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Thousands of US adoptees face citizenship limbo amid deportation fears
Shirley Chung, adopted from South Korea in 1966 by a Texas family, lived for decades believing she was a US citizen-until a routine Social Security request in 2012 revealed she had no legal status. Now 61, Chung is among an estimated 18,000 to 75,000 intercountry adoptees in the US who lack citizenship, leaving them vulnerable to detention or deportation.
A childhood erased by paperwork
Born in Seoul to a Korean mother and an American servicemember who abandoned the family, Chung spent her first year in an orphanage before being adopted by a US couple. She grew up in Texas, worked as a bartender, married, and raised children-never questioning her American identity.
"I moved and breathed like any 1980s teenager," she recalled. "I had no reason to doubt I was a citizen."
The discovery of her undocumented status triggered a crisis. "I had a mental breakdown," Chung said. "All the adults in my life just dropped the ball."
A systemic failure spanning decades
Before the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, which granted automatic citizenship to foreign-born adoptees, many parents failed to complete naturalization paperwork. The law, however, excluded adoptees born before February 1983-like Chung-leaving tens of thousands in legal limbo.
Advocates have pushed Congress to remove the age cutoff, but bills have stalled. "These are people promised American citizenship as toddlers," said Emily Howe, a human rights attorney. "They had US citizen parents, were lawfully admitted, and now face deportation over a paperwork error."
Deportation fears surge under Trump
Since President Trump's return to office, vowing to remove "all aliens in violation of federal law," adoptees report heightened anxiety. Greg Luce of the Adoptee Rights Law Center said requests for help surged after the election, with over 275 cases in recent months.
One Iranian adoptee, who requested anonymity, now avoids public spaces and shares her location with friends. "I feel stateless," she said. "They don't care about your story-just that one missing paper."
Families caught in the crossfire
Debbie Principe, who adopted two Romanian children in the 1990s, faces potential separation. After a May rejection of her daughter's citizenship application, she received a 30-day notice to surrender her child to Homeland Security. "We'll be lucky if they're not deported to a country they've never known," Principe said.
Recent high-profile deportations-including 238 Venezuelans sent to El Salvador and 475 South Korean workers detained at a Hyundai plant-have amplified fears. "Adoptees are going into hiding," Luce said.
"We were promised America"
Chung and others argue their cases are distinct from undocumented immigration. "We were babies put on planes," she said. "America promised us citizenship."
"Adopted children should be equal to biological siblings of US citizens. We're talking about babies shipped overseas through no fault of their own."
Emily Howe, civil rights attorney
With no response from Homeland Security, advocates insist the solution requires political will. "This shouldn't be partisan," Howe said. "It's about keeping families together."
