Supreme Court declines to hear disputed Afghan adoption appeal

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 19 Oct, 17:02 · Archive

The Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal in a disputed adoption case involving an Afghan child orphaned in a U.S. Army raid.

The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal in a disputed adoption case involving an Afghan child orphaned in a U.S. Army raid. The child's parents were killed in September 2019 when U.S. Army Rangers, along with Afghan forces, raided a rural compound. The baby was found in the rubble and hospitalised at Bagram Air Base near Kabul, where military lawyer Joshua Mast and his wife decided to adopt her.

The Afghan child's relatives, identified as a cousin and his wife, challenged the adoption. The State Department during President Donald Trump's first administration had worked with the Afghan government to track down surviving relatives, and the couple raised the child for 18 months. However, the Masts obtained a final adoption order from a Virginia court without notifying them. Lower Virginia courts agreed the adoption was deeply flawed, but the state's highest court decided in the Masts' favour, citing a six-month deadline in state law.

The Masts have insisted they acted honourably to save a child and give her a loving home. In 2021, Joshua Mast helped the family leave Afghanistan during the U.S. military's chaotic withdrawal from the country, and then took custody of the child at a refugee resettlement centre over her relatives' objections. A 2022 Associated Press report about the case raised alarms at the highest levels of government, from the Taliban to the White House.

How it is being reported

• Supreme Court declines to hear appeal in disputed Afghan adoption caseThe Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal in a disputed adoption case involving an Afghan child orphaned in a U.S. Army raid.News4Jax · 19 Oct, 16:21
• Supreme Court declines to hear appeal in disputed Afghan adoption caseThe Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal in a disputed adoption case involving an Afghan child orphaned in a U.S. Army raid.Clickorlando · 19 Oct, 16:21

In this story: Joshua Mast · Afghan relatives · U.S. Army Rangers · State Department · Supreme Court · Afghanistan · Virginia · Bagram Air Base

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