A Listener's Note. Please be aware this episode includes graphic descriptions of traumatic

events such as sexual abuse and violence. Please practice self-care before listening.

Who is to choose somebody's life and their fate to say, hey, you get to be a citizen

just because you're a little bit younger. You're a little bit older so you don't get to

be a citizen. You get kicked out. You know, you go through all the process of being in jail

and, you know, being dehumanized, you know, just because you're a little bit older. That's

crazy to me.

This is Uneurased, the deportation of adoptees in America, a podcast co-produced by focused

features and tree-fort media in support of the film, Blue Bayou. I'm your host, Dino

Ray Ramos, founder and editor of diaspora. In this five-part series, we're hearing real

stories from men and women who were internationally adopted by Americans and spent their entire

lives completely unaware that they were not American citizens themselves, until they

were sent away. This is a heartbreaking reality that affects more than 35,000 adult adoptees

in the United States. And yet, the majority of Americans have no idea this crisis is happening

for so many. Their stories deserve to be heard. This is Susan Williams' story, in her own

words.

I was born here in Korea in 1982. I don't have any like good childhood memories here. My dad,

my real dad, biological father. He was very abusive, archaolic. So I remember just,

you know, my real mom always, I'm not happy, you know. I just don't remember the atmosphere

being safe or just loving any of that, you know. I just remember like my dad being strong

or my mom getting beat up and then always leaving on the move here to here. My mom would

like leave and then come back. We even come back, you know, because of my dad and then

...