林赛·怀特赫斯特（Lindsay Whitehurst）、克莱尔·加洛法罗·华盛顿（Claire Galofaro Washington）——周一，美国最高法院拒绝受理这起涉及一名在美军突袭中成为孤儿的阿富汗儿童的收养纠纷案件的上诉。
LINDSAY WHITEHURST, CLAIRE GALOFARO WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court declined Monday to hear an appeal in a disputed adoption case involving an Afghan child orphaned in a U.S. Army raid.
在该案件中，这名儿童的亲属向最高法院提出上诉，原因是曾协助他们从阿富汗撤离的一名美国海军陆战队员夺走了该女孩的抚养权，尽管美国国务院曾努力促成她与阿富汗家庭的团聚。
The child’s relatives appealed to the high court after a U.S. Marine who helped evacuate them from Afghanistan took custody of the girl despite State Department efforts to reunite her with her Afghan family.
2022年美联社关于此案的报道引起了政府高层的关注，从塔利班到白宫都对此事表示关切。
A 2022 Associated Press report about the case raised alarms at the highest levels of government, from the Taliban to the White House.
该儿童的父母于2019年9月在美军游骑兵与阿富汗军队联合突袭一处乡村住宅时遇害。这名婴儿在废墟中被发现，并被送往喀布尔附近的巴格拉姆空军基地接受治疗。在那里，军事律师约书亚·马斯（Joshua Mast）与妻子决定收养她。
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 hospitalized at Bagram Air Base near Kabul, where military lawyer Joshua Mast decided with his wife to adopt her. But the State Department during President Donald Trump’s first administration worked with the Afghan government to track down surviving relatives, identified as a cousin and his wife.
然而，在唐纳德·特朗普总统执政期间，美国国务院曾与阿富汗政府合作，试图找到这名儿童的幸存亲属（最终确认其亲属为一位表亲及其妻子）。这对阿富汗夫妇抚养了这名女孩18个月，但在此期间，马斯夫妇未经他们同意，便从弗吉尼亚州法院获得了正式的收养许可。马斯夫妇坚称他们的行为是出于人道主义考虑，旨在为这名女孩提供一个充满爱的家庭。
The Afghan couple raised her for 18 months, but during that time the Masts also obtained a final adoption order from a Virginia court without notifying them. The Masts have insisted they acted honorably 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.
2021年，在美军从阿富汗撤军期间，约书亚·马斯协助这家人离开了阿富汗。抵达美国后，马斯将女孩带到了难民安置中心，尽管她的阿富汗亲属对此表示反对。
Once they were in the U.S., Mast took the child at a refugee resettlement center over her relatives’ objections. The Afghan couple went to court, asking judges to undo the adoption they said was deeply flawed from the start.
这对阿富汗夫妇随后向法院提起诉讼，称这起收养程序存在严重缺陷。弗吉尼亚州的下级法院支持他们的诉求，但该州最高法院却裁定支持马斯夫妇，理由是当地法律规定了六个月的收养程序时限。
Lower courts in Virginia agreed. But the state’s highest court decided in the Masts’ favor, citing a six-month deadline in state law.
他们的上诉得到了前美国驻阿富汗大使以及支持退伍军人和国际收养儿童的组织的支持。
Their Supreme Court appeal was backed by a former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan as well as groups that support veterans and international adoptees.
Masts 争辩称他们与该家庭没有亲属关系，并认为重新启动收养程序将对该女孩造成重大干扰，该女孩现在7岁，多年来一直与他们的家庭共同生活。加洛法罗从肯塔基州路易斯维尔报道。
The Masts dispute the family’s kinship and argue that reopening the adoption now would be a significant disruption for the girl, who is now 7 and has been living with their family for years. Galofaro reported from Louisville, Kentucky.