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Adoptee Rights Law Center

@adopteerights.bsky.social
871 followers 85 following 132 posts

Lawyer, law firm, adopted person. Lover of toast. Based in Minnesota, born and adopted in the District of Columbia | adopteerightslaw.com

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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
I was so frustrated by the redactions, withholding, and denial of immigration documents for my clients. So I sued. The @nytimes.com describes what's happening. I happen to be one of those lawyers. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/14/u...
nytimes.com
Immigrants’ Lawyers Say U.S. Is Redacting Documents Proving Legal Status (Gift Article)
Many noncitizens need immigration records the government has to prove their legal stay and resist deportation. The government is redacting and withholding those documents, lawyers say.
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Non-Adoptees: WTF? Adoptees: Hold My Beer 🍺 🥚 www.ksl.com/article/5160...
ksl.com
Utah changes birth certificate policy after KSL Investigators uncover records issue
A family experienced what felt like a records runaround when they tried to get certified copies of their birth certificates.
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Anyone know who these alleged orgs are: • Adoptee Advisory Committee • Adoptees for Children • Adoptees Supporting Adoptee Citizenship Because they are listed as supporting the terrible “adoptee citizenship” bill just introduced in Congress . 🥚
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
This is coming to my hometown of Minneapolis, and I'll be there on a panel, in a great venue (Open Book). Hope to see friends there. www.eventbrite.com/e/live-podca...
eventbrite.com
Live Podcast Event with ATMOM & Friends in Minneapolis: Sept. 11th-13th
Join ATMOM for a weekend of community featuring a live podcast, a solo performer, a panel, two documentary shorts, and a comedy performance.
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
This is a bill that we must defeat. Read on, and stay engaged. 🥚 We'll need your help. adopteerightslaw.com/citizenship-...
adopteerightslaw.com
Call It the "Adoptee Deportation Act of 2026" | ARLC
The Citizenship for International Adoptees Act is a dangerous and newly introduced bill. Adoptees and their allies should not support it.
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
I'm currently not recommending U.S. domestic air travel for intercountry adoptees unless it is 1) necessary and 2) they have a U.S. passport. More details. Please read carefully. 🥚 adopteerightslaw.com/advisory-do-...
adopteerightslaw.com
ADVISORY: Do Not Fly | ARLC
Intercountry adoptees should use caution and possess a US passport book or card when flying within the United States.
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
I'm mucking around with a new OBC map---and may tweak some terms. Here's a current draft of things. Let me know what you think. It's something you can play with. 🥚 adopteerightslaw.com/adoptee-obc-...
adopteerightslaw.com
Adoptee Rights: Original Birth Records by State
Interactive map showing adult adoptee rights to original birth records across the United States.
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Just putting this here in case you are A VIRGINIA-BORN ADOPTEE WHO WANTS A COPY OF YOUR OWN ORIGINAL BIRTH RECORD. Just saying. 🥚 adopteerightslaw.com/virginia-ori...
adopteerightslaw.com
Virginia's New OBC Law | Adoptee Rights Law Center
All about Virginia's new OBC law--- and how to apply for your own original birth record, starting July 1, 2026.
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
In ongoing efforts to reduce the number of people who become US citizens, the Trump administration is seeking to jack up naturalization filing fees by more than 80%---and get rid of existing fee waivers for those who do not have the means to pay adopteerightslaw.com/us-increase-...
adopteerightslaw.com
The US Wants to Jack Up the Price to Naturalize | ARLC
The Trump administration seeks to jack up filing fees by 80% for people applying to naturalize, while also eliminating existing fee waivers.
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Reposted by Adoptee Rights Law Center
Kailee Pedersen @kaileepedersen.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
It's the last week to request a free (adoptee community only) advance reader copy of THE MINIMALIST! For fans of TÁR and THE PIANO TEACHER, THE MINIMALIST is a psychological horror novel featuring adoptee issues & the agony & ecstasy of classical music. 🥚 Request here by June 19: tr.ee/FdlY1S
The Minimalist by Kailee Pedersen. Free Advance Reader Copies for the Adoptee Community. Request by June 19. Cover features an Asian woman's face in a slashed-through piano silhouette.
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
So far, for a limited number of intercountry adoptees applying for Certificates of Citizenship, fingerprints are being required. Here's what to know about this development. 🥚 adopteerightslaw.com/fingerprints...
adopteerightslaw.com
Fingerprints and the N-600 | Adoptee Rights Law Center
Suddenly, fingerprints are being taken for N-600 applications in specific limited circumstances. Here's what to know.
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Y'all! Starting July 1, 20026, we go from 16 to 17. More info: mailchi.mp/0fa10318c33e...
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
"The problem is decades old, but has taken on new urgency during the Trump administration’s determination to deport millions of undocumented immigrants." Thanks to @nytimes.com and Elizabeth Williamson for this article www.nytimes.com/2026/03/23/u...
nytimes.com
Born Abroad and Fearful of ICE, Adoptees Try to Prove They Belong
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
So, I wrote a bill. It does something ridiculously radical in America: release a certified copy of an adult adoptee’s own adoption decree . . . to the adult adopted person—upon request. Minnesota SF4382.
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
Imma be busy. adopteerightslaw.com/where-to-fin...
adopteerightslaw.com
Upcoming | Adoptee Rights Law Center
It's been an incredibly busy time for me. Here's where you can find me in the coming months.
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
I do not like the days when I must inform an intercountry adoptee that they are not a US citizen. Today is such a day, and there will be more days like this until we work to fix it. 🥚
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
An article for anyone who misunderstands—or doubts—the fear and lasting damage that US-supported terrorism does to entire communities. In an American city. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/u...
nytimes.com
A Winter of Anguish for Minneapolis Children
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
I did not have "Chad is the leader of antifa" on my bingo card.
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
One of the plaintiffs in this case is a client---and an intercountry adoptee 🥚 whose only lifeline to remain and work in the US is the Haiti TPS program. Her courage to become a named plaintiff is 🔥 www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...
miamiherald.com
Federal judge blocks termination of Haitian TPS, keeps protections from ending Tuesday
With Temporary Protected Status, TPS, set to end at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, a federal judge in Washington renders a decision.
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
A newly introduced Iowa bill requires post-adoption interviews with the adoptive parents and the adopted person, including a "face-to-face interview with the adopted person conducted outside the presence of the parent named in the final adoption decree." 🥚 www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/...
legis.iowa.gov
Iowa Legislature - BillBook
Information pertaining to the Iowa Legislature as well as the Executive and Judicial branch in as much as they relate to the legislative branch
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
This premieres today on PBS. It traces an accomplished film editor's journey through decades of secrecy, creative accomplishment, and eventual reunion with a daughter she lost as a teenager www.pbs.org/independentl...
pbs.org
Vivien’s Wild Ride - Independent Lens
When her eyesight begins to fade, a film editor reimagines belonging and what it truly means to see.
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Adam Crapser talks about his deportation to Korea, his unsuccessful court case against Holt, and Korean adoptees in the United States but without US citizenship [In English and Korean] youtu.be/G-P5nmhwmo8?...
youtu.be
"아이들에게 한국에서 살 기회를 주세요" 고향을 '외국'으로 만든 입양 기관에 맞서고 있는 아담 크랩서의 이야기 | 추적60분 인터뷰
YouTube video by KBS 추적60분
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
Faith-based groups, organized labor, individuals, and community-based organizations are calling for a General Strike on January 23, 2026. #generalstrike 🥚
Dark blue background with the following word large and in white GENERAL STRIKE, under which is January 23, 2026, No Work No School No Shopping
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
If you want to hear about all that's been going on with immigration, US citizenship, and overall adoptee rights, join me and Anna Sarkitova this Sunday, January 18 at 2pm Central/3pm Eastern, all part of the @aaom-adoptees.bsky.social speaker series www.eventbrite.com/e/citizenshi...
eventbrite.com
Citizenship, Voting, and Identity Documents, Advancing Advocacy in Michigan
Anna Sarkitova interviews adoptee rights attorney Gregory Luce on citizenship, voting, identity rights, and advancing adoptee advocacy.
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
With the chaos and violence here in my hometown of Minneapolis (I can hear the helicopters right now), it's a good time to remind people that many intercountry adoptees don't have US citizenship. Here's more info and an ask: adopteerightslaw.com/action/citiz...
adopteerightslaw.com
Action: US Citizenship for Intercountry Adoptees
Ask your US Senators and House Representative to support a bill providing US citizenship for all intercountry adoptees in the United States
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Reposted by Adoptee Rights Law Center
MJ @moonjoo.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
Today the Danish Parliament's social affairs committee held an open hearing on the statute of limitation in adoption cases. Three experts presented evidence on why illegal #adoption should be exempt from the statute of limitations: 🥚
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
Newly filed OBC bills in California and Virginia, one with a hearing today. From the @adopteesunited.bsky.social 2026 State Legislation update. adopteesunited.org/legislation/...
adopteesunited.org
State Legislation | Adoptees United Inc.
Analysis and action on state-level legislation impacting adopted people in the United States.
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
"The named Haitian plaintiffs in the lawsuit include a registered nurse, a doctoral candidate researching Alzheimer’s disease, a woman adopted by Americans and a college student." www.nytimes.com/2026/01/06/u...
nytimes.com
Fate of 350,000 Haitians at Stake as Court Weighs Temporary Protected Status
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Traveling today and nn my way to this interview. I’ll report back what I learn. adopteerightslaw.com/uscis-wants-...
adopteerightslaw.com
USCIS Wants to Interview My Client--For a Certificate of Citizenship
Scheduling an interview for a Certificate of Citizenship case is confusing, wasteful, and a potentially troubling development.
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
Interviews for an Application for a Certificate of Citizenship (N-600) are rare. Yet here we are 😳🥚 adopteerightslaw.com/uscis-wants-...
adopteerightslaw.com
USCIS Wants to Interview My Client--For a Certificate of Citizenship
Scheduling an interview for a Certificate of Citizenship case is confusing, wasteful, and a potentially troubling development.
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
Big California Update. An intercountry adoptee has received a pardon from Gov. Newsom, paving the way to remove a deportation order and reclaim green card status. Kudos to @governor.ca.gov for his action, especially in recognizing the impact on adopted people www.gov.ca.gov/2025/11/07/g...
gov.ca.gov
Governor Newsom announces multiple clemency actions | Governor of California
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
Hey, 🥚 people. This Alabama bill just came across my desk and I'm curious what you think of it. It would allow for "de facto" adoptions, treating them as stepparent adoptions. Info and text of the bill is here: legiscan.com/AL/bill/HB63...
Screenshot of Alabama legislative page for information on HB63. The screenshot has three visible tabs at the top, including "Bill Summary," "Bill History", and "Budget Isolation Resolution." The tab "Bill Summary" has been selected and underneath is the text as follows:

HB63 - 2026 Regular Session

Current Status: Pending Committee Action in House of Origin

Title: Adoption; de facto parent adoption authorized in certain circumstances

Bill Links:

[Link to Introduced]
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
Especially today, props to intercountry adopted people who speak out about being denied US citizenship despite being adopted by US citizen parents decades ago 🥚 www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
The American adoptees who fear deportation to a country they can't remember - BBC News
Thousands of US adoptees do not have citizenship despite being brought to the country as babies decades ago. Now many fear deportation.
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Reposted by Adoptee Rights Law Center
Kailee Pedersen @kaileepedersen.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
🥚 for the adoptee feed - this is my second novel, and my first with an adoptee protagonist! 🥰 🙂
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 21/09/2025
The US Senate has introduced the bipartisan Protect Adoptees and American Families Act, formerly known as the Adoptee Citizenship Act. Let's get this enacted so that thousands of intercountry adoptees finally secure US citizenship. 🥚 adopteesunited.org/congress-int...
adopteesunited.org
The Protect Adoptees and American Families Act | Adoptees United
The fight for US citizenship for all intercountry adoptees continues, with introduction of the Protect Adoptees and American Families Act
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 21/09/2025
Sure, but what happened to the bag of $50,000 in CASH? www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/u...
nytimes.com
Trump Justice Dept. Closed Investigation Into Tom Homan for Accepting Bag of Cash
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
Intercountry adoptee never possessed her original certificate of naturalization and has lost her state ID. Your job? Figure out how to get just *one* of them now. One. Good luck.
Thick black rubber band twisted to resemble a Mobius strip, set on a dark grey background, creating a sense of endless motion.
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 17/08/2025
USCIS has updated its policy guidance on what constitutes "Good Moral Character" (GMC), what a foreign national must demonstrate to become a US citizen. The new "holistic" approach is incredibly broad. It will no doubt be challenged. It's here: uscis.gov/sites/defaul...
“The regulations and policy affirm that GMC findings must go beyond the absence of disqualifying acts, it must reflect a genuine positive assessment of who the alien is and how they have lived in their community. Thus, GMC has generally meant a character commensurate with the standards of average citizens of the community in which the alien resides.”

From, Restoring a Rigorous, Holistic, and Comprehensive Good
Moral Character Evaluation Standard for Aliens Applying
for Naturalization | USCIS Policy Memorandum, 8/15/2025
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Reposted by Adoptee Rights Law Center
Grant Hermes @granthermes.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
Adoptees are getting caught in immigration troubles they never thought they’d be in. Many didn’t even know they could be targets. The full conversation with Greg Luce from @adopteerights.bsky.social is out now! Wherever you get your podcasts. Just search Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
Fascinating article that, you guessed it, has a moment with an adopted person. And how “mattering” can be a counterpoint to “perfectionism” www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
newyorker.com
The Pain of Perfectionism
It’s the fault people humblebrag about in job interviews, but psychologists are discovering more and more about the real harm it causes.
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
Inside Trump’s New Tactic to Separate Immigrant Families www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/u...
nytimes.com
Inside Trump’s New Tactic to Separate Immigrant Families
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
I've been tracking redactions and withholding of critical documents from my client's "A Files," which are released as part of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. It's pretty bad. 🥚 public.flourish.studio/visualisatio...
public.flourish.studio
USCIS: All Redacted and Withheld Pages
A Flourish data visualization by Gregory D Luce
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
Hiya, 🥚 peeps. Can we help this intercountry adoptee (and a client) return to China to visit her long-time foster family and her twin sister, from whom she was separated at age 9? It's a really good cause: gofund.me/82625fe8
gofund.me
Donate to Reuniting with My Family After 15 Years — Help Me Give Back, organized by Anna Fisher
Hi, my name is Anna. I was adopted from China to the United St… Anna Fisher needs your support for Reuniting with My Family After 15 Years — Help Me Give Back
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
I put together some Q&As about Georgia's new law, plus added a video walkthrough of the online application process. Here ya go. 🥚 adopteerightslaw.com/georgia-equa...
adopteerightslaw.com
A Guide to Getting Your OBC in Georgia | Adoptee Rights Law
What Georgia's new equal rights law does, plus how adult adopted people can apply for copies of their own original birth records.
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
Do your fellow adoptee authors and researchers (and readers!) a favor. Request your local library to add the author's books to the library's collection. It makes a difference. 🥚 cc: @thesusanito.bsky.social
Screenshot of a library request to add the book I Would Meet You Anywhere to the library's collection. The request was for the book by Author Susan Kiyo Ito and the response in a blue box at the bottom indicates that "This title will be ordered. You may request it when it appears in the library catalog within 7 to 10 days. If you need assistance, please Ask US. In green in the upper right corner is the word Approved.Screenshot of the library listing for the book by I Would Meet Your Anywhere by Susan Kiyo Ito. The screenshot indicates that all 3 copies available are in use and that you can can request a hold on the book when it becomes available.
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
USCIS is now removing and redacting most documents from intercountry adoptees’ immigration files. Here are 2 concrete things adoptive parents can do to help, at least for now 🥚 adopteerightslaw.com/parents-inte...
adopteerightslaw.com
Dear Parents of Intercountry Adoptees | ARLC
Two things parents of adult intercountry adopted people should do today to help secure documents related to US citizenship and immigration benefits.
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
The Chinese Adoptees Who Were Stolen www.newyorker.com/news/america...
newyorker.com
The Chinese Adoptees Who Were Stolen
As thousands of Chinese families take DNA tests, the results are upending what adoptees abroad thought they knew about their origins.
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
The absurdity of USCIS withholding my clients' own immigration records, which include adoption decrees, birth records, and other documents that are necessary to determine and prove immigration status. adopteerightslaw.com/uscis-withho... 🥚
adopteerightslaw.com
USCIS Is Withholding My Clients' Immigration Records at an Alarming Rate
New USCIS practices are making the job of securing and proving US citizenship for my clients maddeningly slow, difficult, and absurd.
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 21/04/2025
I just received another FOIA response from USCIS and they removed the names of every person mentioned in 69 pages of records. EVERY PERSON, except one: my client, whose own name was not redacted. Her adoptive parents' names were removed from all records, including the decree. Absurd.
Screenshot of text describing the standard to remove information from a FOIA request to USCIS. In yellow highlighted marker are the words "We have completed the review of all documents and have identified 69 pages that are responsive to your request. Enclosed are 4 pages release in their entirety and 24 pages released in part. We are withholding 41 pages in full.
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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 19/04/2025
For the first time EVER, USCIS has redacted the names of ADOPTIVE PARENTS in my client's immigration file (not to mention birthparent names, sibling names, and even the names of judges and officials involved in the adoption). Unbelievable. We're going to appeal. 🥚
Screenshot of an official record involving an adoption. The title of the snippet is "PARENTS" and it lists below a Father and Mother, though the names of the Father and Mother have been redacted by the use of white opaque boxes. The adoption is from Ukraine and the adoptive parents are US citizens.
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