Thread: Idahoans arrested with Haiti children

Idahoans arrested with Haiti children

American citizens pose for a photo
at police headquarters Saturday in the
international airport of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Ten Americans were detained by Haitian police
as they tried to bus 33 children across the border
into the Dominican Republic, allegedly without proper
documents. In the front row
from left to right are Carla Thompson, 53, of Meridian,
Laura Silsby, 40, of Boise, Nicole Lankford, 18, of Middleton;
back row from left, Steve McMullen, 56, of Twin Falls,
Jim Allen, 47, of Amarillo, Texas, Silas Thompson, 19,
of Twin Falls, Paul Thompson, 43, hometown unknown,
and Drew Culborth, 34, of Topeka, Kan.

Haitian police detained 10 Americans — five from Southwest Idaho — Saturday on suspicion of trying to take children out of the country without proper papers amid the chaos after the Jan. 12 earthquake.

The Americans were taken into custody with about 33 children while trying to reach the Dominican Republic, said Communications Minister Marie-Laurence Jocelyn Lassegue.

The group's leader, Laura Silsby, spoke with reporters at the judicial police headquarters in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, where the Americans were being held pending a Monday hearing before a judge.

"In this chaos the government is in right now we were just trying to do the right thing," she said.

Silsby, 40, of Boise, was asked if she didn't consider it naive to cross the border without adoption papers at a time when Haitians are so concerned about child trafficking.

"By no means are we any part of that. That's exactly what we are trying to combat," she said.

The 10 Americans include members of the Central Valley Baptist Church in Meridian and the East Side Baptist Church in Twin Falls, as well as people from Texas and Kansas. Idaho friends and relatives have been in touch with them through text messages and phone calls, Meridian resident Sean Lankford said.

Kuna man's daughter held

Mel Coulter of Kuna said he was able to communicate with his daughter Charisa via text message for about 20 minutes while she was in jail Saturday. Her last message said "something to the effect of 'Gotta go. I've got to give up the phone,'" Coulter told the Idaho Press-Tribune Saturday.

Coulter said the group thought they had finished the necessary paperwork and documentation to take children to an orphanage they were establishing in the Dominican Republic. He said they were stopped by Haitian border officials and sent back to Port-au-Prince Friday night, before being arrested Saturday when they tried to finish the paperwork.

"I understand the concern of Haitian officials about child trafficking," Coulter said. "Natural disasters can bring out the worst in people. They can also bring out the best in people."

He said his daughter and her group "thought they were in the right place doing the right thing." He added that their efforts to establish an orphanage predated the earthquake.

Lankford's wife and 18-year-old daughter were also being held.

"There are allegations of child trafficking, and that really couldn't be farther from the truth," Lankford told The Associated Press. "They were going to get the medical attention they needed. They were going to get the clothes and the food and the love they need to be healthy and to start recovering from the tragedy that just happened."

Federal confirmation

State Department officials confirmed that U.S. citizens were arrested while applying to enter the Dominican Republic with a group of children. The U.S. Embassy in Haiti sent consular officials, who met with the detained Americans and gave them bug spray and MREs (meals ready to eat), according to Lankford.

Social Affairs Minister Yves Cristallin told reporters the Americans were suspected of taking part in an illegal adoption scheme. Cristallin said the 33 children were lodged late Saturday at an SOS Children's Village outside of Port-au-Prince. SOS Children's Villages is a global nonprofit based in Austria.

The Americans are the first known to be taken into custody since the Jan. 12 earthquake.

Haiti has imposed new controls on adoptions since the Jan. 12 earthquake. The government now requires Prime Minister Max Bellerive to personally authorize the departure of any child as a way to prevent child trafficking.

Officials estimate that thousands of kids have been separated from their parents or orphaned by the earthquake.

"Their intent is to reach out to children and orphans and reach out to the hopeless," Coulter said of his daughter and the group. "They felt called to do this."

Silsby, the group leader from Boise, said members had documents from the Dominican government, but did not seek any paperwork from the Haitian authorities before taking 33 children from 2 months old to 12 years old to the border, where Haitian police stopped them Friday evening. She said the children were brought to her by distant relatives, and that the only ones to be put up for adoption would be those without close family to care for them.

"Of course I'm concerned for my wife and my daughter," Lankford added. "They were hoping to make a difference and be able to help those kids."

The group described their plans on a Web site where they also asked for tax-deductible contributions, saying they would "gather" 100 orphans and bus them to the Dominican resort of Cabarete before building a more permanent orphanage in the Dominican town of Magante.

"Given the urgent needs from this earthquake, God has laid upon our hearts the need to go now versus waiting until the permanent facility is built," the group wrote.

More: I wonder...

Haitian officials fear human trafficking and the selling of organs after earthquake

Originally Posted by Poor Richard

I guess some of the Haitian lawless savages don't want their picture taken.

With such obvious negative connotations, it would serve these ninny whites, and their assorted 'missions from god' to rethink these matters, carefully; those in this nation, young white males and females, who live in the 'cities' of this nation, would be better served by these 'wholesome' americans, by adopting our own, those who live a daily life of trauma and horror.

This racial hypocrisy will end, and not the way these hypocrite 'doo-gooders' think.

Originally Posted by jgun

I would be interested in learning what went on in these churches to motivate their members to perform illegal acts. If someone "adopts" a haitian child, they are by definition committed to a racially diverse society. Such manipulation of their members seems odd. I wonder if it would be possible to identify the pastors and listen to what there explantation of this conduct is.

Good points:

Maybe they belong to a Cult...a Multi-cult.