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Fate uncertain for 12 Haitian kids airlifted to US
From the Associated Press:
Six months after a chaotic airlift to the United States, 12 Haitian children remain in a Roman Catholic institution near Pittsburgh, their fate in limbo while U.S. and Haitian authorities struggle to determine which nation should be their future home.
Their case is complicated and politically sensitive, and all parties say they want the best outcome possible for the children. Yet impatience in some quarters is growing.
“It’s astounding to me that the bureaucracy can’t get this done,” said Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, who took part in the airlift. “It’s unfair to these children. Let’s get them adopted by loving families.”
Unlike some 1,100 other children flown out of Haiti to the U.S. after the Jan. 12 earthquake, the youths at the Holy Family Institute in Emsworth, Pa., were not part of the adoption process prior to the quake and — according to some legal experts — shouldn’t have been eligible for the emergency program.
The State Department is aware of claims that the children’s relatives have relinquished them, but wants to verify any such actions and be sure the relatives understand the ramifications of any statements they’ve made. The department said the children’s cases would be decided individually — so there might not be a common outcome for all 12.
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