Text: Senator Urges INS to Let Families Finish Vietnam Adoptions
(INS halted adoption visas pending process review)U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer (Democrat from New York) issued a press release January 28 demanding that the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) immediately allow eight American families "stranded" in Vietnam with their newly adopted children to return home to the United States.
Eight sets of American parents who adopted Vietnamese children have been in Ho Chi Minh City for weeks because the INS has refused to issue U.S. visas for their adopted children pending a review of the adoption process in that country. The Vietnamese review follows the INS' indefinite suspension in January 2002 of issuing adoption visas for Cambodian children among concerns that some children were bought or stolen.
Schumer's press release said that while the INS should work with the Vietnamese government to examine whether Vietnamese adoption facilitators are properly following Vietnamese adoption procedures and law, the eight families currently stranded in Vietnam and any other families already significantly involved in the adoption process "should not be victimized along the way."
The INS issued a press release January 23 stating that the agency had begun a review of the adoption process in Vietnam. The INS press release states that a senior level INS official has been sent to Thailand, and a team of INS officers has been sent to Vietnam, in order to "increase the level of review of the Vietnamese orphan petition processing, including pending orphan petitions."
Following are the texts of Schumer's press release and the INS press release:
(begin text of Schumer's press release)
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 28, 2002SCHUMER TO INS: REUNITE FAMILIES STRANDED IN VIETNAM
Senator Calls on INS to Allow US, New York Parents Stranded in Vietnam
to Immediately Return Home With Their Newly Adopted ChildrenSchumer Joined by Long Island's Lisa Kombrink and Poughkeepsie's Rev. Wayne Hanrattie, Whose Spouses and Newly Adopted Children Cannot Return Home to the United States Due to INS Visa Suspension
Standing with Lisa Kombrink and Rev. Wayne Hanrattie, whose spouses and newly adopted children cannot return home to New York due to a bureaucratic standstill, US Senator Charles E. Schumer today demanded that the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) immediately allow the eight families stranded in Vietnam with their newly adopted children to return home to the United States. Kombrink and her husband, Jesse Camacho, are one of eight sets of American parents who adopted Vietnamese children, and are now stranded in Ho Chi Minh City because the INS has refused to issue U.S. visas for their adopted children. Also from New York are Rev. Sharon Williams and Rev. Wayne Hanrattie of Poughkeepsie. Camacho and Williams are currently in Vietnam with their newly adopted children, Gabriel and Kaelin respectively, awaiting visas from the INS.
Since being contacted by the families in late December, Schumer has spoken with INS Commissioner James Ziglar on the families behalf, and his office has repeatedly contacted INS offices in New York, Washington and the American embassy Vietnam to help secure visas for the families.
Schumer expressed his frustration at the delays, saying, "Enough is enough. The INS should grant the visas and reunite these families immediately. To leave these families stranded in Vietnam is simply inhumane. These families traveled to Vietnam in good faith, they were already approved by INS to adopt foreign children before they even left the country, and all they want to do is provide warm, caring homes for these children. The INS should be doing everything it can to make that happen."
Most of the families have been stranded in Vietnam for over seven weeks, awaiting approval from INS to return home with their adopted children. The INS requires a three-step process for adopting foreign children. First, parents apply to the INS, which ensures the parents meet the relevant criteria. Second, the families travel to Vietnam to meet the child and complete Vietnamese paperwork before returning to the US to await approval from Vietnamese authorities. Once the parents then adopt the foreign child, they apply to the INS for a visa to bring the child back to the United States.
In this case, the eight families were approved by the INS to adopt foreign children. When they arrived in Vietnam, however, INS denied the visas necessary to bring the children home, stranding the families in Vietnam. The families did not learn they would be denied the visas until after arriving in Vietnam and spending time with their adopted children. Many of the families have spent over two years involved in the adoption process, now only to find themselves ignored by their own government.
Schumer said that while the INS should work with the Vietnamese government to examine whether Vietnamese adoption facilitators are properly following Vietnamese adoption procedures and law, the eight families currently stranded in Vietnam and any other families already significantly involved in the adoption process should not be victimized along the way.
"The INS has every right to examine its rules and regulations, but that doesn't give them the authority to simply ruin people's lives in the process," Schumer said. "If the INS just took one look at the families they've deserted, they'd realize the pain this has caused and solve the problem. How could they not? There are many problems without easy solutions. This is not one of them."
Schumer also advised families currently planning to travel to Vietnam for adoptions to wait until the INS resolves the visa issue before embarking on their trip.
(end text)
(begin text of INS press release)
U.S. Department of Justice
Immigration and Naturalization Service
Washington, DC 2053623 January 2002
Review of Orphan Petition Processing In Vietnam
On December 21, 2001, Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) Commissioner James Ziglar stated that the agency would conduct a review of the adoption process in Vietnam to address continued concerns with the orphan process there. Commissioner Ziglar has sent a senior level official to assist the Bangkok District Director in this process, and is dispatching a team of INS officers to Vietnam next week to increase the level of review of the orphan petition processing there, including pending orphan petitions.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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