Help Haitian Adoptees Immediately to Integrate Act of 2010

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Mr. FORTENBERRY. I thank the gentleman from Texas for the time.

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to add that, as we heard, more than 1,000 Haitian orphans who were already in the process of being adopted by American families prior to the earthquake that struck Haiti last January stand today in legal limbo; and, as mentioned by Chairwoman LOFGREN, in the tragic aftermath, these orphans were evacuated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for humanitarian reasons and with the Haitian Government's permission to American soil. Catastrophic circumstances prompted the evacuation of these children to the United States before their adoptions could be finalized in Haitian courts.

Happily, in my home State of Nebraska and throughout the United States, many of these Haitian orphans were able to unite with the very American families who were seeking to adopt them and who are now working to finalize their adoptions in the courts of the United States. Due to a technicality in the law, however, these Haitian children, upon establishing a legal relationship with their adoptive U.S. parents, will have to wait 2 years before they become legal permanent residents.

As international adoption case workers can attest, much can happen to these orphans and their families in 2 years. So long as their status in the United States remains temporary, these vulnerable children will have few legal protections. They may not be eligible for critical resources, and they may face the risk of being forced to repatriate to Haiti if something were to happen to their adoptive families.

To mitigate the risks that these orphaned children from Haiti face, I introduced the Help Haitian Adoptees Immediately to Integrate Act of 2010, also known as the Help HAITI Act. This legislation is the product of continual dialogue and outreach both to the United States Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service and to my Republican and Democratic colleagues in the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Help HAITI Act would provide legal certainty and protections to these evacuated Haitian orphans by enabling adoptive American families to obtain permanent residency for these children more quickly and more efficiently.

Had the earthquake not happened, these orphaned Haitian children would have gone through the normal process for international adoptions. American families would have finalized the adoption of these orphans in Haitian courts. Then, upon entering the United States to join their adoptive families, these children would have automatically received U.S. citizenship. However, the catastrophe disrupted the normal process for international adoption for these children.

The Help HAITI Act would help to normalize the immigration procedures that these adopted orphans now face. It would allow adoptive American families to apply immediately to obtain legal, permanent residency for these vulnerable children and enable them eventually to qualify for U.S. citizenship. This legislation, I would like to point out, would also help reduce the staff, monetary and other resource demands on the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service.

As we all know, Mr. Speaker, these orphaned Haitian children have endured great hardships, and they have also endured heartbreaking tragedy to come to this country and unite with their American adoptive parents. Given the uncertainty and danger that these children have faced, we now are in a position to provide them with a measure of comfort and certainty as to their future with their adoptive families here in America.

So, with that, I would like to thank Chairwoman LOFGREN for her leadership and work on this bill, along with Ranking Member Smith. I appreciate your input and support.

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