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Parent Power Works in Washington, Page 3

The Letter

The letter from Congress begins by thanking officials from State and INS for meeting with Congressional staff members but then moves quickly to say "we remain extremely troubled over the lack of a decision on how to treat the 'pipeline' cases that have been caught up in this U.S. imposed moratorium." The letter criticizes the current system, noting that some families with adoption decrees dating back to October were denied visas to bring their children home while others, with decrees dated in November and December, were processed and are home with their children. At the Feb. 15 meeting, parents were told that a task force has been sent to Cambodia to understand the stages of the process, and to categorize the families, by status, to see where they are in the process. Meanwhile, the letter recommends that these five steps be taken.

1. "Define the universe of the 'pipeline' cases at a minimum to include all families who have an adoption decree or have had a child referred to them."
   
   
2. "Process the 'pipeline' cases on a case-by-case basis."
   
   
3. "Process these cases in order beginning with those with the earliest dates on their adoption decrees and cases with extraordinary circumstances (i.e., child has a medical condition in need of immediate treatment)."
   
   
4. "Immediately provide INS letters of approval to families who have referrals so they may proceed with the adoption process in Cambodia."
   
   
5. "Consider adjudicating the cases with adoption decrees prior to a family actually traveling to pick up their child if the adoptive family so requests."

Sen. Landrieu made it clear that Congress is focused on improving the situation. She told the parents "we're going to try to get the maximum number through and, if not, then we'll file a bill to correct things. But we would like to fix the system administratively."

© 2002, William L. Pierce, Ph.D., All rights reserved

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