each case should be looked upon on it's merits.  The unfortunite part is that if any member of her family had taken the time to get her citizenship done it would not be an issue now.  My daughter came home with us on a PGO through the Indian courts coincidently and the first thing we did before we even got her adopted was apply for her citizenship in the event that anything happened to my wife or I.  We actually got that citizenship done before we were able to get the adoption processed.  We figured that in that way, if something happened to my wife or I, my daughter could at least remain in the country and be adopted by one of our family members.

Answer 3

This is one of those things that our International Adoption agency hammered home to us.  Adopting a foreign-born child isn't enough.  Unless there are specific criteria met, simply getting an entrance visa DOES NOT make the child a US citizen.  There is (yet another) set of paperwork/bureaucracy (and associated fees) that the APs need to do: Apply for the Certificate of Citizenship.  

Re-adopting in the US makes the child eligible for citizenship, but unless that Certificate of Citizenship is in-hand, the child is a legal resident only.

Which means, committing a crime lead to deportation.  Even teenagers getting into a little bit of trouble.  

IMHO, the APs dropped the ball here.  I hope that a judge will not force deportation, due to the circumstancees.  But there's no guarantee that will happen.

ETA: The Citizenship Act does NOT cover all (or even most) international adoptees!  As I understand it, the adoptive parents must travel to the foreign country on a separate occasion before the adoption goes to court in the foreign country for this to apply.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but one of the few IA progams that require two trips is Russia.

Answer 4

I don't know about the legal part, but if she was adopted, I think she should stay where she's at and face the legal system in the country that she lives.

Answer 5

Sounds weird to me... from what I understood if you adopted a child from another country, they weren't a permanent resident, they were legally American, so they wouldn't be deported.  Hmmm....

Answer 6

Yea, that's wrong.

Her citizenship paperwork was incomplete, which is how they would be able to deport her. It sucks because I'm sure she had no clue she wasn't a full citizen.

It's a cruel technicality.

Answer 7

On any moral ground this is an outrage.

Since the Child Citizen Act (2000), international adoptees automatically receive US citizenship, though the law doesn't apply in retrospect to those adoptees adopted before 2000. So there are many, now adult, international adoptees who don't have American citizenship. To them the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act applies. This law implies deportation of non-citizens for criminal records where they are sentenced to 1 year or more of prison time.

There are several cases of adoptees facing or having faced deportation:

Aaron Billings (pending) see: http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/17385

Alehandro Ebron (pending) see: http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/17357

Christopher Clancy (status unknown) see: http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/17433

Dan Heiskala (pending) see: http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/17353

Jess Mustanich (deported) see: http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/17355

Joao Herbert (deported) see: http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/17356

John Gaul III (deported) see: http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/17358

Samuel Jonathon Schultz (pending) see: http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/17354

The case of Joao Herbert is especially tragic, after he was deported to Brazil, he was killed,

Answer 8

I don't know about the legal aspect of this but personally, if someone does something criminal then they should be punished on the grounds where they committed it, albeit nationality/race.

Answer 9

No.  She was brought here legally; she didn't even have a say in the matter.  

If she came here illegally of her own free will, then I would say she should be deported.

Adoptive parents need to make sure they file paperwork for their child to become a citizen ASAP, if required.  I believe it depends on the visa your child came in on.  This is how I remember it:  IR-3, you're home free...  IR-4, wait, there's more {necessary paperwork}.

I think the Citizenship Act only covers IR-3 visas.

Answer 10

What an awful story.  

As a thief and meth-head, she deserves jail and treatment.

But not deportation...

Answer 11

Of course not.  They may have broken the law but they are American citizens with parents in America.  They should be punished and re-habilitated in America.

Answer 12

No way! I read of a boy who stole from his afather's house. As a scare tactic his father called the police on him and pressed charges. In the end the boy was sent back to his birth country, where he didn't know a l**k of spanish and struggles to get by. He may not even be able to get back into the country.

He wasn't a citizen because of many fast changing laws and it was never finalized. It's not something he should suffer for!

I take on a personal look to this question. Two weeks ago I was told I was not a citizen of the US. After 19 years of being here I was never confirmed to be a citizen! If I committed a crime I would have been deported. Luckily I was able to do everything to be a citizen now so I don't have to worry but still.. I can't speak spanish and I never want to go back to my country, I just wouldn't survive.