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Legal Loophole Could Leave Some Foreign Born Adoptees Exposed To Deportation

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --  A recent story of man adopted from Korea as a child and later deported back to Korea has exposed a loophole in international adoptions, and foreign adoptions more than 17-years-old could be exposed.

The Child Citizenship Act allows foreign-born children adopted by American parents to automatically become citizens if under 18. But before that law passed in 2000 it was up to parents to ensure their internationally adopted were naturalized.

Maxine Chalker is CEO of Adoptions from the Heart an agency that has done international adoptions for years.

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"The problem is that somehow it goes by the wayside, they don't think it's important or they know they have to pay a lawyer to do it," she said.

Adoptions from the Heart got this week calls after the Korean story broke  from parents with decades old adoptions who finalized adoptions overseas, but failed to re-finalize the adoption in the state.

"That would give their child the safety of being adopted in the United States and of being a US Citizenship."

Chalker says if your child does not have an US birth certificate it's a red flag. She says contact an adoption attorney, if you have questions.

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