LilMtnCbn
02-03-2004, 06:17 AM
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Feb/03/ln/ln16a.html
Families assured on adoptions
By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer
Adoption advocates and officials are assuring new adoptive parents or those
seeking children internationally that a federal case involving Cambodian
adoptions won't affect their families.
One of those accused in the case — Kaua'i adoption facilitator Lauryn
Galindo, whose work in Cambodia has led to visa fraud charges — will be
arraigned Thursday in Seattle's U.S. District Court, said her lawyer, public
defender Jay Stansell.
Galindo, who lives in Hanalei, did not want to be interviewed last week. Her
spokesman, Los Angeles media consultant Steve Jaffe, said she continues to
maintain her innocence. The grand jury indictment, handed down in November,
says adoptions Galindo helped to arrange in 1997 through 1999 involved false
information about children on visa applications, cash payments to birth parents
and misrepresenting their children as orphans.
The indictment also names Galindo's sister, Lynn Devin, and Devin's company,
Seattle International Adoptions Inc. Devin pleaded guilty last month under a
sealed plea agreement and is scheduled to be sentenced in March.
Jaffe said that Galindo is not an employee of SIA and facilitates adoptions for
her sister's company as well as other agencies. He said Galindo has estimated
that she has worked with 700 adoptions over 12 years, including about 50 in
Hawai'i.
The case has received wide publicity because one of Devin's clients is actress
Angelina Jolie, who adopted her Cambodian-born son through the agency. But of
greater concern to observers here is the effect on those contemplating an
international adoption, a demanding course for parents.
The U.S. Department of Justice, which is handling the prosecution of Galindo
and Devin, is not pursuing any reversals in the adoption of Cambodian children
already in the United States, said department spokeswoman Casey Stavropolous.
That assurance was underscored by Kristine Altwies Nicholson, president of
Hawai'i International Child, one of the agencies that handled Cambodia
adoptions until about three years ago.
"There's been no case in the history of international adoption where the
government has gone back on issuance of a visa," Nicholson said. "That's what
the parents need to know.
"If it were to happen that the U.S. government would make any foray into
reneging on a visa, the adoption community would rise up in arms."
Since allegations of birth parents being paid for their children, Cambodia shut
down its program in 2000 to review its procedures. The moratorium was lifted
briefly the next year, Nicholson said, but in December 2001 immigration
officials barred any new applications to admit Cambodian adoptees to the United
States.
The effects of the present case, she said, have been negative.
"International adoption is by its nature a very frightening and risky
undertaking by adoptive parents," she said. "The news is filled with stories
about fraud and illegal activities in adoption.
"I think families should continue to pursue international adoption,
understanding that the rewards can be huge, that for every negative story there
are hundreds of positive stories."
One such story is Merlyn Ruddle, the Kaua'i mother of 4-year-old Hannah, whose
adoption from Cambodia Galindo helped to arrange. Ruddle lived in a Cambodian
orphanage for two months while Galindo worked on her case and befriended her.
Ruddle flew to Seattle to support Galindo when she was indicted and describes
her friend as someone who works skillfully and generously with adoption
officials and village chiefs to bring impoverished children out of the country.
"When my husband wired money to her, she took all of the money and added cash
from her account, went to the chief of the village and gave him the money,"
Ruddle said. "It was like being with Eleanor Roosevelt. She wagged her finger
at him and said, 'This money is for a school for the poor children, and don't
let me hear that one dollar went for the wealthy children.' "
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, formerly known as the
Immigration and Naturalization Service, suspended U.S. adoptions from Cambodia
on Dec. 21, 2001, because of serious concerns about the adoption process in
Cambodia, said agency spokesman Chris Bentley.
"You can see three potential victims in the equation," Bentley said. "Children
can be a victim of trafficking or extortion. Birth parents, through extortion,
may be forced to give up their children; and adoptive parents can be victims
.... we're looking to maintain the integrity of the system."
Under federal law, children eligible for international adoption must be
orphans, defined as someone with no living parent or who has been abandoned, he
said. The U.S. government must investigate to be certain before signing off on
a declaration of abandonment, Bentley said.
There are other countries where adoptions have proven problematic. Similar
fears of fraudulent adoption operations are brewing in Guatemala and Vietnam,
Bentley said, but so far those programs haven't been halted.
Different but equally difficult situations exist in countries such as the
Republic of the Marshall Islands, which enjoys far less supervision over
entries into the United States because of its compact of free association with
America.
Because of a practice of pregnant Marshallese women being brought into the
United States to deliver babies for adoption, immigration officials, wary of
the potential for human trafficking abuses, have become more restrictive on who
is admissible to the United States, said immigration attorney Jim Stanton.
"You can't really fault that from a policy point of view," Stanton said. "And
the Marshallese government has come up with legislation to regulate this
phenomenon."
He referred to the Marshall Islands Adoption Law that took effect in October
with the establishment of a central adoption agency. Among other functions,
this agency would enforce restrictions against soliciting birth parents to put
up children for adoption and helping someone travel abroad for the purpose of
placing a child for adoption.
Despite the potential for abuse that exists, advocates for international
adoption mourn the temporary loss of the program in Cambodia, Nicholson said.
There, high infant mortality rates and crushing poverty leave orphaned children
with far less hope of being placed in a family with the means to care for them,
she said.
"The Cambodian adoption program should not be tossed out with the bath water,"
she said. "Thousands of lives have been saved and thousands of families created
legitimately because of this program."
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
Families assured on adoptions
By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer
Adoption advocates and officials are assuring new adoptive parents or those
seeking children internationally that a federal case involving Cambodian
adoptions won't affect their families.
One of those accused in the case — Kaua'i adoption facilitator Lauryn
Galindo, whose work in Cambodia has led to visa fraud charges — will be
arraigned Thursday in Seattle's U.S. District Court, said her lawyer, public
defender Jay Stansell.
Galindo, who lives in Hanalei, did not want to be interviewed last week. Her
spokesman, Los Angeles media consultant Steve Jaffe, said she continues to
maintain her innocence. The grand jury indictment, handed down in November,
says adoptions Galindo helped to arrange in 1997 through 1999 involved false
information about children on visa applications, cash payments to birth parents
and misrepresenting their children as orphans.
The indictment also names Galindo's sister, Lynn Devin, and Devin's company,
Seattle International Adoptions Inc. Devin pleaded guilty last month under a
sealed plea agreement and is scheduled to be sentenced in March.
Jaffe said that Galindo is not an employee of SIA and facilitates adoptions for
her sister's company as well as other agencies. He said Galindo has estimated
that she has worked with 700 adoptions over 12 years, including about 50 in
Hawai'i.
The case has received wide publicity because one of Devin's clients is actress
Angelina Jolie, who adopted her Cambodian-born son through the agency. But of
greater concern to observers here is the effect on those contemplating an
international adoption, a demanding course for parents.
The U.S. Department of Justice, which is handling the prosecution of Galindo
and Devin, is not pursuing any reversals in the adoption of Cambodian children
already in the United States, said department spokeswoman Casey Stavropolous.
That assurance was underscored by Kristine Altwies Nicholson, president of
Hawai'i International Child, one of the agencies that handled Cambodia
adoptions until about three years ago.
"There's been no case in the history of international adoption where the
government has gone back on issuance of a visa," Nicholson said. "That's what
the parents need to know.
"If it were to happen that the U.S. government would make any foray into
reneging on a visa, the adoption community would rise up in arms."
Since allegations of birth parents being paid for their children, Cambodia shut
down its program in 2000 to review its procedures. The moratorium was lifted
briefly the next year, Nicholson said, but in December 2001 immigration
officials barred any new applications to admit Cambodian adoptees to the United
States.
The effects of the present case, she said, have been negative.
"International adoption is by its nature a very frightening and risky
undertaking by adoptive parents," she said. "The news is filled with stories
about fraud and illegal activities in adoption.
"I think families should continue to pursue international adoption,
understanding that the rewards can be huge, that for every negative story there
are hundreds of positive stories."
One such story is Merlyn Ruddle, the Kaua'i mother of 4-year-old Hannah, whose
adoption from Cambodia Galindo helped to arrange. Ruddle lived in a Cambodian
orphanage for two months while Galindo worked on her case and befriended her.
Ruddle flew to Seattle to support Galindo when she was indicted and describes
her friend as someone who works skillfully and generously with adoption
officials and village chiefs to bring impoverished children out of the country.
"When my husband wired money to her, she took all of the money and added cash
from her account, went to the chief of the village and gave him the money,"
Ruddle said. "It was like being with Eleanor Roosevelt. She wagged her finger
at him and said, 'This money is for a school for the poor children, and don't
let me hear that one dollar went for the wealthy children.' "
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, formerly known as the
Immigration and Naturalization Service, suspended U.S. adoptions from Cambodia
on Dec. 21, 2001, because of serious concerns about the adoption process in
Cambodia, said agency spokesman Chris Bentley.
"You can see three potential victims in the equation," Bentley said. "Children
can be a victim of trafficking or extortion. Birth parents, through extortion,
may be forced to give up their children; and adoptive parents can be victims
.... we're looking to maintain the integrity of the system."
Under federal law, children eligible for international adoption must be
orphans, defined as someone with no living parent or who has been abandoned, he
said. The U.S. government must investigate to be certain before signing off on
a declaration of abandonment, Bentley said.
There are other countries where adoptions have proven problematic. Similar
fears of fraudulent adoption operations are brewing in Guatemala and Vietnam,
Bentley said, but so far those programs haven't been halted.
Different but equally difficult situations exist in countries such as the
Republic of the Marshall Islands, which enjoys far less supervision over
entries into the United States because of its compact of free association with
America.
Because of a practice of pregnant Marshallese women being brought into the
United States to deliver babies for adoption, immigration officials, wary of
the potential for human trafficking abuses, have become more restrictive on who
is admissible to the United States, said immigration attorney Jim Stanton.
"You can't really fault that from a policy point of view," Stanton said. "And
the Marshallese government has come up with legislation to regulate this
phenomenon."
He referred to the Marshall Islands Adoption Law that took effect in October
with the establishment of a central adoption agency. Among other functions,
this agency would enforce restrictions against soliciting birth parents to put
up children for adoption and helping someone travel abroad for the purpose of
placing a child for adoption.
Despite the potential for abuse that exists, advocates for international
adoption mourn the temporary loss of the program in Cambodia, Nicholson said.
There, high infant mortality rates and crushing poverty leave orphaned children
with far less hope of being placed in a family with the means to care for them,
she said.
"The Cambodian adoption program should not be tossed out with the bath water,"
she said. "Thousands of lives have been saved and thousands of families created
legitimately because of this program."
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
