Young, Colleagues Urge Administration to Help Unite Ukrainian Children With American Adoptive Families
WASHINGTON – This week, U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) joined Senators Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) on a bipartisan letter to the Biden Administration urging immediate action to unite Ukrainian children going through the adoption process with American adoptive or host families.
The lawmakers specifically called on the Biden Administration to identify the approximately 300 Ukrainian children waiting to join American adoptive or host families and work with the Ukrainian government to find a way forward to allow children with in-process adoptions to travel to stay with host families in the United States instead of requiring these children to remain in other locations for displaced persons in Europe or in Ukraine.
“We write to advocate for immediately uniting American host families with Ukrainian children who are engaged in the adoption process, based on the shared belief that every child deserves a safe, stable, and loving place to call home,” the senators wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.“Regardless of where children are within the adoption process, protecting vulnerable children should remain a top priority for Ukraine and the United States.”
“American families seeking to adopt or be host families for a Ukrainian child are eager to welcome these children into their home and provide the affection, stability, and safety all children deserve,”the senators continued. “As you continue to lead the United States’ diplomatic response to the invasion of Ukraine, we request that you raise our concerns regarding these children in institutionalized care to the highest levels of our diplomatic engagement, so that they are prioritized in protection and response measures.”
In addition to Senators Young, Blunt, and Klobuchar, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators John Thune (R-S.D.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Angus King (I-Maine), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.).
The full letter is available here.