WEBVTT - Trump Tightens Policy On Overseas Adoptions

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to the Bloomberg Law Podcast. I'm June Grosso. Every

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<v Speaker 1>day we bring you insight and analysis into the most

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<v Speaker 1>important legal news of the day. You can find more

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<v Speaker 1>episodes of the Bloomberg Law Podcast on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud,

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<v Speaker 1>and on Bloomberg dot com slash podcasts. Another tightening of

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<v Speaker 1>immigration rules from the Trump administration, specifically US Citizenship and

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<v Speaker 1>Immigration Services, says a small number of US military personnel

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<v Speaker 1>and government employees serving overseas will no longer be automatically

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<v Speaker 1>granted citizenship for children they've adopted while abroad. Bloomberg News

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<v Speaker 1>investigative reporter Polly Moss ends has the unenviable task now

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<v Speaker 1>of trying to make sense out of some very convol

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<v Speaker 1>hooded law here, Polly, welcome. They're calling this, they're they're

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<v Speaker 1>they're calling this a policy manual update. I think this,

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<v Speaker 1>like a lot of other stories involving Donald Trump, comes

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<v Speaker 1>down to this question, can he do this? Well? He can,

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<v Speaker 1>as for why he's doing it, and the confusion that's

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<v Speaker 1>led as a result of doing this. You know, there's

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of murkiness there, but legally speaking, yes, this

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<v Speaker 1>can be done, and this is really something that's in

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<v Speaker 1>between um U, s c I S, which is the

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<v Speaker 1>immigration authority and the federal government as far as DHS goes.

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<v Speaker 1>But the reality is, of course he can do it,

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<v Speaker 1>but now he has to live with sort of the

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<v Speaker 1>backlash of that, we're saying from the military community. Okay,

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<v Speaker 1>so walk us through this a little bit. What was

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<v Speaker 1>the previous policy and what is changing? So the actual

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<v Speaker 1>thing that's changing is quite narrow. In fact, it's estimated

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<v Speaker 1>to impact only twenty to twenty five individuals annually. And

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<v Speaker 1>what's changing is that adopted children and existing children of

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<v Speaker 1>folks stationed overseas or working overseas for the American government

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<v Speaker 1>that become naturalized would now have to go through an

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<v Speaker 1>additional application process. In the past, they would have become

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<v Speaker 1>citizens automatically, and now there's this extra step. So despite

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<v Speaker 1>impacting a small group of people, you know, no one

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<v Speaker 1>likes to do government paperwork, and it's not known for

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<v Speaker 1>being the easiest, fastest, or cheapest process, and they will

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<v Speaker 1>have to go through that. Yeah, do we know how

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<v Speaker 1>expensive this this might be? Well, I think a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of that is still up in the air. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>we do know how expensive some of the forms involved are.

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<v Speaker 1>There's one form that's about six D, another form that's

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<v Speaker 1>about But the reality is here that we still have

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<v Speaker 1>to see exactly how this comes out, and we also

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<v Speaker 1>have to see if there's going to be any kind of,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, extra funding given to folks impact and given

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<v Speaker 1>it is such a small group, perhaps that would be

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<v Speaker 1>something that would be explored, or perhaps there would be

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<v Speaker 1>an application process that's of a lower cost that could

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<v Speaker 1>be explored. I think a lot of things are still

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<v Speaker 1>going to be determined. Given sort of how this rollout

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<v Speaker 1>was a bit bungled, I was kind of surprised to

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<v Speaker 1>read this in the story that throughout American history, the

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<v Speaker 1>residency requi wiremants to pass on citizenship to children have shifted.

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<v Speaker 1>They have. Yeah, I think just like with any immigration policy,

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<v Speaker 1>these things will always shift. And because citizenship is not

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<v Speaker 1>codified very harshly in the Constitution, it's not something that

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<v Speaker 1>we know exactly how we're going to define. It is

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<v Speaker 1>something that's been viewed as malleable by different governments, and

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<v Speaker 1>that's why we've seen changes like that. But we do

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<v Speaker 1>know that if you're born to American parents, you're a citizen.

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<v Speaker 1>Though right yes, if you are born to American parents,

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<v Speaker 1>you are a citizen. But say if you are adopted

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<v Speaker 1>to American parents who are living abroad stationed abroad, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>one could argue that that child is the exact same child.

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<v Speaker 1>It's their child, a child that they wanted, right should

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<v Speaker 1>That's sort of why a lot of the immigration groups

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<v Speaker 1>are coming down on this, is that we shouldn't define

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<v Speaker 1>somebody's legal status based on such little things. That's really

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<v Speaker 1>some of the criticism that we're seeing. But the perception

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<v Speaker 1>here is that this is yet another of those Paula

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<v Speaker 1>see changes that reflects a larger push from the Trump

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<v Speaker 1>administration to make legal immigration more difficult. Now, what U

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<v Speaker 1>s c i s Has said is that they're basically

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<v Speaker 1>working to uniform the process throughout all parts of the government,

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<v Speaker 1>to make it sort of exactly the same all throughout.

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<v Speaker 1>But of course that's certainly the perception that comes off,

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<v Speaker 1>especially if you look at some of the other things

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<v Speaker 1>that have happened with veterans. Earlier this year, there were

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<v Speaker 1>reports of veterans being deported. There were also reports of

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<v Speaker 1>those active service members who are currently serving having to

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<v Speaker 1>go through lengthier and more complicated ways to become naturalized citizens.

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<v Speaker 1>So I think when you look at it in the

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<v Speaker 1>context of that, there's certainly an argument to be made

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<v Speaker 1>that this is sort of the third step that we've

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<v Speaker 1>seen with this military community and the question of citizenship. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>and we've we've heard the military community basically rise up

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<v Speaker 1>and say this is a gratuitous slap at military members.

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<v Speaker 1>Do we know if Congress plans to weigh in on

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<v Speaker 1>this at all? Well, according to some of our colleagues

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<v Speaker 1>on their in d C, Congress is a little bit confused,

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<v Speaker 1>and quite frankly, I can't blame them. It is incredibly

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<v Speaker 1>confusing our colleagues and I we attempted to make sense

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<v Speaker 1>of this throughout four hours talking to nearly a dozen

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<v Speaker 1>immigration attorneys. So I can't blame Congress if they didn't

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<v Speaker 1>have a big heads up on this, for not understanding

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<v Speaker 1>it fully. I will say the Modern Military Association has

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<v Speaker 1>asked Congress to take action, So there are advocacy groups

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<v Speaker 1>that are hoping that Congress will do something here. I

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<v Speaker 1>have to admit that I've had trouble getting past the

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<v Speaker 1>part where you said this affects twenty people, why bother?

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<v Speaker 1>That's a good question. So they're saying this is basically

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<v Speaker 1>a standardization. And part of the reasons of why to

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<v Speaker 1>bother is because it does impact such a small group

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<v Speaker 1>of people who they could theoretically kind of help along

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<v Speaker 1>this road. Um. But then there is also the question

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<v Speaker 1>of why bother at all? You know, it's it isn't

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<v Speaker 1>like something that was a very large broken system. That's

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<v Speaker 1>certainly not the argument that was made by U. S

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<v Speaker 1>c I S. And remind me again how this takes effect.

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<v Speaker 1>When it takes effect, it will not take effect for

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<v Speaker 1>some months, and it will not take effect retroactively. So

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<v Speaker 1>folks who are already in this process are folks who

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<v Speaker 1>obviously already have this kind of citizenship. They should not

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<v Speaker 1>worry about this. This is a forward looking change. And

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<v Speaker 1>is the Trump administration responding at all to this criticism

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<v Speaker 1>from the military community, Not thus far. But you know,

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<v Speaker 1>we will see what happens, and we'll also see where

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<v Speaker 1>this fits into the news cycle. If there is one

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<v Speaker 1>very high profile case of somebody's child not being able

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<v Speaker 1>to gain citizenship, then I think we might, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>see more of a backlash, We might see more of

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<v Speaker 1>a response. Our thanks to Bloomberg News investigative reporter pollmus Ends,

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<v Speaker 1>who will be continuing to follow this story for us.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening to the Bloomberg Law Podcast. You can

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<v Speaker 1>subscribe and listen to the show on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud,

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<v Speaker 1>and on bloomberg dot com slash podcast. I'm June Brosso.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg URDA did lad did da