My heart breaks for anyone brought to the US who weren’t given citizenship. I’m well aware of families who didn’t know there were additional steps to perform and often wonder what agencies failed their due diligence in guiding them through that process. Enough people screwed up that it seems absurd to deny citizenship to those who would otherwise have it.
My representative is adopted and has adopted and he’ll be receiving a letter encouraging his support of allowing citizenship for these adoptees that missed it through no fault of their own.
That said, as an adoptive parent this is a common trope - ignore the millions of successful adoptions to focus on those that are horrific. Cast parents as baby smugglers with fiendish intent. I’m sure those people exist, but as a parent in this community for almost 14 years, I’ve met untold families excited to provide for the needs of a child who has already experienced significant trauma. No adoption exists without loss. We can, at best, try to mend what’s already been done.
Fortunately, for us, the process for citizenship was laid out - also complicated and nerve racking. There were no conditions (except for us as parents and sponsors).
My love for my children is unconditional.
I’d also like to see a source for this claim. In the house there are 13 republican co-sponsors for the Adoptee Citizenship Act (including my rep). My personal experience is that adoptive parents are overwhelmingly conservative.
A National Korean American Service and Education Consortium representative said some Congress members don’t want to touch an immigration bill unless it is about border security according to AsAmNews.[2]
Over 200 House Republicans did not sponsor the last bill. Do we need a source for some Republicans not supporting citizenship for people with criminal records?
How are adoptive parents' politics relevant?
[1] https://www.npr.org/2025/04/19/g-s1-60166/trump-immigration-...
[2] https://asamnews.com/2024/08/21/adoptees-face-deportation-un...
The current republican leadership has been pretty shit lately insofar as being human. “The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy” being a direct and recent quote by arguably the most powerful man on the planet.
That isn't to disagree with your personal experience by any stretch; just point out that those in power/pushing these laws are much more... raging asshole. MGT celebrating the popes death today as another example.
That's why the current voting trends frustrate me so much; base morality seems to have left the conversation. :(
I don't like that this article was written in such a negative light. I am sure there were terrible situations, but also, you simply wouldn't be writing about a Vietnamese orphan that died on the street without ever being sent to adoptive parents. It feels a bit biased to treat this as an overall negative action by the US. I have met several Babylift adoptees living in SF, and I think they would voice dissenting opinions.
You have adoptees who didn't have a great life and they are, justifiably, upset. But the problem is that you aren't hearing from the ones who are happy or just neutral about being adopted. So if you go to reddit, you'll hear a lot about the evils of adoption, and you won't hear anyone saying it was a positive outcome.
I'd be lying if I said it didn't influence us at all about adoption. In the end, we didn't feel we had the means to adopt and my company ended its adoption benefit, so it wasn't the only reason.
It’s not possible to separate the adoption from all of the context above.
I didn’t choose this situation, yet I carry its consequences every day.
This isn’t just a paperwork issue—it’s about identity, belonging, and basic dignity.
No adoptee should face the threat of deportation from the only home they've ever known.
The Adoptee Citizenship Act isn’t just a fix—it’s a long-overdue promise America needs to finally keep.
If this matters to you, please consider supporting the cause. Contact Adoptees for Justice and help push the Adoptee Citizenship Act forward: https://www.adopteesforjustice.org/
Thank you for listening—and for caring.
–Judy, an adoptee still waiting for America to catch up with its promises
I didn’t choose this situation, yet I carry its consequences every day.
This isn’t just a paperwork issue—it’s about identity, belonging, and basic dignity.
No adoptee should face the threat of deportation from the only home they've ever known.
The Adoptee Citizenship Act isn’t just a fix—it’s a long-overdue promise America needs to finally keep.
If this matters to you, please consider supporting the cause. Contact Adoptees for Justice and help push the Adoptee Citizenship Act forward: https://www.adopteesforjustice.org/
Thank you for listening — and for caring.
– Judy, an adoptee still waiting for America to catch up with its promises
Why are they publishing this story/these stories? How is it on-brand? Again don't get me wrong. It's great that someone's doing it but... It just feels... wrong from an editorial product management perspective.
1. They're consciously trying to expand their brand and topics. Maybe it's a way to grow a broader audience or move "upscale" or something along those lines.
2. Somebody really wanted to do this, and the organization just ran with it.
Both are respectable options. I'd actually respect them more if it's option 2—building an organization to give enthusiastic people the space to do what they care about is one of the best ways to produce great, creative work. We need more places that are willing to do high quality things just because.
The editors are Kevin Nguyen and Sarah Jeong. I guess the have various other staffers like Camille Bromley do certain articles.
The Verge is publishing this piece in the context of today. There are undocumented migrants right now being moved around and out of country, put into detention centres, and being denied the due process that was previously in place. There is _a lot_ of tech in that ongoing story. To consider America’s history with forced migration at a time like this is perfectly reasonable.
The old 90s tech magazines like CPU magazine or PC World come to mind. Nothing wrong with that kind of publication, and I wish there was more of it.
Not everything has to be about politics.
Peril, etc.
Not to be too facetious, but, where -- uh -- are those magazines today? The internet changed things. Being that hyper-focused on a topic makes for building a good niche, but maybe not a good business.
