Archived: National Week of Action 2023

Background and Issue

The Equal Citizenship for Children Act is a critical piece of federal legislation that closes a discriminatory loophole in US immigration law, one that denies U.S. citizenship to thousands of intercountry adoptees who decades ago were legally adopted by U.S. citizen parents. The loophole relates primarily to the age of the adoptee—denying citizenship to those born prior to February 27, 1983. It remains a critical piece of legislation that must be enacted this Congressional session.

Action Needed

Contact your US Representative today to request their support or to thank them for sponsoring the Equal Citizenship for Children Act (HR1386). Ask your representative to make US citizenship for all intercountry adoptees a reality, no matter the adoptee’s date of birth. Suggested language and a list of US Representatives is here (or click on the button below). I encourage every person to contact their own Representatives to express support for this crucial equal rights bill.

Background and Issue

California’s AB1302 is an awful bill that is dead for 2023. But it may receive a hearing in January 2024. Only one organization publicly supports the bill: an association of private investigators, known as the California Association of Licensed Investigators (CALI). CALI’s members no doubt benefit financially from the continued state secrecy of pre-adoption birth records. We are asking CALI to rescind its support for California AB1302.

Action Needed

Adoptees United already has a letter asking the California Association of Licensed Investigators to rescind its support of AB1302. You can read the letter and sign on to it here. We especially need allied organizations to sign on to show broad and strong support for equal rights for all adopted people. We welcome all individuals to sign on, whether adoptees, birthparents, adoptive parents, allies, or supporters.

Background and Issue

Pending Wisconsin legislation would restore a right all Wisconsin-born adopted people once had: the right to request and obtain a copy of your own birth record, without complex and discriminatory restrictions. While the legislation has broad support, the State Bar of Wisconsin opposes it. We must let the State Bar of Wisconsin know it is way off the mark and that it is an outlier on the issue of equal rights for all adopted people.

Action Needed

The State Bar’s Children and the Law Section has testified against the bills in the past and has registered opposition to the bills again this session, assigning four lobbyists to defeat the bill. Sign on today to a letter that requests the State Bar of Wisconsin to withdraw its opposition to AB13/SB15. The letter will be delivered after this action alert is complete, likely in the next two weeks and hopefully before any scheduled hearings.

Background and Issue

Ongoing efforts in multiple states, including California, Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania could use your action and help—even if it’s not at this very moment. And there may be efforts in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia in the next year or two. We need people active in these states and on a federal level. That’s where you come in.

Action Needed

One simple thing: sign up for the Adoptees United newsletter, which will keep you up to date on pending legislation. Plus, when you sign up through this link you can also indicate a specific state or issue that drives your interests. Once done, you’ll get updates whenever actions are needed on that issue or if there is action or related events in your state or region.

Act and Repeat. I have outlined four things you can do this week. For the most part they they do not have deadlines. That is, if you haven’t done one yet, pick an action and DO IT. Or pick two two or three. That’s it. We make no progress unless we act. I’ll also soon announce an Adoptees United virtual happy hour at the end of June to celebrate everything we have done together in the past year, including upcoming law changes in South Dakota, Vermont, and Minnesota. To make sure you get notice of that, sign up with Adoptees United (see Day 4 above).

Donate. The work that we all do often has a missing component: adequate funding. Adoptees United is a national tax-exempt nonprofit organization dedicated to equality for all adopted people. It has a diverse board of adoptees and a track record of engaging adoptees from all walks of life on a long list of issues. Ongoing funding is needed to grow AU so that it can become a more powerful organization with a broad national voice. Please contribute toward that future by giving directly, through employer matching programs, or even through a Facebook fundraiser.