Public Radio for the Piedmont and High Country
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

NC congresswoman is urging U.S. to expedite adoptions of Ukrainian orphans

Ukrainian orphans are seen during a stopover in Warsaw as they are en route to the UK, in Warsaw, Poland, on Monday, March 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Pawel Kuczynski)

Representative Deborah Ross has sent a letter to the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security urging them to streamline the procedures for American families adopting orphans from war-torn Ukraine.

Ross, a Wake County Democrat, is asking that U.S. and Ukrainian officials work together in issuing expedited visas for Ukrainian children who have already begun the adoption process with U.S. families.

She has also requested that federal agencies allow families to attend adoption court at the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington, D.C. rather than making them travel to Ukraine.

Ross says that there are currently several hundred children who could be brought to the U.S. sooner rather than later.

"These are children, these 300 to 400, are children who already have a good amount of their paperwork done, and we would hate for them to be lost in the shuffle of war when they have loving families here in the United States," says Ross. 

She says the U.S. is working closely with adoption officials to protect against the possibility of child exploitation.

Ross says that since sending her letter, other lawmakers have taken up the issue, and she has high hopes it will be on President Biden's agenda during his European visit this week.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

Support quality journalism, like the story above,
with your gift right now.

Donate