Families pursuing international adoptions need clarity over a Trump administration policy that has left them uncertain of their ability to bring their children home, according to the head of a large Christian adoption agency.
President Donald Trump has championed intercountry adoption, but recent actions from his administration send “a different message,” according to Herbie Newell, president and executive director of Lifeline Children’s Services.
In January, a new presidential proclamation aimed to bolster national security by limiting entry of foreign nationals into the United States. The proclamation suspended or limited entry and visa issuance to nationals of 39 countries, including Haiti, Nigeria, and Sudan.
Trump issued about half a dozen proclamations restricting visas from certain countries during his first administration and issued a visa restriction in June 2025 that included an adoption visa exemption.
However, his latest proclamation removed the adoption visa exemption altogether.
Presidential Proclamation 10998, which took effect Jan. 1, ends the categorical exceptions for “immediate family immigrant visas (IR-1/CR-1, IR-2/CR-2, IR-5); adoption visas (IR-3, IR-4, IH-3, IH-4); and Afghan Special Immigrant Visas,” according to the U.S. State Department.
The State Department clarified that “[c]hildren being adopted by Americans can qualify for an exception,” and encouraged families to “continue the normal adoption process.”
However, Newell says that the new policy stands to discourage families who might already be overwhelmed by the adoption process.
The central change, as Newell explained, is that before the new proclamation, families applied for their adoptive child’s visa while they were at home in the United States, giving them greater peace of mind that they would be able to bring their child home when they traveled to pick them up.
Now, under the new State Department policy, families apply for their child’s visa at the U.S. consulate in the country to which they are traveling to retrieve their child.
“You take families who are already a little shaky about international adoption after COVID, and now you add an element of: our visa is going to be adjudicated on site in the country of origin while we finalize the adoption of our child,” Newell explained.
While Newell says there has not been an instance in which a child’s visa has been denied, the concern is what might happen if such an instance were to occur.
In some countries, you do not go to the consulate to apply for the visa until the adoption is finalized, he explained, questioning, “what would happen if a child doesn’t get their visa approved, but yet they are now the legal child of this family?”
Newell says he has no answer for families when they ask him that question, because he says there is no clear guidance.
“I’ve asked people in [the] administration, I’ve asked the people at the Department of State, I’ve asked people on Capitol Hill—no one knows why that [adoption visa exemption] was taken away,” Newell said.
Newell, who has previously praised the Trump administration for its work on the issue of foster care and adoption, says he would like the White House to clarify that adoption is not getting “lumped in with the other immigration issues,” and to instead “champion” intercountry adoption.
The State Department did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.
A White House official told The Daily Signal, “The Trump administration recognizes the importance of adoptions and has always been eager to support the process.
“Because of that, adoptions are eligible for the national interest exceptions—which were part of the executive order from the day that it was signed.”
“Last month, the Trump administration issued additional consular guidance confirming that consular officers should treat adoptions as eligible for the national interest exceptions,” the official continued.
“American families should continue through the normal adoption process and do not need to take any additional steps to be considered. The Trump administration hopes to see a quick resolution to any potential confusion.”
To prevent the “potential confusion,” Newell is asking the Trump administration to reinstate the exemption for adoption visas so families can travel to pick up their children without any fear of being prevented from bringing their son or daughter home.
