Adopted Teen Blanca Catt 'Stuck' in Immigration Limbo

Aug. 11, 2010— -- An Oregon high school graduate who was adopted as a young girl has found that she is literally stuck because she entered the country illegally as a toddler and the agency who handled her adoption failed to conclude the paperwork that would have also made her a U.S. citizen.

Blanca Catt, 19, who lives in the Portland metropolitan area, can't get a driver's license, board a plane, train or bus, join the Navy, or get college financial aid because of her limbo legal status.

"My family's going to San Diego and I'm not allowed to come with them because they're flying," Blanca said.

"I graduated from a [high school] class of 23 students and I'm pretty much the only one that stayed home," she said. "It's hard to watch them leave and I'm still stuck."

Blanca was smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico when she was 3, but she ended up in foster care after her biological mother abused her. At age 8, she was adopted by Lisa Catt and her husband Darren, who are both U.S. citizens but are now divorced.

Blanca should have been granted legal residency at the time of her adoption, but Oregon's Department of Human Services failed to complete the necessary paperwork, Catt's lawyer claims.

"Had the agency told Blanca's adopted parents, 'this is what you need to do' upon adoption, they would have done it," attorney Mark Kramer told ABCNews.com.

Instead of having a driver's license, flying to San Diego, going to college or shipping off with the Navy, Blanca lives in fear of being deported to Mexico if she commits even a minor legal infraction.

"It's hard because I have to constantly be on edge," she said. "You can't get caught jay walking or anything as small or ridiculous as that."

As is the case for many undocumented immigrants who have grown up in the U.S., going back to Mexico would be like moving to a foreign country. She doesn't speak Spanish or know any of her family members there. Plus, she would have to stay in Mexico for 10 years before she could come back to the U.S. and become a citizen.

Adopted Teen Stuck in Legal Limbo

"I just don't know how she'd be able to survive," Lisa Catt said.

The bureaucratic snafu that has put Blanca in legal jeopardy could have easily been resolved at the time of her adoption 11 years ago.

Gene Evans, spokesperson for Oregon's DHS Child Welfare Division, would not comment on the specifics of Blanca's case.

But he told ABCNews.com that at the time when Blanca was adopted, the agency did not always pursue legal residency for adoptees. Evans said that the case worker and the family would have had a dialogue about who would initiate the paperwork, but it could be the parents or the state.

"It was an inconsistent policy," Evans said. Now, he said, the state always handles the paperwork to establish legal residency status.

Blanca's parents didn't find out about the mistake until it was too late to remedy easily. That moment came when Blanca was 17 and applied for a driver's license. To do so, she needed to prove her citizenship, so Lisa Catt initiated the process to get Blanca's name changed on her Social Security card to reflect her adopted last name.

Her attempt was unsuccessful. The government asked the Catts to fill out other forms to prove Blanca was a citizen and was entitled to a Social Security card, so Lisa Catt filled out more forms that would verify that Blanca was a citizen.

By summer of 2007, they were shocked by the response from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

"[They] said that her citizenship was denied," her mother said. "That's when I discovered that the state of Oregon hadn't gotten her any kind of legal status."

That realization changed Blanca's life.

"I never really got to grow up and experience everything around me," Blanca told ABCNews.com. "I didn't get to learn to drive when [my friends] were learning."

After graduating from Columbia Christian School in 2009, Blanca watched as other classmates headed off to college or started working. She could not go to college because, as an international student, she had to pay more, but without access to any of the financial aid provided by the government.

Adopted Immigrant Hopes Special Visa Solves Her Legal Status

Blanca also noted she can't get a job, join the Navy like she wants or qualify for federal loans and grants that would help pay for her to go to college.

She and mother are putting their hopes in a special visa.

Blanca has applied for a special "U" visa, which would allow her to stay in the U.S., work, and get a driver's license. The U visa is granted to immigrants who have been victims of crimes, for which Blanca would qualify because her birth mother abused her when she was a child.

This visa would enable Blanca to seek permanent residency status after three years and citizenship after an additional five years. For Blanca, it would still be a decade in a precarious situation.

"It's 10 years of uncertainty," she said.

"I think in this immigration climate, one who does not have documents, you have to be wary," Kramer said.

The Catts hope that when the government starts granting the next year's round of U visas on Oct. 1, Blanca receives one and can start the process of becoming a citizen.

"I'm optimistic, but I'm also worried that I won't get this visa," Blanca said. "I kind of want to start my life. I want to be able to go to school and work."