The short answer is that we don't know... We know that Ethica maintains there are two unique CA's "operating" with separate offices. We know that JCICS (see: http://www.jcics.org/Guatemala.htm) says that "the" CA stopped accepting registrations today. Needless to say, we're trying to get answers to what is going on.
Assuming JCICS is correct, I wonder whether not taking cases as of today is because:
(a) the law said 30 days to register. JCICS and the US gov have been saying that meant 30 business days. But here we are on Feb 1 and no new cases going in. Were they incorrect about it being BUSINESS days?
(b) The JCICS annoucement, and Ethica's, are tied to the numerous legal battles and amparos - both from members of the CA and attorneys. Please click on more to read my take on the political battles.
UPDATED SAT FEB 2 - click on more and scroll down.
Pres. Colom was inaugurated on Jan 14th. On the Friday evening before that, outgoing Pres. Berger had members of the CA sworn in. According to the Coloms, this broke an agreement the two had that Berger would allow Colom to pick the people since ultimtately the adoption law needs to be enacted under Colom's watch.
The Coloms attempted to remove two of the three "Berger era" appointees. Those two people filed amapros, stating that the Coloms could not fire them since the CA is autonomous and they had been duly appointed and sworn in.
One of those amaparos was accepted by the courts and will be ruled on. For the time being, that person keeps her job. The other amaparo was not accepted by the court. That decision was appealed and I think the courts yesterday once again sided with the Coloms. I think the guy can and will try to go to one more to a higher court.
There is a ton of confusion that should have been anticipated, albeit not exactly what would happen. A huge new law was passed with no time for preparation. It coincidentally occured as Guatemala put in a new President from a vastly different ideology than the previous one. Every day the Guatemalan papers are filled with more stuff the old administration covered up.
My opinion based on some "inside" info is that the new administration has every intention of ensuring the in-proess cases get completed. They have NEVER spewed out crap like the Bergers did. But they also know that the future of the system rides on who heads up the CA. If they have responsibility for what happens, they at least want to have had some say in who gets to set it up. So now these legal battles have to take place and yes, you all are unfortunately caught in the middle of it. It is always a shame when children get caught up in political battles. But it is unavoidable in our sick world.
I have heard RUMOR that Congress and/or the executive branch may find a way to extend the registration deadline because of what all is happening. But for the time being, that is pure speculation. And everything I've written is predicated on the fact that as I wrote in my introduction, I don't know right now exactly what the scoop is, why they stopped accepting cases, or chihc CA did this if there are in fact two of them.
My head is spinning....
UPDATE SAT FEB 2
I've learned where the 30 "business" days comes from and it makes sense to me. The adoption law does not specifically state business days. However, the “Ley del Organismo Judicial” (Law of the Judicial Organism) establishes basic legal procedures for stuff like this. Clause 45 d of this law establishes that in established these dates, "non working" dates are not counted. So that means weekends, holidays, etc would not factor into the calculation of 30 days. Thanks to Marco from ASG for that explanation.
In addition, the ADA has a new post with its take on what is going on. It can be found here: http://www.adaguatemala.org/English/news/
Posted by Kevin at February 1, 2008 05:19 PMYou know you're right Kevin, I just translated the grandfathering clause and it does not say business days. Why has JCICS, the US DOS and the ADA been saying business days all this time? Is it possible that somewhere else in the law there's an amendment making it business days??
Posted by: Jen at February 1, 2008 06:05 PMOur boy has been home a month now. It is hard to believe the stress we went through in September - October etc. I can't imagine the stress of all of you caught in this right now. This CA situation is insane and what I find most unfair is that there hasn't been a CLEAR definition of anything (who is grandfathered, when to be registered by, etc.). I hope there is somebody reasonable somewhere and sees that the in process (whatever that means???) cases are completed in a reasonable time.
Posted by: shj at February 1, 2008 06:07 PMAs aways Kevin, thanks much for the update. My head is spinning too. I believe it is going to work out for all the in process cases sooner or later. I just hope once the dust settles there is something in place to take care of the kids who aren't currently referred to an adoptive family.
Jennifer
still waiting to get out of family court
Our agency (generally reliable) said that they have heard that there has been only one CA office, which was for temporary use, and is now no longer available. So the CA is homeless and that's why they are not currently accepting new reg. Anyone else hear that?
Posted by: LeAnn at February 1, 2008 06:49 PMWhy stop taking registrations on this day, exactly 30 days from the law starting?
It seems that the CA did stop possibly because they do not have a legal right to accept cases after the 30 days that the law gives.
It looks like it may take an act of congress or judge or someone to get an extension, for those families whose attorneys did not register them within the 30 day deadline.
Obviously, I hope this is not the case, it's just that the law does not say that the CA can accept more "2007 grandfathered" cases after 30 days from the law starting and it does not say that the 30 days consist of business days.
Also, two separate posters on adoption.com posted the Embassy's response to their questions.
AND, in both cases the response points to the PAP needing to have a POA done in 2007 and have their case registered in 30 days from the law starting.
They basically, say that if the adoption does not follow Guatemalan law, specifically the above rules, then they cannot give the papers needed for visas or pre-approval.
Now, I could have mis-understood it somehow, but I'm wondering now if the "constancia" certificate of registration with the CA will also be required by the Embassy now, as evidence that we followed Guatemalan law?
Posted by: airstar98 at February 1, 2008 06:53 PMMy wife and I remain optimistic and sound in our faith that God will see us through this and that our little girl will come home soon. (She is 13 months old today!)
We made it into PGN in the week before Christmas and we successfully filed the new registration paperwork before the 2/1 deadline.
The best we can do for ourselves and for each other is to pray. God Bless you all.
Posted by: David at February 1, 2008 07:28 PMI WOULD LIKE TO HEAR NOW FROM THE DOS, US EMBASSY ( WHICH TAKES ORDERS FROM DOS ) AND UNICEF.
I AM SURE THEY ARE ALL WORKING WITH THE GUATEMALAN GOVERNAMENT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE ORPHANS HAVE A LOVING FAMILY IN A SHORT TIME. AREN'T THEY????
DO YOU UNDERSTAND NOW WHAT KIND OF A MESS YOU HAVE CREATED?
WHERE ARE THE MEDIA NOW TO REPORT THE SITUATION?
WHY ALL THE PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS GARBAGE KEEP SILENT?
ARE THEY LIKE THE RATS THAT ABANDON THE SINKING BOAT?
THERE ARE SOME 2000-3000 FAMILIES ALREADY MATCHED WITH ORPHANS IN GUATEMALA AND YOU KNEW IT WHEN YOU FORCED THE GUATEMALAN CONGRESS TO PASS THE ORTEGA LAW. MOST OF THEM HAD TO MORTGAGE THE HOUSE TO ADOPT, MOST OF THEM HAVE BEEN ALREADY DRAINED FINANCIALLY AND EMOTIONALY; I PERSONALY KNOW SOME OF THEM TAKING SLEEPING MEDICATION BECAUSE OF THE STRESS CAUSED BY THIS SITUATION.
I AM ALSO SURE THAT ALL THE PARENTS WILL NOT GIVE UP AND IT ISN'T CONVENIENT FOR ANYONE HAVING 3000 COUPLES PROTESTING IN THE STREET OF THIS COUNTRY, SPECIALLY IN AN ELECTORAL YEAR.
COME ON AMERICA WE CAN DO BETTER THAN THIS!!!! THIS ALL SITUATION IS SO FAR FROM THE CORE VALUES OF THIS COUNTRY. WE HAVE TO BRING HOME OUR GUATEMALAN SONS AND DOUGHTERS.
VINCE
Posted by: vince at February 1, 2008 08:33 PMKevin any idea how long it will take for the courts to rule on amparo and the other member who was not ruled in favor of-that has one more court to go to-thanks
Posted by: Rachel at February 1, 2008 09:32 PMThere was an article in El Periodico Guatemala on Jan. 30 indicating there are problems with the CA. My agency sent all clients a translation of the article but I also read the actual article. The CA mentioned in the article has 5 people, basically working unpaid at the moment, to go through all of the registrations. The article describes their work space and discusses dates and the fact that 10 millions quetzales was supposed to have been forwarded to fund the CA but hasn't. One scary statement in the article was that these CA workers may just stop working and go home if they don't see pay soon because they have their families to think about. Could it be that they are so overwhelmed and unpaid that they can't handle any more registrations?
Posted by: Deborah at February 1, 2008 11:16 PMI read that the CA again changed the registration form as of 1/31 - if that is so how did they expect that anyone could get registered if they changed the form again on 1/31 and that was the last day to accept registration? this is just unbelieveable.
Posted by: Karen at February 1, 2008 11:19 PMseems the outgoing Berger admin pulled a fast one by appointing a CA that wouldn't be approved by new admin/ Pres
now the question is how quickly can this be resolved..while our babies remain in foster care and we all just wait helpless to do anything
kevin is thee any suggestions of who to complain to. I would even rally outside Guat embassy in DC if that helped...I think on US side many assume this all got resolved when they agreed to grandfather cases and now here we all are in this mess!! with no end in sight. Who suffers besides the waiting families the children of course
where is Unicef now??
Has anyone received word that their case was registered with CA AND received the receipt - or whatever you are suppossed to get-in order to get back into PGN?
Posted by: bridget at February 2, 2008 09:15 AMI've been told that whenever a law mentions "days" it is always "business days". I think the PGN, as the Legal Advisor, also concurs with that interpretation and the Attorney General stated February 11 in his statements presented in Prensa Libre yesterday. the Central Authority is in disarray, as Kevin described. We've heard that they lost their space, didn't have ink to print out the constancias, and have been unpaid because the funds are being held up as Kevin describes. All efforts are being made to get the registration process extended and defined by Congress. Hannah Wallace, Pres. Focus On Adoption
Posted by: hannah at February 2, 2008 11:54 AMok the courts are suppossed to rule on monday about amparo the lawyers filed against the ca. What about the amparos filed by the two members of the ca. It is my understanding that we cant move unless this is taken care of. the gvt wont release the funds and pgn wont accept until this is taken care of. so my question is this when will the two ca members have their decisions taken care of so we can move forward? anybody with insight or if I am wrong please let me know thanks
Posted by: Rachel at February 2, 2008 01:03 PMAfter reading through this and Susana's post, I am totally depressed. A big part of me now feels that the chances of our little girl coming home is nearly zero. The thought of what will happen to her frightens me to no end.
Not a single person in all of these government agencies (US Embassy, DOS, USCIS, PGN, CNA, Guat Congress, Guat Presidency, Guat Municipalities) and psuedo-world bodies (UNICEF and the Hague) gives a d**n about these kids. The CNA and PGN are making a mockery of the grandfather clause in this joke of a law. If the new Guatemalan Congress and President have any c***nes, they would immediately repeal this ill-conceived law, tell UNICEF and the US Embassy to butt out and work towards creating and implementing an adoption law that places the unwanted children front and center.
Posted by: TimeToGiveUp at February 2, 2008 02:18 PMI was told that Marvin Rabanales's amparo is the reason that CA is not accepting anymore registrations and why the CA can not sign three signatures because he has everyone, (the CA, the attorneys, the PAP's, and the waiting children) held hostage to his will to stay in position at CA.
He desired to have a huge control over adoptions and it looks like he has found a way to control the in process adoptions, even though he was not legally appointed to the CA.
We can already see how much harm he is causing to those whom are being held up by his amparo and refusal to leave, even after it was determined that he was not legally appointed to the position. Now, with only 10 days left to get forms submitted, his amparo is making this impossible and legally if the forms are not submitted in the next 10 days then those families may not have the opportunity to be grandfathered, unless somehow an extension is given.
Also, I can't give updates from my atty anymore, she prefers that her clients/families not be talking about their cases online.
But, she did tell me some things today that I can share.
One, the amparao, is probably the reason for CA not accepting more registrations.
Two, we will all need to be in contact with our representatives to push that the law as passed is enforced.
Three, I didn't even ask about a class action suit, cause she has submitted her clients for registration, (she gave me my copy today) and she feels it's important to give the CA time to get us the certificates that we need to get back into PGN.
Fourth, she did say that the attorneys know that the 30 days is business days, but, with the amparo and the CA not accepting forms, this could be an issue for those who have not submitted forms yet with only 10 days left.
Posted by: airstar98 at February 2, 2008 08:01 PMWhile there is so much uncertainty, there is still hope. We got the news on January 31st that our file was out of PGN (our baby was registered on January 20th). One of the families that I met while on my visit in December, also got out of PGN the same day. So, things are moving, slowly, built they are moving. I pray that all of the babies will be home soon! God is bigger than all of the rulers of the world! My trust is in Him.
Posted by: Raquel at February 3, 2008 04:06 PMMore good news ... We got word on Jan 29th that our case was out of PGN. We have been in PGN since September (no KOs) -- keep the faith, everyone.
Posted by: Suz at February 4, 2008 01:30 PMfrom prensa libre
The Supreme Court of Justicia (CSJ) it denied today, really the shelter that had presented/displayed by Anabella Morfín so that it was allowed him to continue like representative of the Chancellery before the National Council of Adopciones (CNA). Initially, the CSJ had given the provisional shelter to the lawyer. The magistrate Luis Fernandez said to journalists who the Camera of Shelters revoked that the shelter and leaves in firm Marylis Barrientos, named by the present administration. "the provisional shelter is revoked and is left the resolution effective that emitted the Ministry of Relations of Exteriors that revokes the decree (that it names to Barrientos instead of Morfín)", the magistrate expressed.
Posted by: anthony at February 4, 2008 05:09 PMIn our case, the problem gets even "better." We were out of PGN on 1/14/08 and thought we were done with all of the Guatemalan nonsense. As it turns out, Jutiapa--the region our son is from--will not issue the BC until we are registered with the CA. Now, with all of the uncertainty, we're stuck at the BC phase and can't move forward. My wife and I have been in the midst of wanting to ball our eyes out while being completely enraged by these petty politicians. I agree with Raquel that God is bigger than governments, so we'll just keep on praying.
Posted by: JFH at February 4, 2008 05:55 PMWell, i was informed today by my coordinator that my attorney did not file my case with CA, as he stated he would on Jan 30th. So now, they are not taking any registrations and I am a complete mess.
Has anyone heard anything about when CA will accept registrations again? Or any concrete news about extending the deadline? I just don't know what is going to happen and I feel utterly sick. Is there anything that I/my ageny/my attorney can do now to ensure that my case is registered before the deadline?
Is anyone else in the same situation?
I don't know how this could have happened... I had been in PGN since DEC 14th... But received a KO for no PA. Well I have the PA now, but don't know what's going to happen next???
Any advise or help or prayers are greatly appreciated.
many thanks,
Beth
Beth, you have the prayers of us all. My wife and I can all too well relate to the feeling of being utterly sick. I think we all can, given the complete and utter lack of any modicum of control we have. I will say that my gut tells me that ultimately all of our in-process cases will go through. I would think that the Guatemalan gov't would be put up to international shame and consternation if they somehow try to nullify all of our existing adoption cases. As ridiculous as I find these people, I can't believe even they would do that.
Everyone in our family and many of my colleagues keep saying, "just pay someone off". As far as I'm concerned, give me an address to send a check or credit card number and I'd do it. I've thought recently we should all cobble together 10 million Q and send it the the CA.
As for the prense libre piece. Thanks for the translation, but could it be put into intelligle english? I have no idea what the piece has said. Our prayers (my wife and mine) to us all.
Posted by: jfh at February 4, 2008 08:03 PMBeth~ According to my agency, the CA is just having difficulty getting themselves together with money, supplies, and building issues. They will be a working entity at some point (I heard today but don't quote me) to finish all of our cases. Our beautiful babies ARE going to come home. :-)
Posted by: Shanski at February 4, 2008 08:14 PMOur very reputable agency that has a toplawyer in country is asking for help on US side to pressure Guatemala to fix this
They are asking for a letter writing campaign to our electedofficials. They need to be aware there is a problem. Uswaiting with this CA issue are at risk of losing our kids as we may not get grandfathered in
I have asked Kevin and Kelly if we can use this site for a call to action
Beth - Take heart. The owner of our agency is in Guatemala right now. He told me that the CA is accepting registrations until February 11th. They did not close their doors because of the "30 day" provision in the law; they closed because the government has not paid any money to keep the office going. Your lawyer still has a little time. We were KO'd of PGN for no PA, too, and now we have it. We're in the same boat.
To all of you reading this, who are adopting your first child: this will get resolved. It will! We went through tough times adopting our first daughter from Guatemala, and we are now adopting our second daughter. If you are working with good people, trust them to get the job done. Tears are okay, they relieve stress. Focus on the many good times that you will have in the years to come, and in the meantime, keep the faith.
Posted by: Jenn at February 4, 2008 10:54 PMThank you for all of your support. I just read Kevin's post in regards to CA taking registrations again. I pray that my attorney is able to register my case today.
Thank you all,
Beth