Skip to main content

Notes on adoption

I'm adopted from The Republic of South Vietnam, and if you know anything, that will give you an idea of my age. Last year I found and joined a group called VAN. This is an excerpt from a thread that recently appeared at the VAN site. My response is at the bottom. I've done each in a different color. I'll probably write more about this at some point. It's a hot button for me.

Initial post

ABC7, a local news channel in San Francisco, CA just aired a segment on
Amerasian issue.

Click here for the story:

Local Woman Finds Out She Doesn't Exist

First Response
You know, something kind of like this happened to me. I was returning from Montreal a few years ago (post-9/11) and only had my driver's license on me. When I went into Canada, the border officer told me that I should be fine but in the future I should bring my passport (at this point, an ex had thrown it out anyway). So no big deal...I go to Montreal, do my thing, and am heading back. I get to the border, am asked if I'm a US citizen while he's looking at my license, and I say yes. He asks if I've got any proof that I'm a US citizen, to which I answer, "my license". He responds with, "That's not proof of citizenship. You need to come inside. "So he takes my ID, I move my car, and walk inside the building. I wait about 15 minutes, and am finally called to a desk. I've got a videocamera in my face recording all of this. I'm asked if I'm a US citizen again, to which I reply yes. They run my name, "NAME", through the BCIS database. I don't come up. Guess what? I don't exist. I inform him that I'm adopted, which is why my surname doesn't match my looks. He asked if I remembered my birthname and where I was officially adopted, to which I replied yes. Chiem Ngoc Minh. Philadelphia. He finds it and it's associated with an alien registration number that should have been put into their updated computer database decades ago when they stopped doing paper. For the hell of it, I said, "Look it up both ways...as Minh Ngoc Chiem, too". Guess what? He finds me under that name, as well. With another alien registration number. So at this point, I've got 2 alien registration numbers and no C-number (citizenship number). I have a C-number and the first alien registration number on my naturalization certificate. Anyway, he let me back into the country because I could remember my birthname and where and what year I was adopted at/in. He said if I hadn't, I would have ended up in a jail cell awaiting trail, and that's usually about 180 days until that happens. So I get back home, make a call to the congressman in the district I grew up in and another call to the congressman in the district I was adopted in, as well as a call AND letter with copies of my naturalization cert to the BCIS office in Philly. After 6 months of red tape, I gave up. I was told by a congressman's clerk that as long as I have a US passport, it cannot be denied that I'm a US citizen. Since then, I've been back to Viet Nam, Japan, and the DominicanRepublic without any issues getting back into the country (on a renewed passport).


Second Response

Wow, this happened to me too, when I tried to get a passport. It took a lot of time and effort from my life, and I had to work hard to let go of the resentment against my parents for dropping the ball. I found out when I was a Junior in college, and by that time had been working, voting, driving, getting state aid, and existing illegally. It was quite a blow. I was 21 then...too old to get anything expedited, and boy did we try, but the INS wouldn't budge an inch. I'm 31 now, and I just took my oath on February 3rd, 2006. I truly believe everything does happen for a reason. I would have left the country by now to travel the world, and instead have remained stateside to live and work. I just applied for my passport, and it was gripping to let go of that Certificate of Citizenship that it took a decade to get. The funny thing is that 31 years later, we still have the original paperwork that was filled out to Naturalize me in 1979. It was all filled out, and for some reason was returned, but never sent back in with the changes requested. I was taken to court and the judge tapped me on the head and pronounced me a citizen. My parents were going through separation and divorce and we moved a dozen times after that and the paper trail just never caught up. My case was delayed because I did a deportable offense and had to fess up to it, which was voting while not a US Citizen...but thinking I was a Citizen, I saw it as my duty. So, that's the story to accompany this one. I have met a few people that have also had the same experience...I was upset that law in 2000 was not retroactive. I'm lucky to have not been deported. But then again, what an adventure that would have been!

MY Response
Yeah, I've been through this. I was mad at my mother too, but then after dealing with the INS repeatedly I decided it was them. I too found out over 18--too late for parental help. Went through college ignoring it. Then filed, thought it was going through--wanted to get a passport to go on my honeymoon and was told it was a tangled mess. Basically they told me (despite correspondence with a congressman whose wife was a professor at my college) that I should file as though I had entered the country to marry my husband--which required all kinds of letters explaining how I'd apparently been waiting 23 years to marry him. So I had to do the 3 years and was sworn in a month after 9/11.
I've had one or two good INS reps., but I loved the one who asked if I could just go back to my country of origin and get an exit visa. I said, "Unless you have a time machine, no, because the country listed on my birth certificate doesn't exist anymore! (Rep. of South VietNam). Have you been living under a rock for 30 years? I can no more prove I'm VietNamese than that I'm American" Needless to say I'm still a little bitter.
At the time I filed I requested a copy of my INS file. It arrived the day after my father died. According to the checklist inside everything had been filed, BUT when you look the citizenship documents are missing. Like you said about everything happening for a reason--I quoted the letters of reference in my father's eulogy because they talked about how his friends thought he was wonderful enough to adopt.
I know what you mean about handing over the Naturalization form for a passport. I almost hyperventilated when the clerk walked away with mine. "You're not taking that are you?!!"
What scares me is that we're going through this after going through the American school system and speaking fluent English. I can't imagine doing this as an actual immigrant.
I now have a job in HR and I have workers whose work authorization cards expire. The INS claims that if the worker files 90 days before expiration they'll have their card but time and again this doesn't happen and I have to stop them from working sometimes for months at a time. When I call the INS at the "Employer" number they just say that they have no contact with the actual department and can't comment!



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Adapting a book--The Prestige

I was completely blown away by the movie of The Prestige , and I thought then about reading the novel, but it seemed too soon. So I carried the author's name around with me for over a year (Christopher Priest) and then, finally remembered to buy it through an odd sequence of events. We watched The Painted Veil based on the novel by Maugham starring Edward Norton, and while I decided I didn't want to read The Painted Veil because of it's differences from the film (which was more romantic and tragic) it reminded me that I had wanted to read Fight Club (the movie version of which starred Edward Norton) and that reminded me that I had wanted to read The Prestige (which did not star Edward Norton, but was up against The Illusionist which did). Whew...so it's all Edward Norton's fault. The Prestige is a very good novel, and yet, the movie differs from it considerably. And I am still trying to figure out what exactly that means. The central premise is the same, AND HE

Putting my money (read time) where my mouth is

Some Duran Duran with some songs that I believe prove their musical merit. eSnips gives me the power and I'm going to use it. ( Bwahaha ) Get this widget Share Track details This is one of my all time favorite songs. I have it on a B-Side Collection, although I can't find any mention of what it was B-Side of, just that it came out in 1988. The words are quite haunting, as is the melody. But, I can hear you say, this is not at all a standard D2 song. Well, no, but what is a standard song by any band? How do you average that? Thomas Dolby's singles were always abnormal compared to the rest of their respective albums. Same with Barenaked Ladies. I think the B-Sides are often truer to what the band wants to be without the pressure of the labels for commercial success. Get this widget Share Track details This is probably more like Duran Duran you're thinking of, right? It's from Pop Trash , released 2000. The words are based on the true story of a boy who was building

KARAOKE

This is for Musing and B to take both of their minds off of other things. I happened to find it instead of what I was looking for (which was the 5Lives--they know what this means). Now, I'm not a fan of Karaoke, but I found this entertaining not because of the song, which is not a favorite of mine (more on that in a minute) but because it's written three different ways-- Romajii , Kana and English translation. I wish I could find more (perhaps of the songs I like more), but the irc seems to be dead. I did find this: http://www.karaokebox.org/ which is kind of fun, because you can sing with the artist, and then try it alone, but it doesn't tell you WHEN to sing, like a real karaoke version. Now, what I was saying about it not being my favorite got me thinking. L'Arc has 118 song by rough count--counting "My Heart Draws a Dream" due out next week, but not any of the remixes, Ectomorphed songs, D'Arc , P'Unk , live versions, Hydeless versions or the