
The Adoptee Citizenship Act
CURRENT STATUS
Overview: The Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2019 has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R. 2731) and Senate (S. 1554). It has 95 cosponsors (supporters) in the House and 8 cosponsors in the Senate.
We are currently working with members of Congress to pass this legislation. Our focus is on helping to educate about this issue and build legislative support to ensure the bill remains inclusive. We are also working on growing constituent and organizational support for this legislation.
Passing legislation is a long process and many adoptees remain at risk of losing access to critical services and rights. We strive to support adoptees without citizenship in their individual situations and continue to fight for justice.
UPDATE (11/3) : The Adoptee Citizenship Act is now at the markup stage of the legislative process. During markup, any member of Congress on the House Judiciary Committee can recommend changes to the bill (including exclusions). However, this Committee is under no obligation to markup the bill and if it’s not passed by December 10th, it will expire and will have to be re-introduced next year. With this deadline fast approaching, we MUST keep urging the House Judiciary Committee to pass an inclusive Adoptee Citizenship Act this year!
— List of House Judiciary Committee members who have cosponsored the Adoptee Citizenship Act
UPDATE (9/23): View the joint statement on the Adoptee Citizenship Act by Adoptees for Justice & Adoptee Rights Law Center – submitted to the”Immigrants as Essential Workers During COVID-19″ hearing held by the House Immigration Subcommittee.

Why we must pass an inclusive Adoptee Citizenship Act.


View over 170 organizations who support a clean, inclusive Adoptee Citizenship Act
On Monday, November 16, Adoptees for Justice sent a letter co-signed by over 180 organizations across the United States to House leadership. The letter urged House leadership to bring a clean and inclusive Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2019 (H.R. 2731) to a vote on the House floor before the end of the 116th Congress on December 10, 2020. View and download the letter here.
National Organizations
- 18 Million Rising
- AAJIL (Asian American Innovation + Justice Lab)
- Adoptee Rights Campaign (ARC)
- Adoptees Connect, Inc.
- Adoptees United Inc.
- Adoption Search Resource Connection
- African Communities Together (ACT)
- Alianza Americas
- Alianza Nacional de Campesinas
- Amazin LeThi Foundation
- American Friends Service Committee
- Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC
- Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote)
- Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO
- Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence
- Bastard Nation: the Adoptee Rights Organization
- Bend the Arc: Jewish Action
- Beteseb Felega - Ethiopian Adoption Connection
- Black Alliance for Just Immigration
- CASA
- Casa de Esperanza: National Latin@ Network for Healthy Families and
- Communities
- CASA in Action (Pennsylvania, Maryland, & Virginia)
- Center for Popular Democracy
- CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers
- Child Welfare League of America
- Christian Reformed Church Office of Social Justice
- Church World Service
- Coalition on Human Needs
- Community Change Action
- Creating a Family, the national adoption and foster care education and
- support nonprofit
- Detention Watch Network
- Disciples Immigration Legal Counsel
- Disciples Refugee & Immigration Ministries
- East Coast Asian American Student Union (ECAASU)
- Education for Social Justice Foundation
- Empowering Pacific Islander Communities (EPIC)
- Faith and Community Empowerment
- Families with Children from China New England (FCCNE)
- Family Coalition for Adoptee Citizenship
- FIRM Action
- First Focus on Children
- Food Empowerment Project
- FORGE, Inc.
- Hispanic Federation
- International Child Search Alliance
- International Korean Adoptee Associations
- Japanese American Citizens League
- Korean American Coalition
- Lights for Liberty
- MAASU (Midwest Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Students Union)
- MidWest Mixed
- Musings of the Lame
- NALEO Educational Fund
- Nanchang Project
- NAPABA
- National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
- National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF)
- National Coalition of Adoptee Equality
- National Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA)
- National Immigrant Justice Center
- National Immigration Forum
- National Immigration Law Center
- National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild (NIPNLG)
- National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)
- National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)
- Action Fund
- National Network for Immigrant & Refugee Rights
- National Partnership for New Americans
- NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
- North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC)
- NQAPIA
- OCA - Asian Pacific American Advocates
- South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT)
- Southeast Asia Resource Action Center
- T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
- The Rhizome Center for Migrants
- U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants
- UndocuBlack Network
- United We Dream
- Visual Communications Media
- Woodhull Freedom Foundation
State/Local Organizations
- ACLU Alabama
- ACLU of Florida
- Adoptee Hub
- Adoptees Connect - Philadelphia
- Adoptees Connect - Providence
- Adoptees Connect, Buffalo
- Adoption Network Cleveland
- Adoption Perspectives, LLC
- Adoption Rhode Island
- Adoptive and Foster Family Coalition of New York
- AKAP: Adult Korean Adoptees of Portland
- AKAP Adult Korean Adoptees of Portland
- Alliance of Rhode Island Southeast Asians for Education
- Also-Known-As
- Ann Kim Md Pc
- APIENC (API Equality - Northern California)
- Asian Adult Adoptees of Washington
- Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles
- Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago
- Asian Americans Advancing Justice- Atlanta
- Asian Counseling and Referral Service
- Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO)
- Asian Pacific Islander Coalition
- Asian Services In Action (ASIA)
- Boston Korean Adoptees
- Brown Asian Sisters Empowered (BASE)
- CCJC
- Chicago Jesus-Love Korean UMC
- Chicago Joyful Community Church
- Chicago Sanctuary Church Network
- Chinese Children Adoption International
- Coalición de Derechos Humanos
- Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community
- Coalition of Adoptive Families COFAF
- Coalition of Asian American Leaders (CAAL)
- Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition
- Colorado People's Alliance
- Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, U.S.
- Provinces
- Cross Cultural Adoptee Mentorship Program (C-CAMP)
- Dreamers Community Church
- Enlace Chicago
- Equality California
- Equality North Carolina
- Equity in Education Coalition
- Faith Communities Organizing for Sanctuary
- Families with Children from China of Greater New York
- Families with Children from China Southern California
- Farmworker Association of Florida
- Florida Immigrant Coalition
- H-CAN (Havertown-Area Community Action Network) Immigration and
- Refugee Action Group
- HANA Center
- Hanul Family Alliance
- Heavenswill church
- Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
- Japanese American Service Committee
- KAN-WIN
- Korean American Coalition of Chicago
- Make the Road New York
- Make the Road Pennsylvania
- Mayor's Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs (Philadelphia)
- Michigan Open Access
- MinKwon Center for Community Action
- MIRA Coalition
- NAKASEC Virginia
- NAPAWF*NYC
- New York Adoptee Rights Coalition (NYARC)
- New York Immigration Coalition
- North Carolina Asian Americans Together
- NOVA Friends of Refugees
- Ohio Asian American Health Coalition
- Ohio Birthparents Group
- Ohio Immigrant Alliance
- One In Christ Episcopal Church
- OneAmerica
- OPAWL
- Organized Communities Against Deportations OCAD
- Pact, An Adoption Alliance
- Paz Promise Arizona
- Pennsylvania Governor’s Advisory Commission on Asian Pacific
- American Affairs
- Pennsylvania Immigration & Citizenship Coalition
- Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste
- Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada
- Public Advocacy for Kids (PAK)
- Rhode Island First Korean Church
- Schaumburg Alliance Church
- Services, Immigrant Rights & Education Network (SIREN)
- Silver State Equality-Nevada
- Somos Un Pueblo Unido
- Sunflower Community Action
- SURJ Marin - Showing Up for Racial Justice
- Taste of Korea Chicago Festival
- Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition
- The Park Adoption Community Center
- The Second Presbyterian Church, New York City
- Transracial Adoptees at Ohio State
- Truth in Immigration Project
- Vietnamese Association of Illinois
- Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights
- Voces de la Frontera
- Woori Center
- Yeondae
Review the infographic below to understand the bill’s current status and the next steps in the legislative process.

ADOPTEE CITIZENSHIP OVERVIEW
Since 1948, over 500,000 children have been adopted from abroad by U.S. citizen parents with the promise of a better life (Boone, 2019). They were to be adopted into a new family and receive citizenship. However, some of these adoptees’ parents did not complete the necessary processes to provide their adopted children with citizenship or, in many cases, even a green card. The adoptive systems failed to protect the very children they intended to protect.
As a result, an estimated thousands of legally adopted individuals who were born before February 27, 1982 and raised in the United States and/or did not enter the country on an “orphan visa” do not have U.S. citizenship and are therefore potentially subject to deportation. There are 18,603 Korean American adoptees alone who do not have American citizenship according to the Korean Health Ministry. A number of deportations of individuals who were legally adopted from foreign countries have already taken place, breaking up families and returning the deported individuals to places where they do not know the language, culture or have any known family members.
There are cases of individuals without citizenship who were adopted from 28 countries including Argentina, Brazil, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Haiti, India, Ireland, Iran, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Spain, South Korea, St. Kitts, Taiwan, Ukraine, Venezuela and Vietnam.
Citizenship is a civil right of all children adopted by a U.S. citizen parent. Children adopted by U.S. citizen parents should have the same rights as children of U.S. citizens. This civil right should be protected by legislation that provides automatic citizenship for all adult adoptees whose adoptive parents did not complete the naturalization process while they were children.
Adoptee Citizenship Legislative History
ACA OF 2018
The Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2018 was introduced with bipartisan support in the House (H.R.5233) and Senate (S.2522) on March 8, 2018. However, this bill was not as an inclusive bill as the previous versions and did not cover some of the most impacted adoptees without citizenship. The ACA of 2018 was not referred out of committee before the end of the session.
ACA OF 2015-16
Two bills which would have granted citizenship to all adult adoptees were introduced with bipartisan support in the 114th Congress: the Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2015 (S.2275) and the Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2016 (H.R.5454). Neither bill was referred out of committee for a Congressional vote.
Both bills sought to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to grant automatic citizenship to all qualifying children adopted by a U.S. citizen parent, regardless of the date on which the adoption was finalized or of the entrance visa. Citizenship would be granted to any individual who was adopted by a U.S. citizen before age 18, was physically present in the United States in the citizen parent’s legal custody pursuant to a lawful admission before the individual reached age 18, never previously acquired U.S. citizenship, and was lawfully residing in the United States. The bills would have also given adult adoptees who had already been deported the opportunity to return to the United States.
CLAA OF 2013
The Citizenship for Lawful Adoptees Amendment (S.Amdt.1222 to S.744) was sponsored by Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La), an adoptive parent. The bill passed the Senate on June 27, 2013 but ultimately failed to pass the House.
The Citizenship for Lawful Adoptees Amendment to the new immigration bill would extend citizenship to adoptees who are not covered by the Child Citizenship Act. This includes adoptees who do not meet the age ceiling of the CCA. According to Senate records, this was also intended to cover deported adoptees, adoptees with families living abroad, and adoptees in which only one parent visited the sending country during the adoption process.
CCA OF 2000
This bill was originally named the Adopted Orphans Act in both the House and Senate. It aimed to provide equal treatment under United States law for adopted and biological children by granting citizenship to internationally-born adoptees. The Child Citizenship Act of 2000 was passed in the House (H.R. 2883) and Adopted Orphans Act passed in the Senate (S.1485) of that year. However, when the act became law, it did not apply to internationally-born adoptees who were already over the age of 18. The Child Citizenship Act of 2000 is known as Public Law 106-395, and is codified at 8 U.S.C. §§ 1431-33.