A Missouri couple that has raised a Guatemalan child since he was an infant can proceed with their adoption as a Green County juvenile court has decreed that the birth mother, an illegal immigrant, had abandoned the child, as reported by Saint Louis Today.
A Guatemalan diplomat, and others supporting the rights of immigrants, have been vocal in their displeasure with the current ruling in the long-running case.
The ruling succinctly terminated the birth mother's rights and made it easier for S.M. and M.M. to formally adopt the child.
E.R., allowed to remain in the country so that she could attend the proceedings, had earlier been arrested and detained for working illegally in the U.S. She left the courtroom immediately following the ruling, in tears, and was unavailable for comment.
Joe Hensley is the attorney representing S.M. and M.M. Hensley said that the boy, C.J.M., has just finished preschool. Hensley added, "The (M family is) very happy. This is something that's been hanging over their heads for years. They're ready to close that chapter of their lives and move on."
Emily Butera with the detention and asylum section of the Women's Refugee Commission said, "Cases like these are the byproducts of fundamental gaps in the immigration and child welfare systems that make it all but impossible for parents in immigration detention to participate in proceedings affecting custody of their children."
While E.R. was in detention awaiting her deportation back to Guatemala in 2008 – after being discovered that she was employed illegally at a poultry plant in Barry County in 2007 – she challenged the adoption proceedings of her child by S.M. and M.M.
During the same period that E.R. was held in detention the child was swapped between her different family members before S.M. and M.M. privately adopted him.
That first adoption was overturned in the appellate court.
Fast forward to 2010 when Francisco Villegran de Leon, the Guatemalan Ambassador to the United States, spoke up against the adoption during Supreme Court arguments. Villegran de Leon argued that the children of undocumented immigrants, even if the parent is in the U.S. illegally, should not be placed up for adoption.
Other advocates that spoke for E.R. – though none spoke in English – contended that E.R. was not given proper legal counsel and did not understand all of her rights. E.R. also failed, according to her advocates, to understand how both the juvenile courts or the adoption process works.
In 2011 the Missouri Supreme Court ruling placed the case back into the circuit courts – after learning that E.R.'s rights were not upheld in a Jasper County Court.
Whether you are an illegal immigrant facing child abandonment allegations, or a couple seeking adoption, you must contact a family law attorney for help with any child custody issues. Court proceedings can be lengthy and difficult to understand, and the right attorney can help you find the best way to secure the custody of your child.