First hearing in Holt lawsuit by Korean adoptee deported from US highlights fight for transparency, adoptee rights

The Korea Herald

The Seoul Central District Court has recently held a hearing in relation to "a landmark lawsuit filed by deported Korean American adoptee Adam Crapser against the Korean government and Holt Children’s Services," according to this article from the Korea Herald. "Crapser, adopted through Holt at age 3, was abused by two sets of adoptive parents, neither of which filed for his United States citizenship," says the article. "Crapser was later imprisoned for burglarizing his adoptive parents’ home to retrieve a Bible and a stuffed toy from his time in Korea. He later faced separate convictions for possession of a firearm and assault." Years later, after Crasper had served his jail sentence and started businesses and a family, US authorities uncovered his previous convictions during his green card application process and deported him to South Korea in 2015.

Crasper has since filed a lawsuit against the adoption agency for failing to meet its post-adoption obligations and against the Korean government for lack of oversight regarding "fraudulent paperwork aimed at expediting the adoption process, as well as the practice of “proxy adoptions” involving lax screening with no requirement for adoptive parents to travel to Korea."

"In the US," continues the article, "groups such as Adoptees for Justice, KoRoot and the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium are mobilizing with the aim of passing a law retroactively granting citizenship to all adult international adoptees and allowing deportees like Crapser to return home."