Two pieces of legislation concerning International Adoption have recently made progress through the legislature:
Nov 30, 2010 – S. 1376: International Adoption Simplification Act. This was signed by President Obama and bill has become law. The law restores immunization and sibling age exemptions for children adopted by United States citizens under the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption. This act allows waivers of the immigration immunization requirements for children adopted from Hague partner countries. It also allows children up to the age of 18 to be adopted and admitted into the US if they are siblings of previously adopted children. This law addresses oversights in the drafting of the Hague Regulations and brings those regulations into parity with existing international adoption law and policy on immunization waivers and sibling adoptions in non-Hague programs. PEAR’s position on this legislation can be found here: http://pear-now.blogspot.com/2009/08/following-legislative-proposals-were.html
Dec 1, 2010 – H 5283/S 3411 Help for Haiti Act. The House passed the Act and it is now awaiting President’s Obama’s signiture before becoming law. This Act is intended to assist Haitian children who arrived in the US on Special Humanitarian Parole for adoption to achieve an easier path to US Citizenship by easing the process granting them permanent resident status. PEAR’s position on this legislation can be found here: http://pear-now.blogspot.com/2010/07/legislative-updates-hr-5283-and-s-3411.html
Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
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