From the Office of Senator Kerry

Monday, March 4, 2002

As a member of the Congressional Coalition of Adoption, I am committed to ensuring that adoption policy is created in the best interest of orphaned and foster care children in the United States and worldwide. Any family considering adoption should be commended for their willingness to open their hearts and their lives to a child of less fortunate circumstances. In the case of international adoptions, adoption caseworkers, consular officials and immigration officials must work together to ensure that the child is truly an orphan and that innocent children are not being separated from their biological families as a result of fraud, trafficking in human beings or other criminal activity. If questions arise, the adoptive family should be made aware of the factors holding up their adoption petition, and the lines of communication between the family and the officials should remain open.

To that end, my staffs in both Boston, MA and Washington, DC have been actively involved in seeking a resolution to the current adoption crisis in Cambodia. On December 21, 2001, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) announced the suspension of the processing of adoption petitions in Cambodia due to concerns over the legality of many of the Cambodian children’s orphan status. The INS, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of State and the Royal Government of Cambodia, has been working diligently to find a method of processing the adoption petitions that were received by the U.S. Embassy in Cambodia prior to December 21, 2001. For your information, I have posted the most recent announcements and guidance for adoptive families that I have received from the INS Task Force. Please check this page regularly to see the latest updates on the Cambodian adoption situation.

Rest assured, that I will follow the investigation of the Cambodian adoption process closely, and I am confidant that it will be positively resolved soon. Should you have any further questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact members of my staff in either Boston or Washington, DC.

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Cambodian Adoption Update From the INS Task Force:

1. While the overall suspension of adoption processing in Cambodia will remain in effect, the INS Task Force understands that many American families and the Cambodian children they planned to adopt are caught in a difficult situation not of their own making. For that reason, we have implemented a special humanitarian solution for certain pending adoption cases.

2. During the past two weeks, U.S. government members of the Task Force have worked closely with the government of Cambodia to identify cases where there is evidence of appropriate official action upon which a case could be processed to conclusion. The Task Force is concentrating on those cases in which prospective adoptive parents and a Cambodian child had been officially matched prior to December 21, 2001.

3. Cases will be adjudicated on a case-by-case basis consistent with U.S. law. There is no guarantee, however, that all cases reviewed by the Task Force will be approved for final adoption.

4. Prospective parents are advised not to travel to Cambodia until they receive official notice from INS headquarters to do so. Arriving in Cambodia prematurely may complicate the Task Force’s ability to process their cases.

5. The Task Force will not consider cases where an I-600A petition was filed after December 21, 2001 or cases with approved I-600As but which had not progressed to the point of the Cambodian authorities officially matching a child with prospective parents prior to December 21, 2001. While we understand this is not an easy decision, these families have the opportunity to move their application to another country free of charge by June 30, 2002.

6. If you have any questions, please contact your Congressional representatives and/or the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (http://www.ccainstitute.org). In an effort to centralize communication and make this process as efficient as possible, the INS Task Force has determined that communicating through your Congressional representatives is the best solution for sending and receiving information.