Help Us Bring Our Kids Home

We are trying to adopt two teenagers from Colombia. We’ve spent over a year completing every requirement. Both governments have approved us. We were one or two months away from bringing them home.

Then on January 14, 2026, a State Department memo blocked their visas—and the visas of children in adoptions across 75 countries.

We believe this is an unintended consequence. We’re asking for your help. Not just for us, but for every family caught in the same situation.

Our Story

In December 2024, we hosted two teenagers from Colombia in our home through a hosting program. The teenagers were in foster care and over those four weeks we became a family. We made gingerbread houses together. They experienced snow for the first time. We shared meals, laughter, and quiet moments that felt like they had always belonged in our home.

When they returned to Colombia, our house felt empty. We started the formal adoption process the very next day.

Shane is a veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Jessica is an engineer. We’ve been married 16 years and these will be our first children.

We haven’t been able to see or speak with them since they returned to Colombia. They don’t know we’re trying to bring them home.

Our Journey

International adoption is a long process. Here’s what we’ve completed over the past year:

• Home study: A licensed social worker evaluated our home, background, and parenting readiness through interviews, home visits, and background checks (FBI and state).
• I-800A application and approval: USCIS reviewed our home study and formally determined that we are suitable to adopt and have the financial capacity to support the children.
• Dossier submission to ICBF: We compiled and submitted a comprehensive set of documents to Colombia’s child welfare authority (Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar).
• Approved to adopt by Colombia: ICBF reviewed our dossier and approved us as suitable adoptive parents, authorizing us to be matched with children in their care.
• I-800 application and approval: After being matched, we filed this petition with USCIS to confirm the children are eligible for intercountry adoption and U.S. immigration. This was just approved.

We are so close. Here’s what we have left:

• Article 5 (next step): The U.S. Embassy in Bogotá issues this letter confirming the children will be permitted to enter the United States once the adoption is finalized in Colombia.
• Travel to Colombia: We finalize the adoption in the Colombian court, making us the children’s legal parents under Colombian and U.S. law.
• Receive IH-3 visas: The children receive immigrant visas to return to the United States with us. Under the Child Citizenship Act, they become U.S. citizens the moment they step foot on U.S. soil. The state department memo blocks these visas.
• Celebrate: Bring our kids home.

The Roadblock: Receive IH-3 visas

The January 14 memo pauses all immigrant visa issuances—including adoption visas—to nationals of 75 countries, including Colombia. The stated justification is concern about “public charge” (financial burden on public benefits) as outlined in INA § 212(a)(4).

However, this rationale does not apply to international adoptions for the following reasons:

1. Financial Vetting is Already Complete: USCIS reviewed all our finances and said we could financially provide for the children when they issued us our I-800A.
2. Our Children Become Citizens Upon Entry: Under the Child Citizenship Act, children entering on IH-3 visas automatically become United States citizens the moment they step on U.S. soil. The “public charge” statute (INA § 212(a)(4)) applies to immigrants, not citizens. Therefore, it is legally impossible for our children to become public charges in the United States under the statute.

How You Can Help

1. Contact your representatives — We’ve written a template letter. It takes two minutes.
2. Share this page — Other families are affected. Awareness matters.

These kids have waited long enough. Help us bring them home.

Our Video Story