Trump Admin Moves To Deport California Woman Adopted From Iran Despite Lifelong U.S. Ties
A California woman adopted from an Iranian orphanage as a toddler by an American Air Force veteran is now being threatened with deportation decades after making her life in the United States. According to the Associated Press, the Department of Homeland Security has ordered her to appear for removal proceedings, citing a visa overstay from when she was four years old.
The woman has no criminal record, works in healthcare, pays taxes, and owns a home, yet faces a possible return to Iran — a nation known for harsh treatment of Christians — because her adoption wasn’t properly naturalized under outdated law.
Her situation stems from a pre-1983 requirement that adoptive parents separately secure citizenship for their children, a process her parents believed was completed before their deaths.
Related: Bondi Claims 9th Circuit Blocked ICE Mask Ban — Court Actually Ruled on Different Case
The looming deportation comes amid heightened U.S.-Iran tensions, intensifying her fears.
“I never imagined it would get to where it is today,” she said, noting that as a Christian, returning to Iran could be life-threatening.
Advocates say this exposes a legal limbo affecting thousands of intercountry adoptees excluded from the 2000 Child Citizenship Act, which wasn’t made retroactive.
Her hearing was moved to late next month, and a judge ruled she does not need to appear in person.
The case has galvanized activists and bipartisan lawmakers pushing legislation to protect older adoptees from similar threats.
Related: ICE Pushed Violent Tactics. The Public Refused to Take the Same Path.