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1
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The Child Citizenship Act of 2000 aimed to provide
3equal treatment under United States law for adopted and
4biological children by granting citizenship to
5internationally-born adoptees; however, when the act became
6law, it did not apply to internationally-born adoptees who were
7already over the age of 18; and
 
8    WHEREAS, As a result, an estimated tens of thousands of
9adult legal adoptees who were born before February 27, 1982 and
10raised in the United States remain without citizenship and are
11therefore potentially subject to deportation; these adoptees'
12parents did not complete necessary processes to provide their
13adopted children with citizenship or, in many cases, even a
14green card; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Several deportations of individuals who were
16legally adopted from foreign countries have already taken
17place, breaking up families and returning the deported
18individuals to places where they were born but do not speak the
19birth county's language, understand the culture, or have any
20connections; and
 
21    WHEREAS, Adoptees who do not have citizenship have come
22from countries including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa

 

 

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1Rica, Germany, Guatemala, El Salvador, India, Ireland, Haiti,
2Iran, Japan, Mexico, Panama, Philippines, Russia, Ukraine, and
3Vietnam; there are an estimated 19,000 Korean American adoptees
4alone who do not have American citizenship despite having been
5adopted; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Two bills which would have granted citizenship to
7all adult adoptees were introduced with bipartisan support in
8the l14th Congress, the Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2015
9(S.2275) and the Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2016 (H.R.5454);
10neither bill was referred out of committee for a Congressional
11vote; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Both bills sought to amend the Immigration and
13Nationality Act to grant automatic citizenship to all
14qualifying children adopted by a U.S. citizen parent,
15regardless of the date on which the adoption was finalized;
16citizenship would be granted to any individual who was adopted
17by a U.S. citizen before age 18, was physically present in the
18United States in the citizen parent's legal custody pursuant to
19a lawful admission before the individual reached age 18, never
20previously acquired U.S. citizenship, and was lawfully
21residing in the United States; the bills also would have given
22adult adoptees who had already been deported the opportunity to
23return to the United States; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, When the biological children of U.S. citizen
2parents commit a crime, they are not subject to deportation; it
3is discrimination for the adopted child of U.S. citizen parents
4to then be subject to deportation; and
 
5    WHEREAS, S.2275 and H.R. 5454 stipulated that a visa may
6not be issued to an adoptee unless the individual was subjected
7to a criminal background check and the Department of Homeland
8Security and Department of State coordinated with law
9enforcement agencies to ensure that appropriate action is taken
10regarding any resolved criminal activity; in the cases in which
11criminal activity has been properly resolved, the individuals
12would be eligible for U.S. citizenship; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Legislation is expected to be introduced into the
14116th Congress that would grant U.S. citizenship to all
15adoptees, including those who have been inhumanely deported;
16and
 
17    WHEREAS, Naturalization of adult adoptees who immigrated
18to the United States under the promise of finding a permanent
19home is necessary to ensure that they are not forcibly removed
20from what has become their home country; therefore, be it
 
21    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
22HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE

 

 

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1SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we support, as a civil right,
2automatic citizenship to all qualifying children adopted by a
3U.S. citizen parent, regardless of the date on which the
4adoption was finalized, we condemn the deportation of
5individuals who were adopted into American homes and should
6have every expectation that their citizenship matches that of
7their adoptive parents, and we welcome legislation that will
8provide citizenship for all adult adoptees whose adoptive
9parents did not complete the naturalization process while they
10were children; and be it further
 
11    RESOLVED, That we urge the Congress of the United States
12and the President of the United States to enact legislation
13securing the citizenship of all internationally adopted
14children who are now adults; and be it further
 
15    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
16delivered to the President of the United States, the U.S.
17Senate Majority Leader, the U.S. Senate Minority Leader, the
18U.S. Speaker of the House, the U.S. House of Representatives
19Minority Leader, and all members of the Illinois Congressional
20Delegation.