Pro Bono Partner Steven Schulman Quoted on Turkish Gov’t Denying Exit to Adopted Child

For its article “To be home for Christmas: An Iowa couple struggles to bring adopted daughter home from Turkey,” Quad-City Times quoted Akin Gump pro bono partner Steven Schulman. The article reports on an Iowa couple who adopted a stateless child in Turkey, where they had been living and working, but are unable to bring her back to the U.S. due to Turkish government opposition. The child, Sofia, has been issued documents by the U.S. State Department that would allow her to enter the U.S. with her adoptive parents. Akin Gump is representing the couple pro bono in this matter.

Said Schulman, “Right before they were ready to go, the Turkish government said Sofia could not leave the country. And there has been no explanation for why that decision was made.”

The child was born to a non-Turkish couple who did not register her birth in their home country.

Schulman noted, “Sofia is not a citizen of any country right now, so she has no passport to get on an airplane. She has never been allowed to leave the country. But the DS-232 [issued by the State Dept.] should allow her to come to the U.S.”

“The Turkish government really has no interest in keeping a 4-year-old in Turkey, especially a child who is not a Turkish citizen and has been granted a visa by the U.S. State Department.”