On May 21, 2017, Philip Clay, a 42-year old Korean adoptee, ended his own life i n Seoul, Korea. Adopted to the U.S. at the age of eight but not naturalized, Clay was deported to Korea in 2012 never to return “home.” In the United States, many adoptees like Philip Clay are in a precarious position of noncitizens and in constant fear of deportation even for minor criminal convictions. Once deported, they find themselves in a strange country whose language and culture they do not know. Clay’s case sheds light on transnational adoption as a form of child migration, the importance of documentation for child migrants, and their quest for citizenship. Taking his case as a starting point, this essay exposes the vulnerability of Asian child migrants?Korean adoptees, in p articular?in the U.S. immigration system and discusses their rights in the age of globalization and transnational mobility. Adding to the previous studies on transnational adoptees that highlight their identity formation and lived experiences, this essay emphasizes the continuing significance of nation-states in defining citizenship and examines various challenges posed by the mobility of children across and within borders.