Out of the Fog
25 comments
·April 21, 2025jonhohle
jonhohle
> Conservative opponents categorize it as an undesirable “immigration bill” and demand that adopted people with criminal records and the many dozen adoptees who have already been deported be excluded from the bill.
I’d also like to see a source for this claim. In the house there are 13 republican co-sponsors for the Adoptee Citizenship Act (including my rep). My personal experience is that adoptive parents are overwhelmingly conservative.
trwhite
Scroll down for the content: https://archive.ph/aD9os
thimkerbell
"Out of the Fog" is about the experience of "war babies" and other Asians adopted into the U.S., as they have grown to adulthood.
randfish
Just wanted to say thanks for the submission. I never would have found this story otherwise, and it's both a powerful read and especially relevant to a close friend—she was one of the airlifted/trafficked babies and has never been able to find her birth parents.
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ChrisArchitect
Title: The rescued Vietnamese infants of Operation Babylift have grown up
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thimkerbell
[flagged]
camillomiller
While I appreciate the story, I am honestly confused by The Verge's editorial choices in running a series of articles like this one. I understand it's been 50 years after the end of the American War in Vietnam, but what does it remotely have to do with tech?
Why are they publishing this story/these stories? How is it on-brand? Again don't get me wrong. It's great that someone's doing it but... It just feels... wrong from an editorial product management perspective.
tikhonj
Two possibilities:
1. They're consciously trying to expand their brand and topics. Maybe it's a way to grow a broader audience or move "upscale" or something along those lines.
2. Somebody really wanted to do this, and the organization just ran with it.
Both are respectable options. I'd actually respect them more if it's option 2—building an organization to give enthusiastic people the space to do what they care about is one of the best ways to produce great, creative work. We need more places that are willing to do high quality things just because.
shadowfacts
The Verge has been publishing non-tech related stories for ages. Technology still seems to be their main focus, but this isn't new.
notatoad
the verge has always identified themselves as reporting on the intersection of tech and culture. sometimes that swings more towards culture than tech, but this feels completely outside technology.
rdtsc
They are doing an American War series https://www.theverge.com/cs/features/650505/vietnam-war-fall...
The editors are Kevin Nguyen and Sarah Jeong. I guess the have various other staffers like Camille Bromley do certain articles.
deepcurryshit
Cashing in on the current anti-conservative trend?
schnable
Maybe its related to their move to a subscription model somehow.
webdoodle
Or the writer(s) have personal experience with it, and the editor lets his writers write about what they are passionate about.
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cenobyte
[flagged]
> the beneficent embrace of the American family was always conditional
My heart breaks for anyone brought to the US who weren’t given citizenship. I’m well aware of families who didn’t know there were additional steps to perform and often wonder what agencies failed their due diligence in guiding them through that process. Enough people screwed up that it seems absurd to deny citizenship to those who would otherwise have it.
My representative is adopted and has adopted and he’ll be receiving a letter encouraging his support of allowing citizenship for these adoptees that missed it through no fault of their own.
That said, as an adoptive parent this is a common trope - ignore the millions of successful adoptions to focus on those that are horrific. Cast parents as baby smugglers with fiendish intent. I’m sure those people exist, but as a parent in this community for almost 14 years, I’ve met untold families excited to provide for the needs of a child who has already experienced significant trauma. No adoption exists without loss. We can, at best, try to mend what’s already been done.
Fortunately, for us, the process for citizenship was laid out - also complicated and nerve racking. There were no conditions (except for us as parents and sponsors).
My love for my children is unconditional.