ATLANTA – State Representative Mike Glanton (D-Jonesboro) today announced that the Georgia House of Representatives adopted House Resolution 228 on Friday, March 29, 2019. HR 228, sponsored by Rep. Glanton, urges the United States Congress to enact legislation that secures the citizenship of internationally adopted children.
“The resolution further establishes Georgia’s disapproval for the deportation of individuals who were legally adopted as children by parents with United Stated citizenship, and I was pleased to see the near unanimous passage in the House,” said Rep. Glanton. “There have been two bills introduced in Congress which would grant citizenship to adult adoptees but neither bill has been referred out of committee for a congressional vote. We have seen several individuals that have been deported who were legally adopted by U.S. citizens, which results in broken families and can negatively impact the adopted individual. I hope this resolution encourages our U.S. Congress to take action to further prevent these unfortunate situations from taking place.”
HR 288 urges the United States Congress to enact legislation that secures the citizenship of internationally adopted children who were born before February 27, 1982; were legally adopted by United States citizens; and legally entered the United States in the custody of their adopted citizen-parents, but are not American citizens themselves because their adopted parents did not complete all of the necessary processes to provide them with valid citizenship. However, they are subject to a criminal background check regarding conviction for use of physical force.
Internationally-adopted children who were born after February 27, 1982, and who otherwise meet this standard, have already been granted automatic citizenship by federal law. The legislation called for in this resolution does not affect individuals brought into the United States outside the legal adoption process.
For more information on HR 228, please click here.
Representative Mike Glanton represents the citizens of District 75, which includes portions of Clayton County. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2006 and was re-elected in 2012. He currently serves as Vice Chairman on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Education, the Education subcommittee on Academic Innovation and the MARTOC subcommittee on Security and Innovation. He also serves on the Defense & Veterans Affairs, Education, MARTOC and Public Safety & Homeland Security committees.
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