A young woman adopted at the age of 17 by her biological uncle in the United States is facing deportation, reports the Military Times.
Soo Jin was in a bad family situation in South Korea. She came to the United States on a student visa at the age of 15.
Retired Army Lt. Col. Patrick Schreiber intended to adopt his niece back then, but delayed filing the paper work because he was deployed to Afghanistan.
The courts approved the adoption when Soo Jin turned 17. The state of Kansas even issued a birth certificate recognizing Schreiber and his wife, Soo Jin, as legal guardians.
But state law doesn’t match federal law. The Department of Homeland Security rejected the application for citizenship saying the cutoff age is 16.
Soo Jin is now facing deportation when she wraps up her studies.
Schreiber is dumbfounded.
“I spent 27 years in the Army, always putting the Army ahead” of family, he said. “My greatest mistake in life is I didn’t know that [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] had their own age policy.”
The family has accepted the prospect Soo Jin may need to return to Korea. In the meantime they are telling their story in hopes that something can change before their daughter graduates. She is now 20 and a junior at the University of Kansas.
The Schreibers said they may move to Korea to remain with their daughter.
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