The California Is Home Campaign is an initiative led by Alliance For Adoptee Citizenship, Adoptees For Justice, Ahri Center, and NAKASEC.

Our mission is to secure Governor Newsom's pardons for two international adoptees, Judy Van Arsdale and Emily Warnecke, enabling them to obtain their rightful U.S. citizenship and access critical benefits they desperately need.

Since the end of World War II, over 500,000 individuals have been adopted from abroad into the United States. Contrary to popular belief, citizenship was not automatically granted with adoption. There was a significant lack of oversight by the U.S. government, sending countries, and adoption agencies to ensure citizenship for intercountry adoptees.

The issue of adoptees without citizenship is uniquely American. In contrast, other receiving countries, including those in Europe and Australia, automatically granted citizenship upon adoption finalization. The U.S. attempted to address this issue with the Child Citizenship Act (CCA) of 2000, which granted automatic citizenship to adoptees born on or after February 27, 1983, or who were under 18 at the time of its passage. However, this arbitrary cut-off date excluded adoptees from earlier generations.

Tens of thousands of adult intercountry adoptees remain without citizenship. Many of these individuals, despite being legally adopted by U.S. citizen parents, have faced deportation to their birth countries. This is a grave injustice that the California Is Home Campaign seeks to rectify.

Our campaign focuses on the stories of Judy Van Arsdale and Emily Warnecke, who represent the broader struggle faced by many adoptees. By securing pardons for Judy and Emily, we aim to highlight the urgent need to protect all adoptees from the threat of deportation and ensure they receive the citizenship they were promised.

Join us in advocating for Judy and Emily and in calling for broader systemic changes to prevent future injustices. Together, we can make California a true home for all its residents, regardless of their adoption history.