Gerardo Serrano was ordered to pay child support by a Polish court, and the state of Illinois has frozen his bank account and seized funds to turn over his son’s mother, despite the fact that Cook County found her to have “unlawfully removed” the child from America some ten years ago.
This is an interesting case, because the Hague Convention, which I believe Poland is party to, provides for the return of children abducted from their country of residence. However, the state of Illinois apparently cares more about Polish child support orders than international law, and will seize Americans’ property to enforce them.
What is most telling is that Mr. Serrano has been found to be the custodial parent by a US court, but the state of Illinois is enforcing a foreign government’s contradictory order anyway. For those who care about sovereignty, this may be an issue worth looking into.
