Adam Crasper, a former resident of Vancouver, Washington who had been adopted from Korea by an American family at the age of 3, was deported to his country of birth by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in late November of 2016. Crasper had been detained at a center in Tacoma, WA since February 8, when he was apprehended by ICE “after serving a 60-day sentence for menacing constituting domestic violence and attempted coercion.”

Crasper was adopted by Michigan parents who eventually gave him and his sister up to separate foster homes when they moved to Oregon. He was assaulted by the foster parents, who were later convicted of multiple crimes against the children in their care. Crasper's first set of adoptive parents never completed the paperwork for his citizenship, although they told Crasper that they had. ICE was alerted to his status when he applied for a Green Card as an adult and they noticed his criminal record.

Crasper has now been forced to return to Korea for the first time in almost 40 years, where he does not speak the language or know the culture. His birth mother, who is partially paralyzed, told the New York Times that she gave her three children up for adoption when their father left and she could not provide for them. She is now learning English so that she can communicate with her son.

The judge could have allowed Crasper to stay in the country, but decided on deportation after a trial, most likely due to Crasper's criminal record, which included assault and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Crasper's attorney said she was disappointed that the fact that Crasper "was adopted, abandoned and abused, facilitated by the U.S. government and the state of Oregon…carried relatively little weight in the decision that the immigration court made."

In 2000, the United States passed a law granting immediate citizenship to any child adopted by United States citizens, but this law does not apply retroactively. This means that the parents of children adopted before 2000 had to apply for citizenship for their children after they entered the country.

Pleading guilty to a crime can sometimes be considered grounds for deportation, especially if a defendant has not been living in the United States for more than five years. In Washington state, as of September of 1983, all defendants must be formally advised in writing that a guilty plea can be grounds for deportation, exclusion from admission to the United States, or denial of naturalization.

Non-citizens of the United States have another set of complications to add to the potential consequences of a criminal conviction. If you are struggling with criminal charges and the threat of deportation, let attorney Steve Karimi use his experience as a prosecutor to help you get the best possible outcome. For a free and completely confidential consultation, call (206) 621-8777 today or contact us online.