I'd like to talk about a thing. It both does and does not involve being an adoptee without citizenship, and it both does and does not involve being considered an illegal immigrant and/or an undocumented immigrant... and/or being a legal immigrant without citizenship.

I will be approaching this from the stance of being an adoptee... because that's what I am.

There are distinct areas of crossover to non adoptees, and areas where it differs greatly.

There are also areas where other adoptees have markedly different stories.

So, before I really dive into this I will make a few clarifying points.

I am not representative of every immigrant story at all by any stretch. I am also not the singular source of knowledge, at all.

I am not representative of every adoptee without citizenship either.

Immigration law both clumps us all together (adoptees and non adoptees) and divides us simultaneously.

Society also does both.

For a lot of adoptees without citizenship, myself included, when we say to people how we ended up here in the states... we are then often sort of... excused... from aspects of the immigration conversation.

Not as in leave the conversation, but as in the reasons behind our lack of citizenship are deemed wrong and not our fault, and the average citizen has placed us in a separate "okay" category. Like "it's okay to help that one."

It is obviously okay to want to help us, however it shouldn't stop at just us. So, where there are aspects of law that I fully support to help adoptees gain citizenship... when that is rectified I'm still not going to be done.

I would obviously encourage any adoptees without citizenship to chime in at their comfort level.

Any non adoptees without citizenship that have things they'd like to say are also welcome.

Persons with citizenship... even those with family that aren't citizens... thanks for listening but I'm not looking for your opinions today.

One final precursor.

I'm also against deportation.

So let's get started.

Wait one more. Because Twitter sets character limits, there are times that I'm saying non-citizen as a blanket for every single subgroup of persons without citizenship, including those referred to as illegal. I will try to not do that when referring specifically to that though.

Okay so working my way backwards through adoptee immigrants, there are what would most commonly be referred to as legal immigrants. They are the non citizen that has a sufficient amount of paperwork to be a legal resident. They may or may not have a path to citizenship.

This first group is the most commonly thought of when considering adoptees without citizenship.

I cannot say for sure if it's actually the largest group... but I feel like it might be.

There is another group that is either under documented or improperly documented and also doesn't have a path to citizenship.

Perhaps they entered under the wrong kind of visa, or their visa lapsed and their AP never renewed.

They are also non citizens and paths are even less.

Theres another group of adoptees that have illegal or illicit adoptions. Of these adoptees, many meet the parameters to be considered trafficked.

They may have entirely fabricated papers or incomplete paperwork. They may or may not have proof for how they got here.

What all of us adoptees have in common with this, is that we were all brought to the states by Americans, and our legal families are Americans.

Most of us were either outright told we are also Americans, or we just lived under the impression that we were.

I don't need to dwell on this point but I do have to mention it.

I'm white. I was adopted by white people.

There is an entire intersection of race and racism here that I do not experience. It plays into this perception though and it's important that people explore it.

And when people explore it, they need not get that information second hand from me. Many people are discussing being in America without citizenship and how racism directly impacts that.

Listen to them.

I'll gladly boost, link, and share people that *are* discussing that, but I'm not going to speak for them.

So within the subgroups that do not have legal residence, there are multiple layers of undocumented persons and layers of legality.

Within that layer you often hear mention of DACA.

Now, I am personally not a DACA recipient. I do not qualify for DACA.

However I have seen some beliefs that have wrongly applied what DACA does or does not do.

In the shortest way I can lay it out DACA recipients have a period where deportation is deferred. DACA grants no path to citizenship, has a stressful time consuming process... that is also expensive, and expires.

It can also grant periods of time that allow a recipient to work. It doesn't guarantee that the DACA recipient can get a job, but gives access to work papers.

DACA recipients are often held up like a pawn in immigration conversations, by people that speak over them, and for them.

I promise you the undocumented people that are receiving DACA are entirely capable of speaking for themselves.

And if people would listen to them in regards to what status it does or does not grant, and what it does or does not do... the misinformation would be greatly reduced.

My own personal status as we have established, is an intercountry adoptee. My admission into this country however was entirely illegal.

There was no visa ever at any time. There were no consulate letters. There was no birth abroad form. There was no checkpoint. There wasn't a followup once in the states. There wasnt a single thing registered with any US government entity at all.

However a point of distinction here is my birth certificate. It isnt a US cert. Its Canadian, because that's where I was born. However it has my adoptive parents listed as my birth parents, as adoption does.

So it gives an illusion of being born to citizens.

That illusion allowed for this sort of grey area to exist where I could believe it when I was told that I was a citizen.

However as an adult, that illusion was entirely shattered.

So, I have the same legal protections as every single immigrant that crossed into the US illegally, and lives illegally in the US.

I have a social buffer however, as a white person with an entirely American family. In that regard, I am assumed American.

They are *on paper* looking for me, but let's be crystal clear, I am not the target they are actually focusing on.

I have mentioned also that I am against deportation.

Within the adoptee community there have been deportations. Within the immigrant community at large there have been deportations.

For all of the adoptees that were deported I do not care why. It never should have happened. Because of adoption they were brought here and they should all be allowed back.

For all non adoptees i also don't care why. The idea that deportations and family separations and you dont belong here if you committed a crime is deeply deeply flawed.

Is there actually anyone under the impression that a crime is less severe if committed by someone that happened to born on American soil?

Is there someone under the impression that citizens dont commit crimes?

Does anyone buy into the idea that crime (a blanket term for every offense including how one entered the country) is a privelege?

Because that's actually all deportation says to me. You're not allowed to commit crime because that's a special thing for citizens only.

By the nature of adoption, adoptee citizenship is something that is legally placed in it's own department. It's compartmentalized so that adoptees without citizenship dont really fall under programs for non adoptees and non adoptees dont fall under adoptee citizenship Bills.

Theres a lot more crossover though than I think most people realize.

And so I'd like to reach a point where adoptees without citizenship can pool resources and share information and help with the immigrant community at large.

There are times that things that definitely do not apply to me may help a non adoptee and vice versa.

I understand the distinction for the law to a point because of the nature of adoption messing about with legal family... however there has to be a way to be more inclusive.

I am in fact straight up rambling now and I know this. But i think its something that needs to be discussed. The floor is open.