There have been several high-profile cases of deportation of Korean adoptees from the United States. Prior to the passage of the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, the adoptive parents of adoptees had to file for their child to naturalize before the age of 16. Many parents were unaware of this requirement, assuming that their adopted children automatically derived citizenship from them, and therefore did not apply. The Child Citizenship Act sought to remedy this issue by extending citizenship to all international adoptees who were under 18 at the time that the bill was passed, but did not apply retroactively. This left those adopted by American families prior to 1983 vulnerable to deportations.
From the 1950s through 1991, a plurality of international adoptees came from South Korea. Koreans are the largest group of adoptees in the U.S. It has been estimated that as many as 20% of adult Korean adoptees are at risk of deportation. Many of the vulnerable adoptees suffered from a lack of access to other resources American citizens have.
If deported, they also face major challenges adjusting to live in South Korea. If they have no known family or relations in their birth country and do not speak the language, as is often the case, it is incredibly difficult for them to meet their basic needs such as housing and employment. These factors contributed to the 2017 suicide of Philip Clay, a Korean adoptee who was deported.
The exact number of deported Korean adoptees is unknown and difficult to ascertain, but there are at least half a dozen known cases.
The Story of Philip Clay
Phillip Clay (Kim Sang-pil) was found abandoned in Seoul in 1981 and legally adopted into an American family in Philadelphia.
After a struggle with drug addiction and a run in with the law, Clay was deported back to Korea in 2012, despite no knowledge of the Korean language or customs, nor without a single contact in the country. Diagnosed in Korea with bipolar disorder, he was shuffled in and out of social agencies and hospitals who could not care for him due to a lack of English speaking staff. In 2017, Clay ended his life jumping from the 14th floor of a building in Seoul.
RIP Philip Clay 😢
The Story of Adam Crapser
Adam Crapser was adopted from South Korea by United States citizens in 1979, then readopted by a second family years later. Both families were charged with child abuse, and Crapser was later left alone without United States citizenship. Crapser had run-ins with law, including 3 domestic violence incidents and a charge of contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor, that led to him not being eligible for a green card after years of searching for his proper adoption documentation.
Crapser filed a lawsuit against one of the biggest international adoption agencies, Holt Children’s Services, for negligence in sending thousands of children to the United States and other countries without “accounting for their future citizenship.”. In May 2023, the court found in Crapser’s favor and ordered Holt to pay nearly $75,000 in damages. Crapser now lives in Mexico.
The Story of Hyebin Schreiber
Adopted by her uncle and aunt in Kansas, Hyebin Schreiber arrived in the United States in 2014 at 15 years of age from relatives who could not afford to care for her. Her uncle, retired Army Lt. Col. Patrick Schreiber spent much of 2013 and 2014 deployed to Afghanistan, and was unaware that he would need to formally apply for naturalization prior to her 16th birthday to qualify. After a protracted court battle, the United States 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2019 that she must return to Korea.
Very sad stories.
Even though I’m a Citizen and am not facing deportation issues (not yet, anyways 👀), I kinda feel what they went through.
I was born in Mainland China (PRC) and I immigrated to the US as a kid. As I grew up, I grew attachment to the principles of constitution: democracy, freedom, human rights. I’m more American than those far-right “patriots”.
I had a small fight in highschool, it was self-defence btw, and the instigator probably movitivated by the hatred against Asian people during the height of the Covid pandemic (it was mere weeks before schools closed), so I got beaten by this fucking bully, then got arrested and faced false accusations of “assault with a deadly weapon” 🙄 (I was unarmed bro, wtf, ACAB). Charges got dropped. But that could’ve been trouble for me since USCIS still can see any charges even if dropped, and can make immigration decisions based on that. But luckily, the the law now is that children with Legal Permanent Resident status under 18 are automatically citizen if one of their parents become a citizen, and since my mom is a citizen, I’m fine.
Like, can you imagine the other timeline where I get deported for a fucking school fight? (again, don’t jinx it ahem project 2025 ahem 👀)
I mean, if I had to go back to China, re-learning Mandarin and that difficult Chinese writing system is gonna make me kms. (Not to mention, it’d be harder to find foreign entertainment due to CCP censorship)
Me and CCP aren’t exactly best-buds, I’d probably get jailed the moment I step foot in China for all the bad things I said about CCP.
(But probably don’t need to worry about, now that we got CECOT instead 😖)
I’ve seen documentaries of Adam Crasper. Terrible thing done by the adoptive parents. They thought they can just go to SK, pick up a kid they like, and just bring them over; not even putting in the effort to figure out the paperwork needed. He ultimately ended up in Mexico because it was more familiar to him due to growing up with latino friends than SK.