Issues Remain for the Haitian Children that Came to the US After Earthquake UPDATED
For the children that were far in the adoption process or already legally adopted by US parents (about 40% of the 1100 total), Humanitarian Parole process might have been optimal if a pathway to citizenship had accompanied it. Unfortunately, the lack of a plan for citizenship has caused many issues for adoptive parents–problems from health care coverage to education. While the Help Haiti Act of 2010 http://www.immigration.com/news/adoption/uscis-implements-help-haiti-act-2010 solves one minor problem by giving these kids a green card, it does not completely solve the problem. It is important to note that “It is not necessary for a U.S. citizen to adopt a Haitian parolee in order for the Haitian parolee to obtain a green card under the Help HAITI Act of 2010. However, adoption by a U.S. citizen will be necessary for the Haitian parolee to obtain automatic citizenship under section 320 of the Immigration and Nationality Act”. So, adoptive parents are left to completely figure out the adoption procedure on their own. This process varies from state to state.
This article http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/01/11/haiti.us.orphans/ [CNN.com 1/12/11 by Rose Arce and Soledad O’Brien] discusses some of the results of the 660 adoption cases that were not finalized in Haiti before the earthquake. The article states “[M]any spent months in federal custody — some even experiencing their second winter detained in shelters in Pennsylvania and Florida, still waiting for their lives in America to truly begin”
It is shocking to read that “a few dozen” children have remained in Department of Homeland Security (DHS) custody for this long. This is really a triple trauma of orphanage life, living through an earthquake and now living in a foreign country with a different language and culture without a family.
The reasons for this prolonged custody are outlined as follows:
“But HHS ended up with custody of another 660 children as their complicated legal situation was sorted out. They were placed in foster homes or shelters used for children who enter the country illegally.
A string of government agencies was able to get most of them placed with adoptive parents or in foster homes in days. But a few dozen remained detained in shelters over the course of the year for a variety of reasons:
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Some children did not have firm commitments from U.S. adoptive parents.
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In about a dozen cases, the U.S. adoptive parents changed their minds and returned the children to shelters.
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In other cases, the biological parents in Haiti had not finished paperwork declaring they were giving up their children for adoption, or the paperwork was missing.
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The Haitian government slowed the adoption process further after one group of Americans was arrested for trying to illegally depart the country with children.
Eventually, one by one, all but 15 of the children moved in with families.”
It is appalling that Humanitarian Parole was given for children that did not have firm commitments from US adoptive parents. We remain concerned about the possible number of children that may be the victims of disruptions due to the hasty Humanitarian Parole process.
Disturbing questions remain such as
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Where are/were these children of disruptions being taken care of?
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Do/Did these children have psychological support in their native language during this time?
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Which agencies (public and private) were involved with their placements?
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How much money was made from their placements and who did it go to?
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Is the US government working with Haiti to resolve these issues?
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How are/were prospective adoptive parents being screened or selected for these children?
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How will these children gain citizenship?
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Are these dozen children part of the 15 children still remaining to be placed?
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Just what are the circumstances of the 15 children that remain to be placed and how are they being taken care of?
For more details on what happened to the 54 children who were airlifted outside of Department of State protocols to Pennsylvania (the total of which includes 12 children that were not matched to adoptive parents at all and 6 children that were matched to prospective parents in other countries), read http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10336/1107635-84.stm , http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11005/1115550-455.stm and http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11012/1117264-455.stm [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette online versions 12/2/10 by Daniel Malloy; 1/5/11 by Mackenzie Carpenter 1/12/11 by Mackenzie Carpenter]
Adoption is not an emergency procedure. Let’s hope that is remembered the next time disaster strikes a poor country.
Update: Of the 12 unmatched children airlifted to Pennsylvania “[o]nly one adoption failed: A 13-year-old boy with severe emotional trauma from the quake and underlying psychiatric issues remains in federal custody in Miami, where he’s being treated while officials try to find a foster family.”
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/01/orphans_from_haiti_mostly_thri.html
[Pennlive.com 1/22/11 by Associated Press]
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