Waiting on US

23 Feb 2012 2 Comments

by doccochran in adoption, orphan care Tags: Addis Ababa, Adoption, Ethiopia, kentucky, rand paul, U.S. Embassy

We are now stuck in a holding pattern until our own government gives us permission to have our children.  They are ours.  They bear our name.  They are no longer considered orphans in Ethiopia because they have parents (Us!).  Yet the US Embassy will not allow them travel authorization to enter the country and live with us in Kentucky.  There are many who are saying the State Department is opposed to international adoptions on ideological grounds.  Thus, they are intentionally derailing or at least detaining adoptions.  I don’t know for sure what is happening.  But I do know we are waiting.

In the meantime, we have contacted our U.S. Representative and one of our U.S. Senators.  Below is the full text of the letter I sent to our senator.  Do pray for us.  We are trying to make sense of it all.

Dear Senator Paul:

I am writing because of an issue which is very personal to me.  I am extremely frustrated by a federal government which is choking the life out of everything good in America, while surrendering to what it believes is inevitable decline. The issue close to my heart this morning as I write this letter is the issue of immigration.  I have two examples which make my point.  Both of the examples are personal to me, one much more than the other.

My wife and I have adopted two children from Ethiopia.  These two children were awarded to us on December 16, 2011.  We are their parents now.  They bear my name.  However, I cannot bring them home to Kentucky.  The U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, will not allow them travel authorization into our country.  They are demanding another interview with the birth mother and will not see her until March 14, which means that it will be at least a full 3-month delay from the time we were awarded our children to the time the Embassy will hear our case.

There are 4 million orphans in Ethiopia.  International adoptions reach only a small fraction of those children. I understand some are opposed to international adoption, preferring to leave children in their country of origin. But is it really best to keep a child in an orphanage when a Kentucky family has already spent more than $30,000 and 18 months of energy trying to bring them into their home?  There are two little boys who have a home and a family, but they cannot enjoy them because of the U.S. Government.  Instead, these boys must stay in a transitional institution waiting on our government.

I do hate to sound cynical about my own government, but I am frustrated.  And, as I said, this is not the only example which has affected me personally.  In a separate instance, I have become very close to a family in Southeast Asia (Mindanao, Philippines).  We travel there yearly, sometimes even more often. This family has 4 adult children, two of whom have sought permission to enter the U.S.  One of them has a job as a nurse in California.  The other was accepted to a school here in Kentucky.  Neither of them has been allowed permission to enter the U.S.  Both have been denied, even though they are both college educated nurses who are needed and desired by employers and schools in the U.S.  They both followed the law.

When it comes to the law, the U.S. government appears to penalize those who wish to follow it and reward those who disregard it.  If my friends lived in Mexico instead of Asia, they could enter illegally, get healthcare, driver’s license, and possibly even more education at taxpayer expense, but, for some reason, they are not allowed to enter the country legally and contribute to our society, including paying taxes.  Sadly, both of my Asian friends have had to take jobs in Saudi Arabia.  I cannot tell you how much this grieves me.

Again, my question is simply this: Why are those following the law penalized, while those breaking it are rewarded? Should I bring my sons to Canada or Mexico and drive them illegally into Kentucky? Why are U.S. families who desire to adopt orphans forced into a two-year process?  Why are qualified, skilled Asian workers forced into a six-year process which still does not allow them to enter the U.S.?

I just don’t understand why we penalize those who seek to uphold our rule of law.  My wife and family are very frustrated.  I am writing to let someone who I believe cares about our country know about our frustration.

Thank you so much for allowing me time to voice my concerns. May the Lord bless you as you seek to do what is right for our nation and guide us to follow our constitution and founding principles.

Sincerely,

 

Gregory C. Cochran

Sr. Pastor, Cedar Grove Baptist Church

P.S. We have heard  many stories worse than ours. Among adopting families anxiety is running high with tales of intentional hurdles and roadblocks being imposed by the State Department on ideological grounds. Some are even claiming that the State Department is intentionally harassing natural birth mothers, trying to “catch” them in irregularities which they hope will shut down international adoptions. I do not know of any truth to these horrendous tales, but I do know they are unsettling to a parent who has already been stalled for months, simply waiting on my government to give my children permission to live with me in Kentucky.