ALERT: We are extremely sad to report that the US State Department has confirmed they will treat Guatemala as a Hague country bound by the Hague requirements. Since Guatemala does not currently meet the Hague criteria, adoptions will cease in 2007 when the US enters the Hague. This position (that they are viewing Guatemala as a Convention country) has been publically stated on the US State Department site as well as a meeting held last week in which they confirmed that they viewed Guatemala as a non-compliant Hague bound country and therefore, could not do adoptions with Guatemala until they were compliant.
This position, in our opinion, must be politically motivated. We believe the US has several ways to legally recognize the current adoption system in Guatemala without violating their participation.
You can read some of the information on the State Department's site: Implementation of the Hague and the Stance of other Hague countrie in regards to Guatemala. What is unbelievable to me is that our own government is publically stating that they are not recognizing the Guatemala Constitution as affecting their participation in this International "Treaty". Excuse ME? Does this mean that OUR US Constitution has no bearing one what the State Department negotiates with other countries? I'm appalled!
I should add a disclaimer that I am not an International Law expert or an attorney and I will try to follow this post up with as much validated information as I can. But what I can see is that once again political ploys are getting in the way of children finding permanent homes with loving families. It appears that our government is not interested in finding homes for needy children, but are more interested in "looking" good by forcing adherence to a Treaty that is as vague as a politician campaigning that he is "for the children".
We will follow up with some opinions from the experts soon.....
FYI: I updated the above statement to make it clear that it is the interpretation and the way the US Government views Guatemala's participation.
Posted by Kelly at March 23, 2006 08:16 AMAny info on those that are in process- somewhere between a 171 and finishing the process with their visa?
Posted by: Ilene at March 23, 2006 09:05 AMI can't believe this. When we brought our daughter home back in December 2004, we had no doubt that we would be adopting at least one more time from Guatemala.
Kevin and Kelly,
As it stands now, I'm curious what your opinions are in regards to trying to start the application process now?
Thanks for your advocacy throughout the years!
Shawn
Posted by: Shawn at March 23, 2006 09:27 AMHello-Thank you for your coverage of the status on the current state of Guatemalan adoptions. We got a referral in January and are awaiting DNA approval from the US Embassy. Do you have any idea what this latest ruling would mean to cases like ours who are not yet in the PGN? Thank you for any ideas you have on this.
Posted by: Marie at March 23, 2006 09:37 AMKevin,
Thank you for this information! You say "This position has been publically stated on the US State Department site", but I cannot find it after searching for some time. Again, I trust your information, but my agency continues to stay nothing has been decided, don't worry, etc. Do you have a link for where this information is on the US State Site?
Posted by: Gabe at March 23, 2006 09:42 AMKelly,
Can you tell us 'where' the US State Department confirmed this? The listed link is dated February 15th...is there something more recent other than what was discussed at the meeting last week?
Is there some type of iniative being planned to let the State Department know that the citizens of the US disagree with their decision to consider Guatemala a part of the hague?
Where did you find the specific announcement on the State Department site? I couldn't find anything new that would indicate a decision has been made. Thank you! Lynn S.
Posted by: Lynn Schlesinger at March 23, 2006 10:03 AMKevin-
Right now I have no words to express how I am feeling.
But I looked at the State Dept Website links that you gave. It does have a * about how Guatemala is not in compliance and are a Hague country but I am trying to find where they state publically on their website that Adoptions will Cease in 2007. Can you direct me to that?
Also, has there been any direct statement about who will be grandfathered in, at what point in the process? I would hope if they would at this point inform the citizens of the US what grandfathered means.
What makes me even more sick at my stomach is the thousands of children who will die as a result of our government's actions.
Becky
Proud Mom to one Guatemalan princess!
There is no transcript of the meeting that recently took place. But we have talked to several attendees who can confirm the position.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2006/61274.htm.
It doesn't say explicitly that adoptions will cease, but it leaves no room to interpret it otherwise...and this is by their interpretation of the Hague. How? You will notice that it lists Guatemala as a Hague Country and then promptly says below the chart that Guatemala does not comply.
Hopefully, we will also have some of the individuals that assisted in our research chime in and explain some of the nuances.
For those in process, you should not be affected....except to say that the Embassy is already dragging their feet to get DNA Authorizations and Pre-Approvals through.
If you are JUST starting the process....PLEASE CONTINUE. The State Department has also said that I600As that have been submitted before 2007 will be grandfathered into the existing process. We will hold them to it. Keep in mind, that these children waiting for families will have a much longer wait without a prospective parent's dedication. If I were planning on adopting again, you can bet I would be arranging another homestudy/update and submitting my I600A!!!!
We've been talking about how we can make our voices heard whether it is a petition or a lobbying effort. We'll do our best to keep you informed and publish any statements by any organization involved.
Posted by: Kelly (guatadopt.com) at March 23, 2006 10:17 AMWhat can we do to battle this decision?
Posted by: Kim at March 23, 2006 01:33 PMTo say we are deeply concerned, is an understatement. My deepest concern lies with the most vulnerable.... the children of Guatemala.
What can we do? I have fired off some emails to state reps and senators. Is there anything else we can do at the grass roots level?
As always we are deeply grateful for the info posted on this site and for the efforts of kelly and kevin in keeping us informed.
Blessings,
Dru & Gloria Pickering
parents to 5 guatemalan blessings
I find it very hard to believe that there is not a SIMPLE and EASY solution to this situation. Both UK and Ireland have ratified Hague and have both found ways round this - this has to come down to the POLITICAL will of US politicians - I so hope that these politicians are made aware of the impact of closing adoptions from Guatemala to the USA - this simply cannot be allowed to happen - as a prospective adopter in the UK I am REALLY hoping that EVERYONE makes their voices heard on this. Thanks to everyone already working hard to keep the sane voice heard
Posted by: mary-kate at March 23, 2006 04:38 PM