US bill seeks to close loophole that has denied citizenship to Korean adoptees

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A legislative bill that would finally close a loophole that has denied US citizenship to tens of thousands of adult adoptees, including around 20,000 from South Korea, was introduced in the US Congress, the Korean American Grassroots Conference said Wednesday.

According to officials from the US-based non-profit organization for Korean American voters, the proposed Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2024 was brought forth on Tuesday, local time, by bipartisan leaders Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA-9) and Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE-2).

The bill will “finally address this long overdue loophole by providing a permanent legislative solution to all intercountry adoptees,” KAGC said on their official Facebook page.

This loophole, created by changes in US rules concerning the citizenship status of children born elsewhere and adopted into US families, left those born between 1945 and 1998 without citizenship, leaving them at risk of deportation.

It is estimated that around 49,000 adoptees are in this situation, including approximately 20,000 from Korea.

“Through no fault of their own, there are an estimated tens of thousands of people in the US who were brought here as children to be adopted but never received citizenship status because of a gap in the law. The Adoptee Citizenship Act would close this loophole and provide much needed certainty for these adoptees, who were raised in the US and built their lives here,” said Rep. Smith. “These adoptees deserve full access to their rights as American citizens. We must get this legislation passed and signed into law to finally give these adoptees citizenship status in the place they call home.”

By No Kyung-min(minmin@heraldcorp.com)