That. the Congress declares that(1) during the course of the Vietnam conflict. thousands of children were fathered in Vietnam by United States citizens. (2) current procedures for adoption of and granting citizenship to illegitimate children born in Vietnam make provision of assistance extremely difficult. (3) the French. following their departure from Vietnam in 1954. offered citizenship and educational assistance to the illegitimate children of French soldiers. (4) Americans have expressed the desire to adopt Vietnamese orphans of American extraction. so that they may receive the care and love which the disruptions and tragedies of the Indochinese war have denied them. (5) if adoption procedures could be expedited and red tape eliminated. there would be homes for thousands of VietnameseAmerican orphans. and (6) the United States has a special responsibility to assist in facilitating the care and adoption of those children in South Vietnam whose parent is a United States citizen no longer providing parental care to the child. SEC. 2. Notwithstanding the Immigration and Nationality Act. the children qualifying under section 3 shall be citizens of the United States. SEC. 3. Each child shall be qualified for the purposes of this Act who. to the satisfaction of the State Department under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of State shall prescribe(1) was born in the Republic of Vietnam prior to January 1. 1974. and orphaned or abandoned. (2) is of an age such that not more than twelve years have passed from the date of such childs birth to the date of the enactment of this Act. (3) in all probability has or had one parent who was at the time of such childs birth a citizen of the United States. and (4) Is placed through an adoption agency in the United States licensed or properly accredited according to pertinent local.
Keywords matched
Immigration