A woman adopted from Iran as a toddler by an American war veteran is now facing deportation to the country she left more than 50 years ago.
Found in an Iranian orphanage in 1972 and raised in the United States as a Christian, she was ordered earlier this month to appear before an immigration judge in California.
The letter from the Department of Homeland Security says she is eligible for removal because she overstayed her visa in March 1974 — when she was 4 years old. She has no criminal record.
“I never imagined it would get to where it is today," she said. Fearing deportation to Iran, she added, “I always told myself that there is no way that this country could possibly send someone to their death in a country they left as an orphan. How could the United States do that?"
She is among thousands of international adoptees who were never granted citizenship because their parents did not complete a separate naturalization process required at the time. She only learned she was not a citizen at 38, when she applied for a passport. Her parents have since died.
Her father, a former Air Force officer and World War II prisoner of war, adopted her with his wife while working in Iran as a government contractor. The family returned to the U.S. in 1973, and her adoption was finalized in 1975.
A lawyer’s letter from that year suggested her immigration matter was concluded. She still does not know what went wrong.
She has spent years trying to fix her status, contacting federal agencies and lawmakers. Her congresswoman’s office recently told her it was “not able to advise or interfere."
“It just baffles me that it’s OK to send me to a foreign country that I could potentially die or I could get imprisoned because of a clerical error," she said.
A judge has postponed her hearing until next month and ruled she does not have to appear in person.
Source: World News in news18.com, World Latest News, World News
