Commentary on April Ethiopia USCIS/DOS Teleconference Slides
A few weeks ago, we shared the slides and notes from the teleconference here. There are four slides that warrant some additional comments.
The Vulnerabilities in the Ethiopian Adoption Process that are highlighted are the same as the results of both the Fruits of Ethiopia study and the PEAR study. These are enormous flaws on the levels of orphanage, facilitator/service/ASP and Ethiopia government that USCIS and DOS uncovered.
- “U.S. Adjudication of I-600 and visa application for child. Valid Ethiopian adoption decrees presented with supporting documents containing inconsistencies “
This indicates both orphanage and facilitator/service/ASP issues.
- “Court of First Instance reluctant to overturn a case it has already approved”
This indicates an Ethiopia Government issue.
- “Embassy officers have difficulty distinguishing between careless errors in the dossiers and potentially deeper problems involving fraud or misrepresentation”
This indicates both orphanage and facilitator/service/ASP issues.
- “Child moved to transition house and Ethiopian adoption ongoing. Lack of consistent ASP due diligence to learn the true facts of the child’s availability “
This indicates a Facilitator/service/ASP issue.
- “Local court documentation of abandonment or relinquishment often inconsistent with other available records”
This indicates both Ethiopia Government and facilitator/service/ASP issues.
- “Court of First Instance adoption decrees often inconsistent with other evidence”
This indicates both Ethiopia Government and facilitator/service/ASP issues
- “Child at orphanage and being matched with U.S. PAPs. General lack of proper intake records at orphanages”
This indicates an orphanage issue.
- “Concern that some ASPs pay orphanages per capita for children matched with U.S. PAPs”
This indicates a facilitator/service/ASP issue.
- “Anecdotal evidence that certain orphanages enter into coercive contracts with birth parents to prevent them from changing their minds.”
This indicates an orphanage issue.
- “Child being identified as an orphan – either relinquished or abandoned. Limited evidence or record-keeping about abandonments”
This indicates an orphanage issue.
- “Anecdotal evidence that ASPs are soliciting children”
This indicates an facilitator/service/ASP issue.
- “Anecdotal evidence that some local officials and orphanages are working together to identify and place children in orphanages”
This indicates both Ethiopia Government and orphanage issues.
- “General lack of birth or death records”
This indicates an Ethiopia Government issue.
- “Many biological parents, particularly fathers, whereabouts unknown”
This indicates Ethiopia Government and orphanage issues.
Slide 4
“Generally children being adopted from Ethiopia by U.S. parents meet the definition of orphan under U.S. law and the cases are approved.” This highlights what we have said in a previous post about international adoption being 2 processes-Adoption and Immigration. The Embassy’s assessment is NOT about the ethics or validity of the adoption, but whether or not the child meets immigration standards. In the notes here, it is admitted that the US embassy approved concerning and suspicious cases because they determined that it was in the “best interest of the children.” This is mainly because the adoption has already been approved locally and the children would be put in dire circumstances if they denied the visa. This IS the same as saying that they have rubberstamped visas. So, it is deeply disappointing after admitting to this that they are still allowing international adoptions to go on.
Slide 13Seventeen agencies placed more than 100 kids apiece. Ninety percent of the agencies are Hague-approved. Again, it is deeply disappointing that these Hague-approved agencies are being allowed to continue to operate. The notes that we link to admit that there is some level of knowledge-sharing between the Embassy and COA, the agency-approval entity but it remains unclear how much information is being shared. Neither admits sharing information with the state licensing agencies.
Slide 20This slide shows that twelve orphanages with twenty or more placements in the database placed all of their children with a single ASP. Eight of the twenty largest orphanages placing children have one to one relationships with an ASP. Nine ASPs have a one to one relationship with at least one orphanage that placed twenty or more children. This again points to both orphanage and facilitator/service/ASP issues.
Conclusions and Recommendations
1. All of these orphanages and agencies on slide 20 should get high scrutiny.
2. All issues that we labeled as facilitator/service/ASP issues are completely unacceptable. This should be cause to be permanently out of business. COA and the US Embassy need to continue to be pressed into action.
3. Business is taking precedence here in this non-Hague country. The Embassy should be trying to protect the US citizen adoptive parents from participation in fraud, but that is not their purview. They essentially have said that they have been rubberstamping fraudulent documents. Make no mistake, PAPs, the US Embassy’s approval of a visa IN NO WAY INDICATES AN ETHICAL ADOPTION .What do they do when they can’t distinguish sloppiness from “deeper issues”? They admit to letting it go and they appear to be continuing to let it go.
4. The Embassy and DOS aren’t going to do anything about orphanage or Ethiopia government issues either. They admit it in the Q and A. If you look again at the analysis of the Dutch investigation, known as Fruits of Ethiopia, you will see that some of the biggest issues are at the orphanage level.
5. Tally of issues: 7 orphanage issues ; 7 facilitator/service/ASP issues; 6 Ethiopia Government issues identified. And the DOS’ and US Embassy’s only response is to ask the ASPs to fix their part. God have mercy on anyone who is going to continue to try to adopt from Ethiopia.
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