LilMtnCbn
02-19-2004, 08:47 AM
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.adopt19feb19,0,6920598
..story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines
Illegal Marshallese adoptions persist
Island official seeks help from U.S. to stop practice
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
Sun National Staff
Originally published February 19, 2004
HONOLULU - Despite a legal ban, U.S. adoption agencies are still luring
pregnant women from the Marshall Islands to give birth and relinquish their
newborns, according to the director of the western Pacific nation's new Central
Adoption Authority.
"It comes dangerously close to child trafficking," said Michael Jenkins, noting
that a law passed by the Marshall Islands Congress in 2002 requires that, as of
last Oct. 1, all such adoptions go through that country's court system.
He said he had reports of at least five women being taken to Hawaii during the
past month, based on observations of passengers departing from the nation's
international airport.
Jenkins is in Hawaii to enlist the aid of government agencies to end the
practice. He met this week with officials of the FBI, the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security along with officials of various Hawaii state agencies.
"People think they are legal, but they are not," Jenkins said of the adoptions.
A Sun series last year reported that hundreds of Marshallese birth mothers have
been flown to Hawaii, Oklahoma, Utah and other states to circumvent the island
law. American parents have been paying fees of up to $30,000 to agencies to
complete the adoptions, while the birthmothers say they receive only a few
hundred dollars in pocket money.
As residents of a former U.S. trust territory, Marshallese mothers usually do
not need visas to enter the country. But in December, President Bush approved
an amendment to the Compact of Free Association, which governs relations
between the two nations. Three senators say the new language requires
Marshallese coming to the United States for the purposes of adoption to obtain
a visa.
Sens. Pete V. Domenici, the New Mexico Republican who leads the Committee on
Natural Resources, which oversees compact matters, Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico,
the ranking Democrat on the panel, and Daniel K. Akaka, a Hawaii Democrat and
committee member, all called on the Department of Homeland Security to enforce
the rule.
While in Hawaii, Jenkins spoke on Tuesday at a public forum on the issue
organized by the group Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies of Hawaii. He said that
one of the major obstacles in stopping the commerce in adoptive babies was that
no Hawaii government agency had previously taken a lead role. As a result of
meetings this week, the Hawaii Department of Human Services has agreed to
assume that role, he said.
Jenkins said that 12 complaints of violations of the adoption law have been
reported to his agency since Oct. 1. He said seven of the 12 were referred to
the Marshalls attorney general and that two were likely to result in
prosecutions. Violations of the law carry penalties of up to a year in jail and
a $1,000 fine for each violation.
In one of the cases that could lead to criminal charges, he said, the reasons
for applying for a passport were misrepresented. In the other case, he said,
the father did not give his consent to the adoption.
Julie Walsh Kroeker, an anthropologist at the University of Hawaii who first
called attention to a sudden influx of Marshallese women giving up their
children for adoption here, said her work showed that birth mothers lacked
independent representation during adoptions.
Cindy S. Urbanc, a midwife with the Kalihi-Palama Health Center, said at the
forum that she had learned that some Marshallese birth mothers had been coerced
into giving a child up for adoption.
In one case, Urbanc said, she had trouble getting back the passport from the
adoption agency for a birthmother who had changed her mind and wanted to go
back home with her newborn.
Among those in attendance was Hawaii attorney Linda Lach, who has been involved
in dozens of adoptions of Marshallese children.
Lach complained that all international adoptions from the Marshall Islands
could be stopped due to the enforcement of the Marshallese law, and a Homeland
Security provision requiring a declaration that any child brought into the
United States for purposes of adoption had been abandoned for six months by the
birth parent.
"You just shut off adoptions," Lach said.
-------------------------
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
..story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines
Illegal Marshallese adoptions persist
Island official seeks help from U.S. to stop practice
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
Sun National Staff
Originally published February 19, 2004
HONOLULU - Despite a legal ban, U.S. adoption agencies are still luring
pregnant women from the Marshall Islands to give birth and relinquish their
newborns, according to the director of the western Pacific nation's new Central
Adoption Authority.
"It comes dangerously close to child trafficking," said Michael Jenkins, noting
that a law passed by the Marshall Islands Congress in 2002 requires that, as of
last Oct. 1, all such adoptions go through that country's court system.
He said he had reports of at least five women being taken to Hawaii during the
past month, based on observations of passengers departing from the nation's
international airport.
Jenkins is in Hawaii to enlist the aid of government agencies to end the
practice. He met this week with officials of the FBI, the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security along with officials of various Hawaii state agencies.
"People think they are legal, but they are not," Jenkins said of the adoptions.
A Sun series last year reported that hundreds of Marshallese birth mothers have
been flown to Hawaii, Oklahoma, Utah and other states to circumvent the island
law. American parents have been paying fees of up to $30,000 to agencies to
complete the adoptions, while the birthmothers say they receive only a few
hundred dollars in pocket money.
As residents of a former U.S. trust territory, Marshallese mothers usually do
not need visas to enter the country. But in December, President Bush approved
an amendment to the Compact of Free Association, which governs relations
between the two nations. Three senators say the new language requires
Marshallese coming to the United States for the purposes of adoption to obtain
a visa.
Sens. Pete V. Domenici, the New Mexico Republican who leads the Committee on
Natural Resources, which oversees compact matters, Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico,
the ranking Democrat on the panel, and Daniel K. Akaka, a Hawaii Democrat and
committee member, all called on the Department of Homeland Security to enforce
the rule.
While in Hawaii, Jenkins spoke on Tuesday at a public forum on the issue
organized by the group Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies of Hawaii. He said that
one of the major obstacles in stopping the commerce in adoptive babies was that
no Hawaii government agency had previously taken a lead role. As a result of
meetings this week, the Hawaii Department of Human Services has agreed to
assume that role, he said.
Jenkins said that 12 complaints of violations of the adoption law have been
reported to his agency since Oct. 1. He said seven of the 12 were referred to
the Marshalls attorney general and that two were likely to result in
prosecutions. Violations of the law carry penalties of up to a year in jail and
a $1,000 fine for each violation.
In one of the cases that could lead to criminal charges, he said, the reasons
for applying for a passport were misrepresented. In the other case, he said,
the father did not give his consent to the adoption.
Julie Walsh Kroeker, an anthropologist at the University of Hawaii who first
called attention to a sudden influx of Marshallese women giving up their
children for adoption here, said her work showed that birth mothers lacked
independent representation during adoptions.
Cindy S. Urbanc, a midwife with the Kalihi-Palama Health Center, said at the
forum that she had learned that some Marshallese birth mothers had been coerced
into giving a child up for adoption.
In one case, Urbanc said, she had trouble getting back the passport from the
adoption agency for a birthmother who had changed her mind and wanted to go
back home with her newborn.
Among those in attendance was Hawaii attorney Linda Lach, who has been involved
in dozens of adoptions of Marshallese children.
Lach complained that all international adoptions from the Marshall Islands
could be stopped due to the enforcement of the Marshallese law, and a Homeland
Security provision requiring a declaration that any child brought into the
United States for purposes of adoption had been abandoned for six months by the
birth parent.
"You just shut off adoptions," Lach said.
-------------------------
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
