The Child Citizenship Act guarantees citizenship to most international adoptees, but the law only applies to adoptees who were under the age of 18 when the law took effect on February 27, 2001. This loophole denies citizenship to adoptees who were age 18 or over in February 2001, even though they were legally adopted as children by U.S. citizens and raised in the United States. Without citizenship, international adoptees face many barriers, such as having trouble applying for a passport, license, or student financial aid. In some cases, they have been deported to the country in which they were born, where they generally do not have family, know the language or customs, and have little chance of surviving.
This bipartisan bill fixes the loophole and allows all intercountry adoptees who entered the US on a valid visa and adopted by a US citizen to acquire citizenship and reenter the US if they were deported. We need your help, please contact your members of congress and urge them to bring the Child Citizenship Act of 2021 to a vote.
