Saturday
John and Cindy McCain: Illegal Adoptive Parents?
Dr. Abdul Momen
[Dr. Momen, a professor of Economics in Massachusetts and a political analyst, raises questions about the legality of the adoption of the McCains' daughter, Bridget - ShadaKalo editors]
Wes Gullett, Senetor McCain's former staff member, spoke at the Republic National Convention (RNC) in St. Paul, Minnesota, with his adopted daughter Nikki by his side. He talked about the compassion of the potential first lady, Senator John McCain's wife Cindy McCain. The camera repeatedly showed Mrs. McCain and the McCains' adopted daughter, Bridget. The proof of Mrs. McCain's compassion? She had rescued two baby girls from an orphanage in Bangladesh, and "adopted" one of them, while Mr. Gullett "adopted" the other. After the 11-house stories, this certainly helped humanize the McCains and garner some sympathy.
Unfortunately, there is a reason we put the quotes around adopted.
According to Bangladeshi Law, no foreigner is allowed to adopt a Bangladeshi child. The US embassy in Bangladesh says:
John and Cindy McCain, therefore, could not have legally adopted Bridget. The same applies to the Gullets and Nikki. I am personally happy that they adopted her and saved her life, but they broke Bangladeshi law. It is not expected from a war hero, a national role model and a highly respected US Senator like John McCain to adopt his daughter 'without due process of law' illegally and use such 'illegal adoption' for political gain.
But then again, Mrs. McCain is no stranger to breaking the law.
In 1992, when we wanted to arrange the adoption in the USA of 25 Bangladeshi boys, all below the age of 5 who were being sold as 'camel jockeys' in the Gulf countries, the Bangladesh government did not allow us to do it because of their adoption law. As the US embassy page points out, Bangladeshi law does not allow foreigners to adopt their children legally since the ordinance was enacted in 1982. We got their custody after six months only when we (me and my friend Faith Willard of Cape Cod, Massachusetts) agreed to the conditions such as (1) we would repatriate and rehabilitate them in Bangladesh, and (2) would hand them over back to Bangladesh government if any 'real parents' claim them.
It also looks like Mrs. McCain was also embellishing stories about the adoption for the past 17 years. She has been claiming that Mother Teresa herself convinced her to adopt the baby Bridget. There was just a small problem: Mrs. McCain never met Mother Teresa:
The RNC paraded Bridget and Nikki as examples of Cindy McCain's compassion--for a political campaign. This makes the following a fair question.
We call upon the McCain campaign to clarify this adoption: since foreign adoption has been illegal since at least 1982, how did the McCain family adopt a child from Bangladesh in 1991?
[Dr. Momen, a professor of Economics in Massachusetts and a political analyst, raises questions about the legality of the adoption of the McCains' daughter, Bridget - ShadaKalo editors]
Wes Gullett, Senetor McCain's former staff member, spoke at the Republic National Convention (RNC) in St. Paul, Minnesota, with his adopted daughter Nikki by his side. He talked about the compassion of the potential first lady, Senator John McCain's wife Cindy McCain. The camera repeatedly showed Mrs. McCain and the McCains' adopted daughter, Bridget. The proof of Mrs. McCain's compassion? She had rescued two baby girls from an orphanage in Bangladesh, and "adopted" one of them, while Mr. Gullett "adopted" the other. After the 11-house stories, this certainly helped humanize the McCains and garner some sympathy.
Unfortunately, there is a reason we put the quotes around adopted.
According to Bangladeshi Law, no foreigner is allowed to adopt a Bangladeshi child. The US embassy in Bangladesh says:
Actual adoption of children is not permitted under Bangladesh law. However, Bangladesh law does permit its own citizens to apply for guardianship of children. At that time, a U.S.-Bangladeshi dual citizen who has obtained guardianship of a Bangladeshi child could apply for an immigrant visa for that child to go to the U.S. Under Bangladesh law, the 1982 Guardianship and Wards Amendments Ordinances prohibit granting guardianship of Bangladeshi children to non-Bangladeshi parents. Further, these restrictions have limited adoption of Bangladeshi children to only a few each year.Lets parse this. First, adoption is not allowed. Second, guardianship is allowed, but only to Bangladeshi citizens.
John and Cindy McCain, therefore, could not have legally adopted Bridget. The same applies to the Gullets and Nikki. I am personally happy that they adopted her and saved her life, but they broke Bangladeshi law. It is not expected from a war hero, a national role model and a highly respected US Senator like John McCain to adopt his daughter 'without due process of law' illegally and use such 'illegal adoption' for political gain.
But then again, Mrs. McCain is no stranger to breaking the law.
In 1992, when we wanted to arrange the adoption in the USA of 25 Bangladeshi boys, all below the age of 5 who were being sold as 'camel jockeys' in the Gulf countries, the Bangladesh government did not allow us to do it because of their adoption law. As the US embassy page points out, Bangladeshi law does not allow foreigners to adopt their children legally since the ordinance was enacted in 1982. We got their custody after six months only when we (me and my friend Faith Willard of Cape Cod, Massachusetts) agreed to the conditions such as (1) we would repatriate and rehabilitate them in Bangladesh, and (2) would hand them over back to Bangladesh government if any 'real parents' claim them.
It also looks like Mrs. McCain was also embellishing stories about the adoption for the past 17 years. She has been claiming that Mother Teresa herself convinced her to adopt the baby Bridget. There was just a small problem: Mrs. McCain never met Mother Teresa:
The McCain campaign had also put out the story that Mother Teresa "convinced" Cindy to bring home two orphans from Bangladesh in 1991.So why was she name-dropping? Just to exploit the good name of Mother Teresa? During Mr. Gullett's speech, a photo of Mrs. McCain and Mother Teresa was shown. Perhaps the GOP wants us to believe that some of her sainthood must have rubbed off on Cindy McCain.
Mrs. McCain, it turns out, never met Mother Teresa on that trip. (Once contacted by the Monitor, the campaign revised the story on its website.)
The RNC paraded Bridget and Nikki as examples of Cindy McCain's compassion--for a political campaign. This makes the following a fair question.
We call upon the McCain campaign to clarify this adoption: since foreign adoption has been illegal since at least 1982, how did the McCain family adopt a child from Bangladesh in 1991?
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There has been a lot of hoopla about the legality of Bridget's adoption few years ago. This is one of those cases where a rule might have been bent – but the end result was really very good, and nobody was hurt.
Cindy McCain has never claimed that Mother Teresa herself convinced her to adopt baby Bridget. She said she visited Mother Theresa Orphanage in Dhaka, a place very seldom visited by Mother Theresa herself. Cindy met Theresa somewhere in India (Kolkata probably).
Cindy McCain was going to bring the child here for surgery only, but was not sure where the child would go to live. The orphanage or anybody in Bd did not try to stop her from bringing the child with her to the other side of the child, and there was never a written agreement that she was obliged to take the kid back to Bd after the cosmetic surgery on her lips. Nobody in Bd's end was waiting to receive her with open arms.
So, the orphanage in Bd pretty much left it on Cindy to decide the fate of the baby. Towards the end of her flight home, Cindy kept staring at the helpless baby and thought 'where was she going to go?'. That's when she decided to raise her herself. Upon arrival, when John went t o receive her, he asked her where was the baby going to go after the surgery. She said '…coming home with us… Meet your new daughter'.
So technically, yes, she did not have Bd's permission to keep the baby with her and not returning her to Bd. But she did not promise Bd authority to take her back either.
As far as I know, McCains went through the paper works from here. They might have enjoyed 'privileges' from the Bd Embassy in Washington (our Bd diplomats are usually very eager to help people in Capitol Hill). So if an investigation is launched, then the burden of shady dealings may turn up more heavily on Bd's side.
I personally don't want to see this issue hit the national headline. Bridget was subjected to political ugliness back in 2004. If the legality of Bridget's adoption becomes an issue this election season – that little girl is the one who will suffer the most. We can already see what a toxic environment the election has created already.
I also do not want McCain to win the elction. I have been actively campaigning for Obama. And McCain already kind of reduced his credentials by picking Plain as VP candidate (any rational person knows she needs to stay away from any national interest/policy).
Bottom lime is, Bridget has been happy. She never complained about how her family raised her.
Zafa:
Stories like this create heart vs. head struggles.
According to the christian science monitor story linked in the post, the McCain campaign claimed (and then removed from the website) that Mother Teresa asked Cindy M. to adopt the babies.
It was a great fortune for Bridget and Nikki to gain loving families, and escape almost certain death, and I do not doubt that Mrs. McCain is a good mother.
But it is them who decided to use Bridget and Nikki as props at the RNC--shouldn't they get their story straight?
am bhai,
I said Cindy McCain never made such claims (this may have been another embellishment of the over-zealous campaign officers, and frankly what John's campaign officers are doing is deplorable in many levels). In 2000 (during McCain's 1st Presidential bid) when I first learned about Bridget, I did some digging around. To this date, in every interview John and Cindy maintained the same story about Bridget.
Like all other Bangladeshis, I detested the way they made a spectacle of Bridget during RNC – even made Nikki Gullet (a stunning 17 year old, beaming on the stage) appear on the stage with her father. But let's think about the McCains' options for a minute. It's double whammy for them. For months we the deshis have been unhappy that they were not showcasing Bridget enough. Though we think they embarrassed her, if you think how open Americans are about the 'adoption' – it was not that much of an odd thing. And another thing is – Bridget might have volunteered to have her story told such way. I mean if my dad was running for President of U.S. – I would want to do everything possible in my power to help the campaign – I wouldn't care about being embarrassed on national TV.
The provisions on 'adoption' from Bangladesh most definitely need to be revised. There are clauses and requirements in there that just make no sense anymore.
Back then (late 70s – early 80s), child trafficking was on rise, and the government was under scrutiny to do something about it.
Amazingly enough, the alleged child traffickers that get caught these days, turn out to be Bangladeshis not foreigners. Surely we haven't forgotten the former police chief whose aged wife claimed to have given birth to septuplets when they could not explain why there were seven infants in their home.
Problem is, the rigidity of these laws has made the adoption process extremely painful for some naturalized Bangladeshi couples and genuinely want to adopt baby from Bd, and closed the doors on Bideshis. Americans adopt children from China, Vietnam, and Cambodia etc all the time.
I know about one couple who tried to adopt their own nephew but just got worn out from the haggles. They finally adopted a dark-haired baby locally; and then people never failed to remind them – "there are so many orphans in Bd that need home, why did you adopt an American?"
But going back to the McCains – let me share a story. One of my relatives spent a few days with John in a seminar (they were both panelist in one session) about 3 years ago. John was very chatty with this Bangladeshi/American about her 14 year old – telling him at length how her daughter asks all sorts of questions about Bd, and wants to visit the place. He said he'd encourage her daughter to go to Bd when she's older. Right now (that was 2005) he was worried about the political unrest in the country. I do believe they are good to Bridget, and probably not too thrilled about how the campaign has used her.
**J bhaiya, sorry about another very long comment. Oddly enough I feel protective of Bridget, even though I don't care for his dad's policies.
Please refer to the Dept. of State website
http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption/country/country_334.html
PLEASE NOTE: Bangladeshi law does not allow for full adoptions of Bangladeshi children. Americans considering adoption of Bangladeshi children must obtain guardianship from a Bangladeshi court and subsequently adopt the child in the United States.
I'd assume the McCain's followed the proper legal procedure and did in fact adopt Bridget in an American court of law.
I have mixed feelings here. I did not like how they paraded Bridget in RNC convention. But at the same time bringing back all these issue of legality of adoption will serously hurt the feelings of the young girl.
So I will say what my candidate Obama says, " Children are off limit, please" .