Feds targeted adoptee from South Korea because of crimes
ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this March 19, 2015, file photo, Korean adoptee Adam Crapser poses with daughter, Christal, 1, in the family’s living room in Vancouver, Wash. Crapser, a South Korean man who was flown to the U.S. 37 years ago and adopted by an American couple at age 3 has been ordered deported back to a country that is completely alien to him, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016.
Salem, Ore. » A man who was adopted as a 3-year-old from South Korea almost four decades ago and flown to America is in detention awaiting deportation because of “the severity of his criminal history,” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said.
Adam Crapser was ordered deported last week back to a country that is completely alien to him. No one sought U.S. citizenship for him as he grew up in America, abandoned by one adoptive family, thrown into the foster care system and winding up with abusive parents. The lack of citizenship made him liable for deportation, especially after he built a criminal record.
ICE prioritizes immigration enforcement resources “on individuals who pose a threat to national security, public safety, and border security,” Rose M. Richeson, spokeswoman for ICE’s Seattle field office, said in a statement.
Richeson cited Adam Crapser’s criminal history, including convictions for assault and being a felon in possession of a weapon. Crapser’s immigration attorney said Monday that her client’s 1994 burglary offense — which served as a predicate for the “felon in possession” conviction — was for breaking back into the home of his criminally abusive second set of parents to retrieve two things that had come with him from the Korean orphanage.
Crapser has untreated post-traumatic stress disorder “from the trauma and abuse he suffered as a child,” said attorney Lori Walls.
“Mr. Crapser served his time for his offenses,” Walls said in an email to The Associated Press. “Mr. Crapser was eligible for and deserved another chance.”
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The decision by a federal immigration judge last week not to give Crapser a reprieve for deportation was a big blow to his supporters, including some Korean Americans, several of whom were also adopted as babies or children.
Crapser decided not to appeal because the conditions in the immigration detention center in Tacoma, Washington, where is has been locked up since February, are so bad, his supporters say.
Richeson said Crapser was arrested by ICE on Feb. 8 after serving a 60-day sentence for menacing and attempted coercion. Walls said those crimes resulted from Crapser “spending 25 months incarcerated with untreated PTSD.”
His immigration woes mirror those of thousands of others. The National Korean American Service & Education Consortium says an estimated 35,000 intercountry adoptees lack U. S. citizenship. It is backing legislation in Congress to address that issue.
Seven years after Crapser and his older sister were adopted, their parents abandoned them. The foster care system separated Crapser when he was 10 from his sister. He was housed at several foster and group homes. When Crapser was 12, he moved in with Thomas and Dolly Crapser, their biological son, two other adoptees and several foster children.
There, he was physically abused, Crapser has said. In 1991, the couple was arrested on charges including physical child abuse.
Federal immigration officials say they became aware of Crapser after he applied for a green card for permanent residency.
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Follow Andrew Selsky on Twitter at http://twitter.com/andrewselsky
23 responses to “Feds targeted adoptee from South Korea because of crimes”
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Sad commentary of an adoption program that went awry. Adopting parents abandon/abuse and now ICE is ready to persecute this South Korean through no fault of his own to deport him to a country that is alien to him, without even any language skills of the country where he will end up. Move him to a sanctuary city where he may receive more humane consideration. Bleeding liberals where are you? Asians no, Latinos yes! Racial discrimination/preference? What about the abusive parents who agreed to raise him and not let him become a public charge. Remember when I sponsored an immigrant, had to guarantee to the Federal Government with an affidavit of support and that the individual being sponsored will nor become a public charge.
Excellent commentary! But then you’re always one of the best ones in the daily forums! Mahalo!
Dam adoption from foreign countries. We have enough of our own.
I don’t agree with you Allah. Where are you and your ancestors from? What has made America great is our ethnic diversity, with immigrants from all over the world. That is indeed our strength. Sometimes that causes issues but overall we are Americans first and then your ethnicity second.
The comment by Allaha is specific to adoption. I agree with it. Why did this adoption have to occur on foreign soil when we have so many at home? Why put a child through the trauma of being uprooted from his native language and culture to be adopted by abusive parents? I’ll tell you one of the reasons why. It is a business. You pay $10-$15,000.00 for the adoption. That is the going rate last I heard. I had a friend who “bought” a child from China because they could not conceive their own.
The reason parents go overseas is because many of the children put up for adoption here in the states are “drug babies.”
It is one of a few reasons primo. Truth is the “baby market” exists with sales people getting commissions and governments taking their cut as well.
Sadly he got hooked up the first time with perp parents. Even the foster care should have made sure he worked on gaining his citizenship. And then he got setup with another set of perp parents who were even worse. Now to get deported to a country so foreign even though he is of the same race is sad.
SAD. I would imagine this case could be reviewed by Obama and get pardoned. If I were him I’d appeal to TheDonald, he has a heart. NO StarAdvertiser articles/reports on the new Wiki leak dump? The SA biased? like other LIberal media outlets that “hates” TheDonald
“…The Donald, he has a heart.” That’s the same man by the way that wants to deport all without consideration. What have you been drinking, Pocho? Or have you been under a rock all this time.
As Trump pointed out in the debate, Obama has deported millions of people–criminals and illegals— and if you don’t like deporting immigrants look at Obama and not just Trump.
Obama has the power to pardon. Not so with TheDonald
And come November 9th, he never will.
Now that Crasper knows the dire consequences of his future actions, give him one final chance. Anymore screw-ups, send ’em back. All non-citizens with “records” should be sent back to their country of origin . . . . .
Sounds good. But it seems that the guy needs some help.
All the illegals fishing in Hawaii. And they go after this guy. It is easy for ICE/CPB to make a case that involves “low hanging fruit” but the tough cases go uninvestigated or over looked. Isn’t bringing to justice human traffickers of illegal sex and labor a more pressing problem. It is about priorities. This must have been a very easy “throw away the keys” case to make.
Very sad. Quick fix for Congress to address.
Simply, any child adopted by US citizens must be afforded the same rights and non adopted children of US citizens.
What does it say about us as a country if we turn our backs on one of our own? To me it says we are cold hearted who should be ashamed of ourselves.
And if people cannot appreciate the extenuating circumstances to his past crimes, they must recognize that he already went through the criminal justice system. That background is entirely irrelevant to the issue of his citizenship status.
I’ll bet if he were from Syria Barry would intervene on his behalf.
There are reasons to feel sympathy for Adam Crapser, and yes, maybe there were compelling reasons for him to burglarize his (abusive) foster parent’s home to recover his Korean Bible and a pair of rubber shoes, however, he was a legal adult and felon when he decided to possess a weapon. If we argue that life in the U.S. is all he really knows, then what’s his excuse for making a bad decision that further compromised his good standing? A case of PTSD? Well, maybe, although many of us might agree that that claim has been overused lately to excuse bad behavior.
And yes, I do agree there are likely no good or happy endings to this story.
Could Mrs. Clinton pardon him?
He better learn how to speak Korean……
The SA story is written to gain sympathy. We know nothing of this person. I would agree by the story that he is a victim of circumstance but each story is different and there are so many with varying outcomes. Interview every homeless person here in Hawaii and see what kind of mix plate you get.
I believe that Mr. Crapser’s deportation problems stem from being Asian and NOT Hispanic. The police blotters are rife with the numerous offenses committed by those individuals from South of the border, yet so, so many of them are released from custody by law enforcement, only to reoffend again and again. It seems there is a double standard when it comes to enforcement of immigration law.