INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL: PRIVILEGE OR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT?
IV. CHILD ABDUCTION/PARENTAL KIDNAPPING
One of the main problems for the United States, in my opinion, is the loss of underage citizens as a result of child abduction and parental kidnapping. Every day, children in the United States are wrongfully removed from the United States or retained outside of the United States in violation of parental rights. In 1993, Congress passed the International Parental Kidnapping Crime Act (“IPKCA”), which created a federal, international kidnapping offense codified at Title 18, United States Code, Section 1204. Section 1204 makes it a federal crime for a parent or other individual to remove or attempt to remove a child from the United States or retain a child outside the United States intending to obstruct another person’s custodial rights. International parental kidnapping can have serious emotional, psychological, and physical consequences for the abducted child.
Some lawyers know that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in coordination with the U.S. Department of State and other federal agencies, has established a program that seeks to prevent the departure of a child from the United States when presented with a valid, enforceable court order which prohibits the child’s removal from the United States . However, it is common for the removal of a child to occur during a heated or emotional marital dispute, in the early stages of separation or divorce, or during the waiting period for a court custody order or agreement, i.e., without a valid, enforceable court order. The parent abducting the child can reach the international airport much faster than the other parent can reach the court and receive a restraining order. Therefore, many children are unprotected from abduction.
In most cases, the court decision is made after the child has already been abducted. In the case of A. v G. , the Court found that there would be immediate and irreparable harm done to the child should the application for sole legal and residential custody of the minor not be granted. The court granted this request to the Plaintiff-Father without prejudice to the rights of the Defendant-Mother. Judge Patrick Bartels said: “The minor shall be returned to the United States within 48 hours of receipt of this order and immediately placed into the custody of the Plaintiff-Father. The police or law enforcement authorities shall use all reasonable means necessary to carry out the provisions of this order. The court will relist this matter to ascertain if the minor has been returned to the United States and to address parenting time for the Defendant-Mother.” However, this child never returned to the US.
Thousands of parents have lost their children without a chance of ever seeing them again. Some of them received a visitation order in the country that they were taken to, but most never saw their children again. Here are just ten of hundreds of stories from my legal practice over the past 20 years.