4-year-old adopted girl in Colorado at risk of deportation despite both parents being U.S. citizens

Angela Becerra is a risk of deportation
(Image credit: Screenshot/KDVR)

Amy and Marco Becerra are both U.S. citizens, and while they were living in Marco's native Peru — he has dual citizenship — they fostered then adopted an infant girl, Angela. They decided to move back to Colorado so Angela could "have the opportunities that are available here, the education that’s available here," Amy Becerra told Colorado's KDVR News. But because it was a domestic adoption, not an international adoption, they had trouble getting Angela the proper immigration papers. They brought her to Colorado on a tourist visa, which expires at the end of August, and last week, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) denied Angela's application for citizenship.

David Bier, an immigration policy analyst at the Cato Institute, tells Reason he thinks the problem is that the Becerras brought Angela to the country on a tourist visa, and immigration lawyer Matt Kolken added that he thinks the Becerras can get Angela a green card from inside the U.S. "Just because she becomes an undocumented immigrant for a temporary period, if you're a minor and you're the child of U.S. citizens you should be able to get a green card and get this fixed," Bier adds.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.