{"id":79579,"date":"2026-03-03T19:42:42","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T03:42:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=79579"},"modified":"2026-03-03T19:42:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T03:42:42","slug":"more-than-17k-korean-adoptees-in-us-lack-citizenship-many-live-in-minnesota","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=79579","title":{"rendered":"More than 17k Korean Adoptees in US Lack Citizenship. Many Live in Minnesota."},"content":{"rendered":"
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By<\/span>Nicole Chang<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Feature art by Roxsy Lin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Emily was just three months old in 1964 when she was adopted by a Minnesota family. Emily (we are only using her first name) is undocumented and fears she may be deported to South Korea, a country she has not seen since birth.<\/p>\n

She is among thousands of Korean adoptees in the US who never attained citizenship and are now vulnerable amid the Trump Administration\u2019s mass deportation campaign.<\/p>\n

According to Emily, who now lives in Los Angeles, her adoptive parents failed to complete her citizenship paperwork before she reached adulthood. The family eventually fell apart, after which Emily fell into legal limbo.<\/p>\n

Now in her 60s, Emily says she faces restrictions in renewing her driver\u2019s license and accessing health insurance.<\/p>\n

Emily\u2019s case is not unique. Her story is the outcome of a system that brought thousands of children to the United States and then failed to ensure they belonged to it.<\/p>\n

A lifetime lived as Americans<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Following the end of the Korean War hundreds of thousands of Koreans were sent abroad as infants. A 2025 report by South Korea\u2019s Truth and Reconciliation Commission cited\u00a0widespread violations<\/a>\u00a0in the country\u2019s international adoption program, ranging from falsified documents to child switching and lack of parental consent.<\/p>\n

According to a report from the Overseas Koreans Agency, as of 2024, approximately 17,547 Korean adoptees in the United States still have no U.S. citizenship to show for a lifetime lived as Americans.<\/p>\n

Many, like Emily, face barriers in employment, licensing, and public benefits, while individuals with certain criminal convictions could be subject to deportation proceedings.<\/p>\n

A majority of Korean adoptees in the US live in Minnesota, according to the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC), which puts the number in the state at approximately 15,000, nearly half of Minnesota\u2019s entire Korean population.<\/p>\n

Operation Metro Surge<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As of a month ago, Minnesota was the site of one of the largest immigration enforcement operations in US history. More than 2,000 federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) flooded Minneapolis and surrounding areas.<\/p>\n

For Korean adoptees in the state, the 2.5-month period during which agents roamed Minneapolis streets was fraught with fear and anxiety.<\/p>\n

Kim Park Nelson is a professor at Winona State University in Minnesota. She says concerns about racial profiling were particularly intense during Operation Metro Surge.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a growing perception that simply having an Asian face draws scrutiny,\u201d Park Nelson said, pointing to a\u00a0Supreme Court ruling<\/a>\u00a0allowing officials to use race as a factor in immigration stops. \u201cIf enforcement actions rely on racialized assumptions about who \u2018looks\u2019 like an immigrant, then even U.S. citizens could become potential targets.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response, Korean adoptees \u2014 including naturalized and U.S.-born citizens \u2014 began carrying passports when leaving home and organizing emergency contact plans. Others have reportedly discussed safety protocols with their children in case of unexpected encounters with authorities.<\/p>\n

In February the Trump Administration announced it was drawing down the operation in Minneapolis. The announcement came amid a growing nationwide outcry following the\u00a0deaths of two US citizens<\/a>\u00a0at the hands of federal immigration agents.<\/p>\n

\u2018Worse than Covid-19\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Still, community leaders say a significant federal presence remains, and concerns have not subsided.<\/p>\n

According to Park Nelson, many Korean adoptees grew up in white households and may have limited connections to immigrant communities or access to immigration-related information.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome entered adulthood without fully understanding what documentation was required to confirm their legal status,\u201d she said. \u201cAs a result, news of enforcement activity alone can trigger intense fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Park Nelson pointed out that she personally checks reports of ICE activity before leaving home and carries her U.S. passport as a precaution.<\/p>\n

The enforcement operations also affected local businesses and community life. Rev. Isaac Lee, who operates a homeless shelter in St. Paul, said during a recent online press conference that ICE agents entered the shelter\u2019s parking lot on at least two occasions.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince then, residents have been on edge,\u201d Lee said. \u201cSome families keep emergency bags packed in case they need to leave quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lee added that several Korean American business owners have reported sharp declines in revenue following the raids, and church attendance has dropped. \u201cIn some respects, it feels worse than during the COVID-19 pandemic,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Legislative efforts stall<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Yonghoon Han, organizing director with NAKASEC, said his organization is expanding legal education seminars and working with adoptee advocacy groups. \u201cWe are also supporting broader Asian American community solidarity efforts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

More than two decades ago U.S. lawmakers passed the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, which granted automatic U.S. citizenship to internationally adopted children who met certain criteria. However, adoptees who were 18 or older at the time the law took effect were excluded, leaving some without automatic citizenship.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany who were adopted as infants do not even realize they lack citizenship,\u201d said Han.<\/p>\n

In September lawmakers introduced the\u00a0Protect Adoptees and American Families Act<\/a>. The bill was co-sponsored in the House by Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) and Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), and in the Senate by Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).<\/p>\n

The legislation seeks to provide a pathway to citizenship for intercountry adoptees who were excluded under previous law, but it has yet to advance. As of late 2025, the bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnforcement officers do not distinguish whether we speak Korean or Chinese. To them, we appear as immigrants,\u201d Han said. \u201cThe Korean community can no longer assume it is insulated from these actions. We must stand in solidarity with other communities, including adoptees.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ByNicole Chang Feb 26, 2026 Feature...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-u-s-a"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=79579"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79580,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79579\/revisions\/79580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=79579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=79579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=79579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}