Millville woman’s agonizing wait for adoption ends with happy homecoming
By EDWARD VAN EMBDEN
Press of Atlantic City
“Vietnam is a cautionary tale,” she said. “The parents, effectively, were told they should give up. In the end it might have been a test of wills.”
The legal battle has cost Sawyer, a single 25-year-old, nearly every cent she has worked to accumulate. But even with about $30,000 in legal fees to contend with, she said it’s the best investment she has ever made.
Along the way, she has made some allies. There’s U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer from California, who actively campaigned on behalf of Sawyer and the other families, and there were other politicians who lent their support to the cause.
She’s willing to join with others fighting the same cause now, too.
A Web site, www.bringourchildrenhome.org, was designed to help shed some light on the issues adoptive parents of Vietnamese children currently face. And she’s actively involved in the cause, she said.
24 Responses
Tommi was a blessing when we were in Vietnam with a very sick baby–she was in the US and found the right medications and sent them to us and helped heal our sweet baby girl. I am so happy to hear that Tommi’s baby is home with her now.
Congratulations honey…
Hooray for Tommi! This was Adoppt’s first and only NOID and it was baseless. They are a wonderful agency and I’m so glad that the truth is out! They truly do so much for the children in Vietnam and I just wish that more people could see what they do over there–they are amazing people who give from their heart! Hoping all the other baseless NOIDS are overturned soon!
Why is this site so quiet lately? There’s a lot going on in VN adoptions right now — I’m curious as to why this site has gone nearly dark aside from news links.
I am very curious why nothing is being said by this site too. The Bring Home Our Children group and JCICS have been working with the Vice-President’s office on the current situation because it is such a mess and we hear nothing from VVAI?
I can’t speak for Nicki or our other contributors but for me there’s 2 basic reasons:
1. Extremely busy personal life right now, leaving very little time to write long articles for VVAI.
2. Nothing to say. We haven’t heard anything concrete from anyone in weeks… we’ve heard repeatedly that an announcement is coming from State but so far, nothing. I haven’t gotten a response from any of my inquiries to the embassy in months. I think what the other groups are doing is good and productive and I am glad to see so many in the VN community working together. But I also think it’s important that we as a community acknowledge there are serious issues and concerns in VN and so I’m a little hesitant to add my voice to those calling for the embassy to approve every visa ASAP.
From my perspective – this is not about calling for every visa to be approved ASAP. Maybe for some families, it is. But for some of us there are bigger problems than the “wait”. There are several provinces that are at a complete impasse with USCIS. The families with referrals from those provinces want some kind of answer as to if and how that is going to be worked out. For several agencies, if this is not worked out – it would effectively shut down their Vietnam programs (as the only provinces they work with are involved with this impasse). From my perspective – it is not as simple as wanting an I600 approval quickly. Its whether or not we can get one at all.
Christina,
Wow. You think what people are doing is trying to get every visa approved as soon as possible!? What people are trying to do is get some basic service from their own government. There has been ineffective record keeping, conflicting status reports, no status reports, insensitive treatment by some federal employees and letters from the USCIS that imply that children are easily exchanged commodities. There are also people in complete limbo…unable to proceed with there current referral because of stand-offs with field investigations and unable to proceed with another referral.
You have to have an “official” statement before you can comment on any of this?
Brenda
And… this is why I have been quiet. No time to write a real thought-out post and didn’t want to dash off something that people would immediately pick apart and take the wrong way. What I should have said is that I have not taken the time to analyze and study the Bring Our Children home movement (I did go to the site and read everything, but there are intricacies and complications and I would want to know all sides of this issue before commenting on it) and so I do not think it’s right to state my opinion without being fully informed. I have seen the good that families pulling together can do in Cambodia… and also saw the harm done when that same influence was used without a real understanding of all the issues in play. Perhaps sometime when I have a few hours I will sit down and explain what I mean.
In the meantime, I want to be clear that I understand and support those who are fighting for everyone in both governments to do their jobs – paperwork should be processed in a timely manner, investigations should be properly done, in a way that seeks out the truth and is not influenced by politics or money. More than anything, I want to see true orphans united with families who love them; and more than anything I want to see those who exploit children and poor families put out of business and run out of Vietnam forever.
The problem isn’t just families wanting their visa approvals ASAP. There are several provinces that are at a complete standstill because USCIS was unable to complete field investigations. USCIS has not offered a solution for that problem – even though I believe all the provinces want is for them to have permission to be there to investigate. (At least that is my understanding). The families with referrals from those provinces are in complete limbo right now. Additionally, there are several agencies who work ONLY with provinces that have this issue – so for those agencies if this isn’t resolved, their entire waiting list of families is out of luck. These are families who, in good faith and under the letter of the law, have invested time, emotions and money in this process. They deserve better. I am hoping that the group of PAPs behind Bring Our Children Home Now can get some answers and action.
Actually E., I’d like to disagree that there is “so much going on” right now. There is almost nothing going on. The US are in talks with Vietnam to alter the MOU, we are all waiting on pins and needles to hear what Vietnam’s *official* statement will be about pending dossiers and referrals. We are in a holding pattern. There is nothing new to report.
While I think the bringourchildrenhome.com website is very nicely and professionally done and I sympathize with the situation that some PAPs are in, it always pains me to see such a large scale effort that puts the cart before the horse, so to speak. It takes attention away from the real significant long-term problem of corruption, baby-buying, and unethical agency practices that will shut this program down, rendering the slowness of the US government pretty inconsequential.
Nicki –
I see what you are saying about the larger problem of unethical adoptions. Its hard to keep it all in perspective when your life’s dream (and savings) are on the line. I too want ethical adoptions. I understand that USCIS needs to do these investigations – I just hope they are able to find a way to work with all the provinces.
Actually I had written something (and then erased it) almost exactly like what you wrote Jenny, about how this I600 stuff hits so much closer to home, it *directly* impacts US PAPs while the issues of corruption and unethical practices are more indirect and insidious. We also tend to have higher expectations about our ability to control our own government than we do on other country governments – for good reason! So we act because we can. We act because it is tangible. And like Chris said, I wholeheartedly stand behind ANY call to action to bring our government into full compliance. It is what our country was founded on, it is practically an obligation in my opinion as a US citizen.
But the purpose of this site is to advocate against the very practices that led the US to take these actions so while I applaud each American who exercises their right to hold our government accountable, there isn’t much more I feel led to say about that particular issue.
But also….just as a reminder…this is a contribution blog. If those who are affected by this issue consider it an issue of ethics that harms children and want to use this forum to voice those feelings they are more than welcome to submit a post for publication.
Nicki & Christina,
I have complicated feelings on all of this. I am sure others do too. While I certainly want to see an end to any child trafficking or other unethical activities that may be going on, the problem is that the way the US gov’t has tackled the issue is entirely inappropriate, unprofessional and frankly, VERY unethical. There are many children caught in this I-600 nightmare who are spending months longer in orphanages than they should. This is not confined to just a few agencies anymore. This is entire provinces. This is older children. This is SN referrals. When a province is deemed “blocked” by USCIS, none of the kids are coming home.
From what I have read and heard, it would pretty hard to defend many of the things that the USCIS is doing. And some of us can’t ignore the fact that the agency has the same oversight as FEMA did during Katrina. Sorry, but to think that the same bureaucrats who oversaw that fiasco can do any better for adoptions in Vietnam –??!! And, tell me, are they actually doing anything to root out corruption? Is all of this getting them somewhere? If they really want to work on the corruption issue, it’s going to take a multinational task force. What’s happening now is that the referrals are just going to other countries — that does nothing to stop the root problem. Going in there like Army Rangers does not really inspire cooperation from Vietnamese officials, so good luck on trying to work together on this.
Furthermore, the PAPs involved definitely deserve better communication. Changing from “60 days” to “60 business days” – stuff like that is crazy!
I see plenty going on in Vietnam right now. And that plenty is babies waiting longer than they should to go home to families. This easily could have affected you when you were waiting as it’s universal now. Please don’t think this is still confined to a few cases from a few agencies, because it’s not. Even a week more in an orphanage is unfortunate – and there are people waiting months to find out that the USCIS never even bothered to investigate their case after all. What good can that possibly be doing anyone?
I have read The Bring Home Our Children, it is really nice.
USCIS explained those delays that because their ‘independent’ field investigations were unable to complete. The ‘independence’ they want is investigation without approval in advance of Vietnam foreign affairs and external relations office. If they do that, they violate VN Laws. So it is understandable of their battle with Provinces and obviously the fighting victims are families and poor children.
Please tell me, you will not be angry if someone wants to freely enter your house anytime without your permission? Do not say me crazy or stupid, it is what USCIS want in their investigations.
We just call USCIS find a way to work with Provinces with the respect of Vietnam laws, we do not ask they approve visa asap.
Emma-
Ok, let’s talk about this.
First of all, I would be angry if someone entered my house without permission however the US government has various capacities to do similar things such as enter restaurants in order to inspect them for safety and we could talk about wire-tapping too. We aren’t talking about the US entering people’s individual homes unannounced and by force. We are talking about the US entering businesses which are already subject to unannounced visits from the VN government. Remember Vietnam is a communist country, everything belongs to Vietnam. To compare the US government breaking into your own home with the US government entering an orphanage or hospital to investigate the validity of an orphan petition does the entire process a injustice.
Also we are talking about this issue here. We are reading about it on messageboards. The US has had meetings with the IAD and with agencies about this procedure. They have mentioned it on their website. It is not a surprise, it should not come as a surprise. Agencies have a duty and an obligation to their client families and their referred babies to act as liaison between the orphanages/hospitals involved in these investigations and the US government. There is no plausible reason at this late date that an agency should not have prepared a hospital or orphanage for this visit. While it would TOTALLY defeat the point of the visit for it to be scheduled and announced, agencies know exactly when they are submitting I600s on behalf of their client families and they can guesstimate close enough when an investigation might occur and can and should give their orphanages and hospitals a head’s up so that they are prepared.
But if what we are advocating for here is that orphanages and hospitals have scheduled, announced visits then we really need to talk about THAT too because it would do absolutely nothing to curb corruption, it would be a monumental waste of taxpayer dollars and time. Anyone can clean up any paperwork or other situation when given enough advance notice. This is not in line with a goal of corruption-free adoptions.
So the situation is very complicated on all sides. It is unfortunate that it is also, in my opinion, political. This adds a gigantic layer of complexity to the relationship between all parties and takes things a step further out of our hands. But both sides likely want negotiating power right now and if a goal of ours as the PAPs and APs is to renegotiate an MOU then unfortunately politics are going to happen as a byproduct of that process.
Nicki,
You should think more fairly in this. In every country, their own government has the rights to visit unannounced the restaurants, orphanages or hospitals, etc. located in their country to inspect. However, please remember we are talking about the unannounced investigations done by FOREIGN consular officers. My thought is that foreigners in Vietnam are not allowed to go and do the interrogations without approval of External affairs office (to prevent spy, I guess). I do not see any injustice in my comparison of VN gov as a host and USCIS as a guest.
Besides, the information the External affairs office requests USCIS to inform in advance very simple such as purpose, which province, who go, from when to when and means, no more details. So why did our gov. not inform them for approval then use the specialist skills in interrogation to find out the truth? Why did our gov. insist to proceed in the way that broken Vietnam laws and caused an impasse in provinces now?
I am just calling people think about the children’ best benefit.
As for agencies with investigations, I have no idea about it. Do you really think that agencies have contacts and prepared with orphanages and hospitals to cope with USCIS visit?
Emma-
Please think fairly and do ethically.
To reply from the bottom up, I’m not sure I understand all of your statements but to answer from how I interpret what I think you mean – yes I do think that every single agency can and should have contact with their orphanages, absolutely. If they can not or do not, there are serious fundamental flaws with their Vietnam program.
I understand it is a foreign government but when discussing this issue we tend to put the cart before the horse and forget that the US government is investigating so aggressively BECAUSE of the corruption within the process on the Vietnam side (which some agencies knew of and were a party to – they brought the business after all). If we want to be outraged, we should aim our outrage at the agencies that made this all possible, so to speak.
Nicki,
So sorry, I still don’t agree with your explanation of our “investigating so aggressively BECAUSE of the corruption within the process on the Vietnam side”. It seems no matter what our officers do to get information.
The point is CIS’d rather find the harmony than pull things to the impasse.
– Our laws: I-600 investigation must be completed
– Vietnam laws: inform in advance to External Affairs Office (details is not required)
If their laws is not respected, please do not ask them to respect yours.
Emma-
Really? So the same could be said in reverse then, right? If they did not, say, hold up their end of the MOU and they did not follow their own laws or ours then we also do not have to follow their’s?
First of all, I’m not sure how you define a close guesstimate regarding when the USCIS will show up when some petitions are taking up to 100 days. Sure, the orphanages or hospitals can be told that “sometime in the next 3 months” an investigator might show up but that’s awfully vague.
Nevertheless, my points remain:
1. The USCIS is not handling the situation in a way that encourages any cooperation from the VN provincial officials, orphanage & hospital directors, etc. There are many reports of rudeness, cultural insensitivity, etc. I don’t find them hard to believe. If you really want to complete an investigation thoroughly and in a timely fashion, don’t you want to have cooperation from those you are investigating? I would assume that working together would be the goal. Apparently, that’s not happening much. Both sides blame each other. Again, I have to go back to the fact that USCIS is no model of professionalism. We have the DHS’s history with FEMA and several recent stories of scandal (such as the USCIS agent who was selling green cards for sex…).
2. If the goal is to end corruption in adoption, HOW are these investigations achieving that? Most cases are being approved — some after 2 months of delays and no investigation even completed. This effort by the USCIS may “discourage” some traffickers from bringing babies to orphanages where US agencies operate, but don’t you think those babies will now just be referred to other countries? In my opinion, the key to stopping the trafficking would be a joint effort with the Vietnamese police and other countries. I just don’t see how this I600 business is helping to stop corruption. Many innocent players are being hurt in the process – too many babies are waiting who may have no issue in their paperwork at all. Originally they said they were going to investigate cases with red flags; now it’s all cases, except when it’s not.
3. Why can’t this be done with more communication to the PAPs? I can’t imagine waiting in limbo with so little information, no matter what’s going on. How are we, as PAPs, to make a decision about continuing the process if they won’t even tell us what’s going on, what they’re finding, etc. It’s all a big mystery and the future of our families is being held hostage by a few USCIS employees who are now “experts” on adoption paperwork.
The bottom line for me is that if one is concerned with adoption ethics, I don’t see how these new procedures are helping. I just don’t buy it. I think it’s a pointless, meaningless and futile exercise that will only frustrate parents, harm babies and send the traffickers scurrying over to other provinces, other countries. In fact, given that this is the USCIS we’re talking about, it really reminds me of their efforts to keep undocumented immigrants out of this country — they still seem to get across the border, don’t they?
In response by number:
1) You are absolutely right. If there is unjust or inappropriate behavior going on by our own government, as I’ve said before but will restate, we have an OBLIGATION to make our own government accountable. There are probably 100 sides to this particular issue, most of which few people are privy to becuase politics often ends up being such a tangled web of confusing back rubs and undercuts. But regardless, we do have an obligation to make sure our government is doing its job. I’ve never implied otherwise. Just know that what you consider inappropriate or pointless or even corrupt may differ from me. To wax political for a minute, think back to 2003 when we went to war in Iraq. Many people were on board and supported this governmental act, even though some thought it was inappropriate and a corrupt abuse of power. Fast forward several years and most people no longer support it, some newly agree it was a corrupt abuse of power, some still support it. On any headed global issue, there will always be many many views on what is or is not appropriate. I think you and I may sit on opposite sides of the fence about some issues of adoption ethics as they pertain to our own government and probably share the same side on others.
2) I’m not sure if they are or they aren’t. I know these unannounced visits HAVE turned up issues that likely would have been hidden or covered up in the past and I also know that our own government has very little power to force corruption out. They are working within a VERY confined space but are doing SOMETHING because the situation demanded it and it is their obligation. Lots of people are doing things to make this stop from the big to the small. There’s the government, PEAR, JCICS, Ethica, each person who writes their congressperson in favor of ethical adoptions or in support of or with new ideas that will create ethical adoptions, bloggers, advocates on email lists like APV, etc. And that’s just a very few off the top of my head. Will any one do enough to exact fundamental change? Probably not which is why most of those groups recognize there is power in numbers and which is why most of those groups support the government initiative as PART of the solution. Hopefully it will all work together to make an impact but no one effort is likely to halt corruption. However the points you bring up (slowness) are not points I’ve addressed. I was specifically referring to the unannounced investigations and the inability to complete an orphan petition due to the restriction of these investigations. Now talk to me about paperwork sitting collecting dust, only being looked at 2 days a week, being misfiled, lost, mismanaged, etc and I have an entirely different set of opinions. I happen to feel the investigations ARE important. I happen to think that if the US is committed to this Orphans First initiative then they should do it all the way and not just when it fits in their otherwise full job descriptions. THAT I will advocate for, absolutely. Not on this sight becuase, again, it doesn’t fit the direction of this site and it detracts from the point that this initiative was driven by corrupt agency practices, fundamentally. But I will do it all on my own as a parent who believes our government should be held accountable just like I advocated for my old home state to get some additional staff in and approve I600a applications in a reasonable time frame. But I will disagree about one thing. They did NOT originally state it was only red flags and it was never dealt with that way. They have always stated that investigations will be the rule, not the exception, for the time being. And I am in complete support of that, honestly.
3) This is maybe the most complicated issue you bring up. I have mixed feelings. Part of me feels that, absolutely, we should have a right to know where our information is, when it is being processed, how it is being processed, etc. However I also understand that it has the potential to disrupt an on-going investigation if that information is shared. It would defy the point of impromptu investigations to tell the parents that they are still waiting in line for their impromptu investigation! 🙂 If there are issues, it definitely would be inappropriate to share those issues until an investigation is complete and a decision is made. Keep in mind that PAPs are not those most affected here – the babies are and they know nothing before, during or after. We are secondary parties to these petitions. But I also can’t imagine waiting in limbo without information and I think a middle ground can and should be reached.
Your bottom line may be right on, not becuase the initiative is inherently pointless but becuase it is a global issue and no matter how powerful we like to think our little corner of the globe is, we do not have the power to single-handedly curb such a gigantic issue (especially when it is still occurring within our own borders!). But we spent years watching corruption take place and reaching out to ask our government to do something – anything – to stop it or slow it down and I believe they are acting in response to that. And of course now we don’t like it, are agnry it is affecting us, are angry it isn’t effective enough against corruption. But no one is proposing more viable alternatives, better ideas, clearer paths to ethical adoptions. Most people who are complaining the most will disappear the minute they bring their own child home. This isn’t just obvious to us here – it is obvious to all parties in this adoption process and I think it speaks much louder than all the phone calls and petitions in the world. What it says is “I didn’t really care about anything but MY baby and now I have him/her so I’m happy.” All that work done while they were frustrated and angry? Right out the window! Of those that hang around after their babies are home, many people who are complaining the loudest fail to offer action plans to curb what they do not like or fail to involve themselves in a more active capacity in one of the many movements or groups that HAVE acted.
We can not control what Ireland or France or Australia does in Vietnam. We can support those who advocate for global action. Or we can focus on what we CAN control. Or we can make our own government the Enemy because they are the ones we perceive to be between us and the Gold. Or we can turn a blind eye to it all. At the end of the day each of us has to decide if that’s good enough or, if not, what we are prepared to do in order to fight for global change.
Nicki, Thanks for taking the time to respond so thoroughly. I too think that we agree on some things, disagree on others. You gave me a lot to think about. I think that while the intentions of Orphans First are worthy, there may not have been enough advance planning on how to achieve those goals and the methods being used are very flawed. Sometimes, good intentions go awry, as I believe has happened in this situation.
I guess the bottom line for me is this: if we share the goal of ethical adoptions, then we have all failed when adoptions are not taking place. Now, 5 provinces, the largest birthing hospital in Vietnam, and two large orphanages in HCMC are blocked indefinitely. No investigations, no determinations, many many referred children held, needlessly, in institutionalized care for a lack of information, not fraud. The process seems to be far more about politics and (lack) of diplomacy than about the welfare of orphans.
[…] trying to make sense of an extremely complex and seemingly ever-changing situation. But the discussion that grew out of those first comments last week has led me to change my mind, a little. I […]