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Reposted by Adoptee Rights Law Center

Kailee Pedersen @kaileepedersen.bsky.social · 2d

🥚 for the adoptee feed - this is my second novel, and my first with an adoptee protagonist! 🥰 🙂

Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 17d

I'll get word out about what to do to support this critical legislation, but if you want to get started today, here's how to contact your US Senators and your US Representative 🥚 adopteerightslaw.com/action/citiz...

Action: US Citizenship for Intercountry Adoptees

Ask your US Senators and House Representative to support a bill providing US citizenship for all intercountry adoptees in the United States

adopteerightslaw.com

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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 17d

The US Senate has introduced the bipartisan Protect Adoptees and American Families Act, formerly known as the Adoptee Citizenship Act. Let's get this enacted so that thousands of intercountry adoptees finally secure US citizenship. 🥚 adopteesunited.org/congress-int...

The Protect Adoptees and American Families Act | Adoptees United

The fight for US citizenship for all intercountry adoptees continues, with introduction of the Protect Adoptees and American Families Act

adopteesunited.org

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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 17d

Sure, but what happened to the bag of $50,000 in CASH? www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/u...

Trump Justice Dept. Closed Investigation Into Tom Homan for Accepting Bag of Cash

www.nytimes.com

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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 23d

I'm serious. I should give a prize to the person who figures it out. (also, person does not have a US passport and never has).

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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · 23d

Intercountry adoptee never possessed her original certificate of naturalization and has lost her state ID. Your job? Figure out how to get just *one* of them now. One. Good luck.

Thick black rubber band twisted to resemble a Mobius strip, set on a dark grey background, creating a sense of endless motion.

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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · Sep 7

I’m not aware of deleting any comments on YouTube. I rarely even check the comments I receive on YouTube. I just don’t have the capacity to do so.

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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · Aug 17

It goes beyond reviewing what are currently disqualifying actions or crimes and adds new ones---albeit undefined and expansive, to wit:

$• Any other acts that are contrary to the average behavior of citizens in the jurisdiction where aliens reside. These could be actions that, while technically lawful, may be inconsistent with civic responsibility within the community, such as reckless or habitual traffic infractions, or harassment or aggressive solicitation. • In assessing acts that are unlawful or contrary to the average behavior of citizens of the community in which the alien resides USCIS will review all available documentation and question aliens seeking naturalization regarding the specific circumstances of their actions to determine if a particular situation or act should bar an alien from naturalization.$

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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · Aug 17

In general, the new policy aims to create a new and incredibly abstract burden to naturalize, namely to show you are "worthy" of being a US citizen, apparently tied to your local community.

“Totality of Circumstances Approach: Going forward, USCIS officers must account for an alien’s positive attributes and not simply the absence of misconduct. In evaluating whether or not an alien has met the requirement of establishing GMC the Officer must take a holistic approach in evaluating whether or not an alien seeking naturalization has affirmatively established that he or she has met their burden of establishing that they are worthy of assuming the rights and responsibilities of United States Citizenship.”

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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · Aug 17

The shift in evaluating GMC for a person seeking naturalization will involve a "holistic assessment of an alien's behavior, adherence to societal norms, and positive contributions that affirmatively demonstrate good moral character."

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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · Aug 17

USCIS has updated its policy guidance on what constitutes "Good Moral Character" (GMC), what a foreign national must demonstrate to become a US citizen. The new "holistic" approach is incredibly broad. It will no doubt be challenged. It's here: uscis.gov/sites/defaul...

“The regulations and policy affirm that GMC findings must go beyond the absence of disqualifying acts, it must reflect a genuine positive assessment of who the alien is and how they have lived in their community. Thus, GMC has generally meant a character commensurate with the standards of average citizens of the community in which the alien resides.”

From, Restoring a Rigorous, Holistic, and Comprehensive Good
Moral Character Evaluation Standard for Aliens Applying
for Naturalization | USCIS Policy Memorandum, 8/15/2025

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Reposted by Adoptee Rights Law Center

Grant Hermes @granthermes.bsky.social · Aug 8

Adoptees are getting caught in immigration troubles they never thought they’d be in. Many didn’t even know they could be targets.

The full conversation with Greg Luce from @adopteerights.bsky.social is out now! Wherever you get your podcasts. Just search Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes

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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · Aug 12

Fascinating article that, you guessed it, has a moment with an adopted person. And how “mattering” can be a counterpoint to “perfectionism” www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

The Pain of Perfectionism

It’s the fault people humblebrag about in job interviews, but psychologists are discovering more and more about the real harm it causes.

www.newyorker.com

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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · Aug 5

Inside Trump’s New Tactic to Separate Immigrant Families www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/u...

Inside Trump’s New Tactic to Separate Immigrant Families

www.nytimes.com

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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · Aug 1

I've been tracking redactions and withholding of critical documents from my client's "A Files," which are released as part of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. It's pretty bad. 🥚 public.flourish.studio/visualisatio...

USCIS: All Redacted and Withheld Pages

A Flourish data visualization by Gregory D Luce

public.flourish.studio

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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · Jul 31

Hiya, 🥚 peeps. Can we help this intercountry adoptee (and a client) return to China to visit her long-time foster family and her twin sister, from whom she was separated at age 9? It's a really good cause: gofund.me/82625fe8

Donate to Reuniting with My Family After 15 Years — Help Me Give Back, organized by Anna Fisher

Hi, my name is Anna. I was adopted from China to the United St… Anna Fisher needs your support for Reuniting with My Family After 15 Years — Help Me Give Back

gofund.me

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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · Jul 7

I put together some Q&As about Georgia's new law, plus added a video walkthrough of the online application process. Here ya go. 🥚 adopteerightslaw.com/georgia-equa...

A Guide to Getting Your OBC in Georgia | Adoptee Rights Law

What Georgia's new equal rights law does, plus how adult adopted people can apply for copies of their own original birth records.

adopteerightslaw.com

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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · Jun 6

Mall of America

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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · Jun 4

Do your fellow adoptee authors and researchers (and readers!) a favor. Request your local library to add the author's books to the library's collection. It makes a difference. 🥚 cc: @thesusanito.bsky.social

Screenshot of a library request to add the book I Would Meet You Anywhere to the library's collection. The request was for the book by Author Susan Kiyo Ito and the response in a blue box at the bottom indicates that "This title will be ordered. You may request it when it appears in the library catalog within 7 to 10 days. If you need assistance, please Ask US. In green in the upper right corner is the word Approved.

Screenshot of the library listing for the book by I Would Meet Your Anywhere by Susan Kiyo Ito. The screenshot indicates that all 3 copies available are in use and that you can can request a hold on the book when it becomes available.

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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · May 23

I get so angry with courts when they won’t provide, upon request, an adoptee’s own adoption decree. The court just told one client to bring his mother to get it. He’s 40 years old.

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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · May 23

USCIS is now removing and redacting most documents from intercountry adoptees’ immigration files. Here are 2 concrete things adoptive parents can do to help, at least for now 🥚 adopteerightslaw.com/parents-inte...

Dear Parents of Intercountry Adoptees | ARLC

Two things parents of adult intercountry adopted people should do today to help secure documents related to US citizenship and immigration benefits.

adopteerightslaw.com

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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · May 23

The Chinese Adoptees Who Were Stolen www.newyorker.com/news/america...

The Chinese Adoptees Who Were Stolen

As thousands of Chinese families take DNA tests, the results are upending what adoptees abroad thought they knew about their origins.

www.newyorker.com

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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · May 14

The absurdity of USCIS withholding my clients' own immigration records, which include adoption decrees, birth records, and other documents that are necessary to determine and prove immigration status. adopteerightslaw.com/uscis-withho... 🥚

USCIS Is Withholding My Clients' Immigration Records at an Alarming Rate

New USCIS practices are making the job of securing and proving US citizenship for my clients maddeningly slow, difficult, and absurd.

adopteerightslaw.com

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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · Apr 21

I just received another FOIA response from USCIS and they removed the names of every person mentioned in 69 pages of records. EVERY PERSON, except one: my client, whose own name was not redacted. Her adoptive parents' names were removed from all records, including the decree. Absurd.

Screenshot of text describing the standard to remove information from a FOIA request to USCIS. In yellow highlighted marker are the words "We have completed the review of all documents and have identified 69 pages that are responsive to your request. Enclosed are 4 pages release in their entirety and 24 pages released in part. We are withholding 41 pages in full.

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Adoptee Rights Law Center @adopteerights.bsky.social · Apr 19

For the first time EVER, USCIS has redacted the names of ADOPTIVE PARENTS in my client's immigration file (not to mention birthparent names, sibling names, and even the names of judges and officials involved in the adoption). Unbelievable. We're going to appeal. 🥚

Screenshot of an official record involving an adoption. The title of the snippet is "PARENTS" and it lists below a Father and Mother, though the names of the Father and Mother have been redacted by the use of white opaque boxes. The adoption is from Ukraine and the adoptive parents are US citizens.

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