The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) led a coalition this year on Capitol Hill calling for Congress to pass the bipartisan Adoptee Citizenship Act.
Adopted children of U.S. families should receive the same rights and privileges through citizenship as natural born children. The Adoptee Citizenship Act seeks to provide citizenship to those children already adopted by U.S. citizens who were unfortunately left without citizenship from a loophole in the Child Citizenship Act of 2000. For more on this issue and bill, see this article, Explainer: What you need to know about the Adoptee Citizenship Act.
In April, this coalition of advocacy groups sent a letter to Congressional leadership, which includes Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and a letter to the Senate and House Judiciary Committee leadership, which includes Chairmen Sen. Lindsey Graham and Rep. Jerry Nadler, and Ranking Members Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. Jim Jordan.
The coalition includes World Relief, Bethany Christian Services, Holt International, Christian Alliance for Orphans, the Korean American Grassroots Conference, and many more. You can see the full list of signatories in the letters below.
The ERLC strongly urges Congress to pass the bipartisan Adoptee Citizenship Act to provide a permanent legal remedy for the thousands of sons and daughters of U.S. citizens who were left in the gap of uncertainty. A great step you can take today on behalf of vulnerable children is to call your Representative and Senators to ask them to support the Adoptee Citizenship Act. To find your members of Congress and for more information on this bill, click here.
