Guatemala

Guatemala

Adoption Alert

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Office of Children’s Issues

Notice for Guatemala “hogar” adoption cases

In Guatemala, a number of private child care facilities or “hogares” have traditionally provided care for children. Some of these hogars were closely associated with the intercountry adoption process and provided care specifically for children awaiting adoption. Allegations of adoption irregularities have prompted Guatemalan officials to conduct a wide-ranging investigation that has included many of these facilities. A number of hogars have been investigated to determine if they were properly licensed, if the operators had appropriate documentation for the children in their care, and if there were illegalities in the adoptions arranged by the hogars. Some of the hogars have been accused of baby stealing and selling. These investigations have had a direct impact on processing of adoptions for children destined for the United States. It should be noted that the Embassy is not informed when these investigations are undertaken and is not a party to the legal process. Therefore, the Embassy is not formally notified of the legal status or the outcome of the investigations or of any legal determinations that may result. The information below is a summary of what we have learned informally.

The United States recognizes the responsibility of the Guatemalan government to ensure the protection and wellbeing of its citizens, particularly of Guatemalan children who are its most vulnerable citizens. We have and will continue to urge the Guatemalan government to conduct its investigations as expeditiously as possible and to ensure that any decisions made are with the best interests of the children as the foremost criteria.

Casa Quivira

According to our records, adoptions petitions are still pending for 16 of the original 46 children who were taken into custody from Casa Quivira. For several of the cases, the Solicitor General’s Office (PGN) has identified irregularities and will have to be processed as abandonment cases through the CNA. The Guatemalan government has agreed that these cases (if all requirements have been complied with) can be processed as transition cases and will not have to wait for the new procedures to be drafted and implemented.

A decision was issued by Judge Mena earlier this year determining adoptability of the children including those already adopted and living in the United States. However, some errors were found in the final resolution and the Office of the Solicitor General (PGN) appealed the judge’s decision. An appeal hearing by the Sala on August 12 did not lead to a final resolution on the adoptability of the children. A legal representative for some of the parents urged a swift resolution to the cases.

Semillas de Amor

In March of this year, the Guatemala judiciary scheduled hearings for more than 50 Semillas de Amor cases to determine the eligibility of the children for adoption, including some who were already adopted and living in the United States. On the last day of closing arguments, a petition was filed with the Court of Appeals (Sala) asking the presiding judge to be removed.

On September 10, we learned that the Sala ruled against the removal request, allowing the original judge to resume her proceedings at the same place where they were stopped, which was the last day of closing arguments. This will likely result in a more prompt resolution of these cases, since the hearings do not have to start over again from the beginning. However, we cannot predict how soon the judge will announce her final decision.

Santa Lucia de las Flores

The Embassy has learned that Asociacion Santa Lucia de la Flores Silvestres has been under investigation by the Guatemalan Attorney General’s office since last year. The Embassy has been in contact with some of the prospective adoptive parents. We understand there were at least five children indentified for adoption by American citizens being cared for at this home. Many of the children taken from this orphanage are now living in various private hogars until a judge decides on their cases.

Asociacion Primavera

On August 13, the Embassy learned about an action by Guatemalan authorities involving 16 children from the hogar Asociacion Primavera. We have since learned that the children were transferred to the following private hogares: Casa Alegría, Casa Bernabé, and Amor del Niño. As a result of the investigation, the judge in Esquintla who approved the abandonment cases from Hogar Primavera is now under criminal indictment.

Rosalinda Rivera’s Hogar

On May 6, 2008 an action was taken against a hogar on 11 Avenida 7-51, zona 11, Quinta Samayoa, Guatemala City. Rosalinda Rivera was apprehended at this location and 9 infants were removed from her custody. Ms. Rivera did not provide the necessary paperwork to prove this was an authorized home. The children are all living in new hogars awaiting a decision on their case.

Notice for Guatemala “Other Pending” Adoption Cases

The following are brief updates on issues or related developments on pending non-hogar adoption cases.

The Embassy continues to approve an average of 4-6 visa applications of completed adoption cases per week. Consular officers and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office in Guatemala City have been in regular contact with Guatemalan officials about the current situation and to look for approaches that could reduce unnecessary requirements, coordinate the flow of information to adoptive families, and permit all adoptions to move forward. In some instances, the Ambassador has been directly involved in discussions with Guatemalan officials on the adoption situation in Guatemala.
In a recent meeting with the new head of the Procuradoría General de la Nación (PGN), the Consul General was informed that the PGN will establish a new unit to work exclusively on adoptions and to make sure that decisions are reached quickly. This new unit began working September 21.
Consular and USCIS officers report that investigations continue, both on individual adoption cases and on the hogars.
In light of allegations regarding the integrity of Guatemala’s former adoption process, Government authorities are making a concerted effort to confirm all aspects of every case. Because of the large number of investigations, progress overall is likely to be limited.
The Embassy’s USCIS Field Office currently has 597* active cases, of which:

437 are pre-approved and pending action by the Government of Guatemala
160 are pending pre-approval by USCIS

45 are pending submission of 1^st DNA results
15 are pending USCIS or other petitioner action

*Note: This total may include cases in which the petitioner has subsequently decided to abandon the case but did not inform USCIS.

USCIS Field Office Guatemala City received final Guatemalan adoption documents for 10 cases during the period from August 1 to September 1, 2009.
USCIS Field Office Guatemala City also reminds prospective adoptive parents of the new DNA procedures for the 1^st DNA test required in relinquishment cases. All 1^st DNA appointments must be scheduled by USCIS. For more information or to schedule an appointment for DNA collection, please contact USCIS at: Guatemala.Adoptions@dhs.gov
The Department of State received a letter signed by 52 Members of Congress regarding transition adoption cases that are still pending Guatemala. The Department does not generally release the contents of congressional correspondence. We will be responding to that letter and reviewing it once again to see if there are any new or additional actions that could be taken to encourage a resolution of the remaining transition cases.

In The News

The following are summaries of Guatemalan newspaper articles (often in Spanish) that relate to adoption issues. By citing these articles we are not endorsing the content or information; we only wish to provide a sampling of information currently being published.

On September 1, an Oaxaca, Mexico, newspaper reported that police officers in southern Mexico arrested two people who confessed to attempting to smuggle a baby into the United States to sell. According to the report, the child, born in Guatemala on June 20, had been taken from a nurse who charged $1,000.

On September 2, two of Guatemala’s leading newspapers reported on the letter from 52 Members of Congress to Secretary of State Clinton. According to the articles, the letter highlighted that Guatemalan adoptions begun in good faith by constituents of these Members had now been delayed as much as 18 months. According to the news stories, the letter requested that an effort be made to reach agreement on a standardized process to resolve these cases; it also requested that officials in the Department of State keep adoptive families informed of the efforts they are making.

September 8, 10. The Guatemalan daily newspaper Prensa Libre carried two articles covering the International Conference on Adoptions being held September 7 and 8 in Antigua, Guatemala. According to the article, experts at the conference believe Guatemala’s recent law on adoptions and its accession to the Hague Convention on adoptions puts in place a transparent and responsible process for adoptions. In the opinion of speakers at the conference, “There has been a clear evolution” and Guatemala has succeeded in removing itself from the list of countries that “improperly” export children.

The website http://threedaysforthreedaughters.typepad.com/ deals with an international appeal for a hunger strike (September 1-3) requesting that the adoptions of three Guatemalan children be voided and that the children, now living in the United States, be returned to their Guatemalan families from whom they were allegedly taken.

Until there is greater clarity on the adoption process in Guatemala, the Office of Children’s Issues will be providing monthly updates.

U.S. Not Processing Guatemalan Adoptions

March 6, 2009

The Department of State advises potential adoptive parents and adoption service providers not to initiate new adoptions from Guatemala because the Department cannot process such adoptions from Guatemala to completion at this time.

The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Adoption Convention) entered into force with respect to the United States on April 1, 2008. Effective April 1, 2008, newly initiated intercountry adoptions between the United States and other Convention countries must comply with the Convention’s standards.

Guatemala acceded to the Hague Adoption Convention in March 2003. While Guatemala passed legislation designed to implement the Convention in Guatemala, it has not yet established the regulations and infrastructure necessary to meet its obligations under the Convention. As a result, the Department of State cannot issue the documentation required by the Intercountry Adoption Act (IAA) for issuance of an immigrant visa for Convention adoption cases.

The Department has advised USCIS of its finding. USCIS has decided to not approve any new filings of Form I-800, Petition to Classify Convention Adoptee as an Immediate Relative, for adoptions from Guatemala at this time.

On Tuesday, December 11, 2007, the Guatemalan Congress passed legislation intended to implement the Government of Guatemala’s obligations under the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption. This new legislation creates the National Council on Adoptions as the Guatemalan Central Authority for intercountry adoptions and establishes many new safeguards for children and families in the process of intercountry adoption from Guatemala. It aims to reform the Guatemalan adoption system and child welfare system.

The legislation does contain provisions that allow for the completion, under previous adoption laws, of adoptions cases that were in process prior to December 31, 2007. The National Council on Adoptions has informed prospective adoptive parents involved in more than 893 transition adoption cases that their adoption will continue to be processed under the previous laws. It has also informed the Department of State that it will not process any other new adoption cases until the new legislation has been fully implemented.

The CNA is still finalizing the legal steps and establishing the new administrative procedures to process adoptions under the Hague Convention. An important next step in this process will be to establish the accreditation criteria that will be use to authorize or license adoptions agencies that wish to facilitate intercountry adoptions from Guatemala. At this time, the Government of Guatemala has not indicated when it is likely that this process will be completed.

The Department will continue to monitor the adoption practices of Guatemala. We cannot predict whether or when we will be able to start processing new adoptions from Guatemala. We will update this Adoption Alert with any information.

With regard to currently pending adoptions (those initiated in Guatemala before 12/31/2007), the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala remains committed to processing adoptions under previous rules. The Embassy is working closely with the government of Guatemala to complete those cases as soon as possible.