Out of the Fog

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> the beneficent embrace of the American family was always conditional

My heart breaks for anyone brought to the US who weren’t given citizenship. I’m well aware of families who didn’t know there were additional steps to perform and often wonder what agencies failed their due diligence in guiding them through that process. Enough people screwed up that it seems absurd to deny citizenship to those who would otherwise have it.

My representative is adopted and has adopted and he’ll be receiving a letter encouraging his support of allowing citizenship for these adoptees that missed it through no fault of their own.

That said, as an adoptive parent this is a common trope - ignore the millions of successful adoptions to focus on those that are horrific. Cast parents as baby smugglers with fiendish intent. I’m sure those people exist, but as a parent in this community for almost 14 years, I’ve met untold families excited to provide for the needs of a child who has already experienced significant trauma. No adoption exists without loss. We can, at best, try to mend what’s already been done.

Fortunately, for us, the process for citizenship was laid out - also complicated and nerve racking. There were no conditions (except for us as parents and sponsors).

My love for my children is unconditional.

My first experience learning about Operation Babylift was being traumatized by the Christmas episode of Hey Arnold. It's a fascinating situation, saving babies that have no parents because of your actions as a country.

I don't like that this article was written in such a negative light. I am sure there were terrible situations, but also, you simply wouldn't be writing about a Vietnamese orphan that died on the street without ever being sent to adoptive parents. It feels a bit biased to treat this as an overall negative action by the US. I have met several Babylift adoptees living in SF, and I think they would voice dissenting opinions.

People were really desperate to get out of there at the end. A wild story is of Buang Ly who landed a Cessna on a US aircraft carrier: https://www.historynet.com/maj-buang-lys-daring-feat-to-save...

Just wanted to say thanks for the submission. I never would have found this story otherwise, and it's both a powerful read and especially relevant to a close friend—she was one of the airlifted/trafficked babies and has never been able to find her birth parents.

guess this is off-topic but in 1999 i flew to uk (for the first time) via malaysia. the 747 stopped for fuel at munich and wandering the aisle i happened to talk to an old chinese lady that stunned me with very fluent tamil! (my mother tongue). she was adopted and brought up by immigrant tamil parents in malaysia. they even married her to a malaysia indian tamil man and she had a daughter that she was going to visit in manchester.

As an intercountry adoptee whose parents did not secure my citizenship, I’ve lived with the quiet, unsettling uncertainty of being here legally—but never fully protected.

I didn’t choose this situation, yet I carry its consequences every day.

This isn’t just a paperwork issue—it’s about identity, belonging, and basic dignity.

No adoptee should face the threat of deportation from the only home they've ever known.

The Adoptee Citizenship Act isn’t just a fix—it’s a long-overdue promise America needs to finally keep.

If this matters to you, please consider supporting the cause. Contact Adoptees for Justice and help push the Adoptee Citizenship Act forward: https://www.adopteesforjustice.org/

Thank you for listening—and for caring.

–Judy, an adoptee still waiting for America to catch up with its promises

As an inter-country adoptee whose parents did not secure my citizenship, I’ve lived with the quiet, unsettling uncertainty of being here legally—but never fully protected.

I didn’t choose this situation, yet I carry its consequences every day.

This isn’t just a paperwork issue—it’s about identity, belonging, and basic dignity.

No adoptee should face the threat of deportation from the only home they've ever known.

The Adoptee Citizenship Act isn’t just a fix—it’s a long-overdue promise America needs to finally keep.

If this matters to you, please consider supporting the cause. Contact Adoptees for Justice and help push the Adoptee Citizenship Act forward: https://www.adopteesforjustice.org/

Thank you for listening — and for caring.

– Judy, an adoptee still waiting for America to catch up with its promises

"Out of the Fog" is about the experience of "war babies" and other Asians adopted into the U.S., as they have grown to adulthood.

Title: The rescued Vietnamese infants of Operation Babylift have grown up

While I appreciate the story, I am honestly confused by The Verge's editorial choices in running a series of articles like this one. I understand it's been 50 years after the end of the American War in Vietnam, but what does it remotely have to do with tech?

Why are they publishing this story/these stories? How is it on-brand? Again don't get me wrong. It's great that someone's doing it but... It just feels... wrong from an editorial product management perspective.