CALL TO ACTION: Free Adam Crapser from Detention Now!

Adam Crapser, a Korean American adoptee who was placed in deportation proceedings at the beginning of 2015, was placed in the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma Washington by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on February 8, 2016.

Adam was adopted from a Korean orphanage by U.S. citizen parents at age three, relinquished by these parents to the state of Oregon at age nine and then adopted again by a second set of U.S. citizen parents one year later.  Both his adoptive parents and the state of Oregon failed in to fulfill their responsibility to naturalize Adam. Because of their failure Adam, now 40, is being held in a detention center and faces the possibility of being deported to a country that is no longer his home – he does not speak the language, remember the country, or understand the culture.

The adoption agencies and the federal and state governments failed to place Adam is a safe and loving environment and Adam is a survivor of extreme and sustained childhood violence. Both sets of his adoptive parents physically and emotionally abused Adam. The second adoptive parents, Thomas and Dolly Crapser, consistently choked, beat and burned Adam; the physical, emotional and sexual abuse of Adam and his foster siblings was so severe the Crapsers served jail time for 11 counts of child abuse. Despite this traumatic childhood, Adam never had access to mental health services until the fall of 2015. Diagnosed with complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which involves years of steady treatment to recover, treatment is being withheld from Adam while he is in detention.

Despite the odds, Adam obtained his GED and became a professional barber and loving father. He was a stay at home dad for his three daughters who depend on him; the immigration system has failed Adam and separated him from his family. Adam is an American and deserves a second chance to have a healthy life.

The country that promised Adam a family and better life is punishing him for its own failing systems. America has failed Adam and should give him the second chance he deserves. We are calling for his immediate release from detention and a cancellation of the deportation order against him.

To support Adam and the estimated 18,000 Korean American adoptees that do not have U.S. Citizenship, NAKASEC (National Korean American Service & Education Consortium) launched an Adoptee Rights Campaign (ARC).

Take Action Now: You can support Adam by taking any or all of these four actions:

1)      Sign a petition in support of Adam being immediately released from detention and removed from deportation proceedings [LINK]

2)      Write a letter to the immigration judge at the Tacoma Detention Center urging for Adam’s immediate release. Please send letters to adopteedefense@gmail.com. These letters will be delivered by Adam’s attorney.  If you know Adam personally, please indicate that on your letter. Talking points for your letter can be found HERE.

3)      If you are a member of an organization, ask your organization to write a letter to the immigration judge at Tacoma Detention Center urging Adam’s immediate release. Please send letters to adopteedefense@gmail.com.  Talking points for your letter can be found HERE.

4)      Donate to the Adoptee Defense Fund to cover the legal and counseling fees for Adam and adoptees similarly situated [http://adopteerightscampaign.org/ or http://adopteerightscampaign.org/ko].

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For more information, please contact adopteedefense@gmail.com.