By Yun Suh-young
The fate of a six-month old Korea-born baby is entangled in a legal and bureaucratic tug of war between Korea and the United States.
The baby, born to a 20-year-old single mother in Tongyong, South Gyeongsang Province, was adopted by an American couple in Illinois in June this year, just 19 days after she was born.
According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the single mother who was already raising a child, requested the operator of a public facility where she was living, to find foster parents for her second child.
When the operator found the Illinois couple, the single mother signed a paper giving up her parental rights to the child and handed the baby over. Both parties apparently received consultation from a local law firm.
All was well until last month when the U.S. government found out that the parents adopted the child without following proper American legal procedures.
This occurred when the couple applied for a visa extension for their adopted baby at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
However, the process revealed that the baby was brought into the country without a proper visa.
All adopted babies must receive an “immigration visa through adoption” (IR3) in order to legally reside in the United States.
However, the security department found that the Korean adoptee was apparently brought into the country on the visa waiver program (VWP) which is only effective for 90 days. If visitors do not apply for a visa after the waiver expires, they become illegal residents.
The security department notified the Korean government of the case through the U.S. Embassy in Seoul on Nov. 8. On Nov. 18, the Ministry of Health and Welfare told the U.S. government through the embassy that the adoption was illegal under Korean law, as it should have been approved by a family court in Korea.
The following day, the Department of Homeland Security immediately ordered that the baby be separated from the American couple.
However, the couple filed a suit in the Illinois Northern District Court against the U.S. government, claiming that the Circuit Court of Cook County in Illinois had already approved their rights to adopt the child.
The child was temporarily returned to the American parents and will stay with them until a final court decision is made.
Meanwhile, the health ministry, in an effort to bring the baby back to the country, also filed a lawsuit at the Illinois circuit court to cancel the adoption approved by the court.
The ministry said one of its officials attended a hearing on the case at the U.S. federal court to claim that the adoption was illegal and should be nullified.
The district court has held three hearings on the case so far on Nov.27, Nov.29, and Dec.10 and plans to hold a fourth next Monday. It decided to hold the hearings after deliberating the decision made by the state court.