An adoptee brought to the U.S. decades ago by a U.S. military officer and his wife now faces deportation.
According to the Adoptee Rights Campaign (ARC; their press release is included below), she has no criminal history, and has spent almost her entire life in the U.S. My guess is that she entered the U.S. as an adoptee with a visa that perhaps was not approved for citizenship. Fewer than 200 children have ever been adopted from Iran to the U.S. I don’t think there ever was a formal program. I’d guess that many adoptions were of relatives, and then perhaps also situations like this, adoptions by U.S. military personnel. The U.S. cut ties with Iran almost 50 years ago, and adoptions likely ended then too. I have no special knowledge or insights about this adoptee’s situation. I do know she cannot prove U.S. citizenship, though I would bet that she has made every effort.
The adoptee has no connections with Iran, a country listed as Level 4 by the U.S. State Department: “Do Not Travel advisory, indicating the highest risk due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, or armed conflict. Citizens are urged to avoid these areas, and in some, the U.S. government has extremely limited ability to provide assistance.”
Yet this is where the U.S. government is considering sending an adoptee, who is without citizenship through no fault of hers.
As an adoptive parent, I am heartbroken that this could happen. We know that adoptees who are deported receive no support once they are out of the U.S. They are dumped off, and left to fend for themselves, often not knowing the language, not having any work possibilities, not having family or friends. We know at least one has died through homicide; at least one has died by suicide. Most deported adoptees are struggling and lonely. Like many of us, they do not understand why the United States deports international adoptees.
Indeed, the United States is the global leader in deporting (and threatening to deport) international adoptees.
While all international adoptees to the United States deserve citizenship, they didn’t get “automatic” citizenship until the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, and that was only for adoptees 18 and younger. Many international adoptees from many different countries are without citizenship–folks in their 30’s on through their 80’s and beyond, Some know they don’t have citizenship, and they are worried. Some assume they are citizens.
Here is important information from the Adoptee Rights Campaign:
***MEDIA ADVISORY & PUBLIC NOTICE***
Contact: Info@adopteerightscampaign.org
Los Angeles, CALIFORNIA— Daughter of U.S. Military Hero Faces Deportation to Iran, Advocates Call for Urgent Legislative Action
Legal advocates, faith-based leaders, and community members are urging protections for a California resident who was brought to the United States by her American parents after her birth in Iran.
Despite being raised by U.S. citizen parents and having no memories of her country of birth, the woman is currently in active immigration removal proceedings that threaten to deport her to Iran, where the U.S. has lacked diplomatic ties since 1979. Her father, a decorated WWII U.S. Air Force veteran, survived a German POW camp and death march before bringing her home to the U.S.
For the past 30 years, the woman, a California resident, has been an integral part of her local community. She graduated from a California university, built a career in the health industry, and is a tax-paying professional. She has no criminal history.
“I have no home other than this country,” she says. “I was raised by my American parents and with American values. To be told that I am suddenly a stranger here, and to be threatened with lifetime exile to a country I know little of, is terrifying.”
Iran is reportedly facing the worst human-rights crisis in years, with security forces violently cracking down on nationwide protests through lethal force, mass killings, arbitrary arrests, and an unprecedented surge in executions.
Legal advocates are asking federal officials to exercise prosecutorial discretion and correct her records, given her extraordinary circumstances, lifelong U.S. residency, and American family history.
The Human Cost of Legal Gaps
Legal experts say that her case highlights a devastating “gap” in protections for children who were brought to the U.S. before modern adoption reforms were enacted. “This is a heartbreaking, obscene failure of a broken system,” says Emily Howe, lead counsel. “Sending a woman who is culturally and socially American, a daughter of a U.S. military hero, to Iran—a nation hostile toward those with Western ties—is a fundamental injustice. We seek compassion and basic correction to protect these American families in the 21st century.”
CALL TO ACTION: PROTECT AMERICAN FAMILIES
The long-term solution lies in federal law. The Protect Adoptees and American Families Act (PAAF Act), introduced in 2025 as H.R. 5492 and S. 2923, aims to close the loopholes that allow American-raised children to face deportation. However, the pending bill does not include children who were brought into the country by their American parents on certain visas decades ago.
We are calling on all concerned citizens to take immediate action to ensure no more daughters or sons of American families are cast out!!!
1. Contact Your Members of Congress: Call or email your U.S. Representative and Senators.
2. Message: Urge them to co-sponsor and pass the Protect Adoptees and American Families Act (H.R. 5492 / S. 2923).
3. Demand Inclusion: Ask that the legislation be strengthened to include protections for those who entered the U.S. on visas decades ago and have been raised as Americans.
###
Here’s a resource from The Ties Program that may be of interest to adoptees and adoptive parents: Intercountry Adoptee Rights and Safety Guide: What to Know in 2026.
