Operation bring our boys home.....

I am taking this info directly from Kristen Howerton, another adoptive mother from Heartline.

She did a great job informing us on what we can do. All of us mothers and fathers are trying to mobilize our energy to get our children home. It’s very difficult to have our children in Haiti right now when if only they could be granted humanitarian parole, we could get them out of there as relief efforts continue. Per Kristen and all of us…

THIS IS HOW YOU CAN HELP. If this smacks of desperation, it’s because we are desperate. We want to get our children home.

We need to make some noise to get our congressman and senators working on this. I would also love you to use any contact you have with immigration, attorneys, press, or anyone who might have influence to get our story out there and put pressure on the state department to intervene. I am outlining the points below. If you are interested, let's flood our state reps from all sides: phone, email, and fax. You can look up your elected officials and their contact info at congress.gov. If you contact people in Haiti, please be very sensitive to the fact that they are dealing with their own grief right now.

I've outlined the talking points below, which is followed by the contact info for some of our government officials. If you know of others, feel free to pass this along.


THE ISSUE:

We have been in the process of adopting our sons since July 2008. The government buildings that were processing our adoption were demolished. Many government workers are feared dead. Orphans in Haiti are in grave danger, and yet have willing families in the US who can care for them. Our sons and the other children from the orphanage were homeless, sleeping outside because of damage to the crèche. They are at risk of looting and robbery. Everyone in Haiti is at risk of food and water shortages and air-born disease due to the current situation. The local caregivers are focused on their own families, so the orphanage is short-staffed. Supplies are running low. The situation is desperate.

THE SOLUTION:

THE SOLUTION IS HUMANITARIAN PAROLE FOR ADOPTIVE CHILDREN. These children have willing families to care for them and can be brought to the US for care. While granting a humanitarian parole is outside the normal procedures, the United States government has granted them in the past (e.g. Cambodia and Romania).

THIS IS NOT AN EXPEDITED ADOPTION. The adoption process is now completely incapacitated, but when it resumes the United States seeks to honor the adoption process established in Haiti. This is a humanitarian effort to care for these kids, and the adoption will be processed using the usual procedure at a later time.

THE BENEFITS:

Humanitarian parole for adoptive children benefits everyone involved. The kids are moved to safety. There is no cost to the government because these children have families ready to care for them. This frees up the orphanages in Haiti to care for more children. It does not circumvent the already established adoption process. It is ethical and compassionate.

OUR FAMILY’S DETAILS:

Our dossier entered Haiti’s system in the spring of 2009. We have visited numerous times. Our file exited IBESR, the Haitian social services office, granting us permission to adopt in November 2009. Our homestudy and fingerprints are up-to-date. Our sons' legal name is Steeve Alceus, date of birth is 10/15/02 and Jean Baptiste Alceus date of birth 1/1/05. They live in Port-Au-Prince. Orphanage is run by Three Angels Childrens Relief. If he is granted humanitarian parole, we can arrange for getting them home.