The 5th Annual MPAK Gala Held to Raise Funds for Orphans and Vulnerable Children of North Korean Escapee Women
Event to Support the Adoptee Citizenship Act 2021
Friday, July 9, 2021
The Hon. Park, Kyung Jae hosted the event at his residence in Los Angeles for adoptees to come together to support the passage of the Adoptee Citizenship Act 2021.
The Hon. Park, Kyung Jae, who is the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Los Angeles, invited around 50 adoptees and families to his residence to support the Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2021. To reduce the dangers of COVID-19 risks, the consulate office limited to just 50 people in attendance.
MPAK was given the task of organizing this event and reached out to many adult adoptees and a few MPAK board members and families to attend and support this event. We are grateful to Hon. Park for hosting this event, which was highlighted with a keynote speech by Susan Cox (in pink), the Vice President of the Holt International Children's Services. Susan went over the highlights of the past and present efforts to pass the Adoptee Citizenship Acts and to discuss on what we can do to support the Act. Mike Lee (Front row 2nd from left) shared his adoption story on identity topic, and Ms. Ji Miock and her student gave a traditional Korean dance performance. Also in attendance was Mr. Kevin Kreider (back row middle in black), a model and a star in Netflix's Bling Empire.
Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2021 is Not just for Korean Adoptees, but for the adoptees from all over the world that have legally been adopted into the US.
Resources & Information:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1593
https://adopteerightslaw.com/
https://adopteerightscampaign.org/
https://www.adopteecitizenshipact.org/
Your Actions Needed:
Emails: Please send emails to your representatives in California.
Here is a site that you can visit to write:
https://www.adopteecitizenshipact.org/send-an-email
Call: your representatives in California
https://www.adopteecitizenshipact.org/make-a-phone-call
Spread: Spread the word through your SNS network
https://www.adopteecitizenshipact.org/spread-the-word
The Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2021- sometimes called ACA or ACA21 for short—are two identical bills pending in the U.S. Congress: HR1593 and S967. These bills would amend U.S. immigration law to repeal a loophole that has operated to deny automatic U.S. citizenship to thousands of intercountry adoptees who were adopted by U.S. citizen parents, some more than sixty years ago.
While most people presume that children adopted by U.S. citizen parents receive automatic U.S. citizenship at the time of the adoption, this has not been true for many intercountry adoptees. Many are now adults and do not have U.S. citizenship.
