Letter to the Hon. Kirstjen Nielsen, Secretary of Homeland Security and the Hon. Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State - Klobuchar, Blunt Lead Letter Urging Departments of Homeland Security, State to Address Impact of Closure of Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Offices on Intercountry Adoptions
Letter
Dear Secretaries Nielsen and Pompeo:
We write in response to the Administration's decision to close the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) international offices and transfer responsibility for facilitating intercountry adoptions to existing State Department personnel at embassies and consulates.
Currently, USCIS operates field offices in countries around the world and offers a range of services--including helping to enable adoptive children to join permanent families in the U.S. In fiscal year 2018, 4,059 children from other countries were adopted by parents in the United States--655 fewer than the year before. On average, these adoptions took more than a year to process. We are concerned that the Administration's decision to close these offices could exacerbate already long processing times for intercountry adoptions, lengthening stays in orphanages, and potentially denying children critical time with their future families.
We understand that USCIS plans to transfer the work currently being done by its international offices to existing State Department personnel. We are also concerned that these additional requirements could result in lengthier processing times in light of the fact that significant cuts have been proposed to the State Department's budget. In addition, it is unclear if State Department personnel have the necessary authorities and dedicated resources to complete the same tasks as effectively as the current USCIS staff.
We respectfully ask that your Departments take action to ensure that adoptive children waiting to join permanent families in the United States are not negatively impacted by the decision to close international offices. Thank you for your attention to this issue, and we look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
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