Series of mishaps keeps orphaned Haitian girl from joining adoptive parents in Cana

mobrouser

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Jan 1, 2002
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Vaden Earle first met Mari-Thérèse Pierre, a Haitian refugee, in the Dominican Republic in 2005 when he was on a humanitarian mission with a youth group he founded in Canada.

The Hamilton man would see the woman with her newborn child, Widlene, scavenging for food around a giant dump site near Puerto Plata and would often chat with her.

One day in 2009, the mother and girl disappeared, and he learned that Pierre had died and the child was sent back to Haiti to live with a relative. Worried about the well-being of the girl, Earle and his wife set out to find her. They eventually tracked her down in Haiti and have been her primary care providers ever since.


Full article here:
Series of mishaps keeps orphaned Dominican girl from joining adoptive parents in Canada
 

windeguy

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Jul 10, 2004
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Sounds like there has yet to be an actual adoption from the article. I would imagine it is next to impossible to sponsor a child if you are not a parent or legal guardian. Could that be the reason for the child not being allowed into Canada?

A very unfortunate situation. Is there more to it than that?
 

mobrouser

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"He and his wife, who have no children of their own, applied to Haitian authorities for Widlene’s guardianship in order to bring the girl home to formalize the adoption in Canada. They completed a government assessment in Ontario of their skills and talents as potential parents.

Then the 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Port-au-Prince in January 2010, causing widespread devastation — and destroying all the documents necessary for Widlene’s adoption, including proof of her mother’s death and the signed consent of her biological father, whose whereabouts are still unknown.

The couple then attempted to carry out the adoption in Haiti, but in 2013, the Haitian government suddenly put a moratorium on international adoptions."
 

windeguy

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Then they apparently have no legal right to bring the girl into Canada. Not mishaps, but laws keeping this from happening. Haiti is preventing the adoption. How could Canada allow them to bring the girl there?
 

windeguy

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Since the child is not legally in the DR, and they have no legal documents stating the child is legally theirs, there is a fear of being rounded up in sweep by Migracion. And if you read the news you have seen that these sweeps for illegal immigrants, as promised by the government, continue to happen on a regular basis with thousands being deported every month.

The only solution I see for them to be together without living in constant fear is to relocate to Haiti.
 

obiuno

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Correct, that's the first thing that anyone who's paying attention notice. He has not adopted this child, he is not her legal guardian as this term is actually understood. And yet, he wants to take her to Canada.
 

obiuno

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The guy at the center of the story is clearly not telling the truth. There are three other articles that have been published in Canada regarding his case just this month:

http://www.680news.com/2017/08/04/stateless-girl-12-stranded-dominican-republic/

http://globalnews.ca/news/3650375/widlene-earle-canada-adoption-case/

If you have the time and read it you will see how his story changes. He claims that he tried to adopt in Haiti, but the earthquake in 2010 killed the case worker and destroyed all documents regarding the adoption. He said:

“We didn’t just lose our paperwork, our proof of adoption and her ID,” says Earle. “Our case workers were all killed in the quake. The whole Child and Family Services department was wiped out.”

Okay, so he didn't keep any copy of the paperwork? He gave ALL the paperwork to the Haitian government and didn't keep a copy of it? I live in the USA and I even when dealing with the DMV I keep all my paperwork. But this guy claims that he wants to adopt this child and does not keep copy of important paperwork?

He also mentions "her ID", which is very important since he claims that she's stateless. If she had some ID then she clearly isn't.
 

obiuno

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I looked into adoption In Haiti and the DR before I lived here and it was clear that it is extremely difficult even with the kid having a passport etc of dr or Haiti. 
 I personally don't think it will happen, do it an illegal way and maybe it could. 

I don't think that even illegally as this is a question of the rights of small countries to have their laws respected. If this guy shows up in Canada with that child he will have to present valid paperwork that he is her legal guardian. He clearly doesn't have any, so where would that leave him?
 

windeguy

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I don't think that even illegally as this is a question of the rights of small countries to have their laws respected. If this guy shows up in Canada with that child he will have to present valid paperwork that he is her legal guardian. He clearly doesn't have any, so where would that leave him?

It leaves him without any way to bring this girl to Canada without Canada making a special exception for her. What is the legal precedent for that? He says:

“We have to leave here. There’s no point in staying,” says Earle. “It’s not a matter of if she’s going to be picked up by immigration officials. It’s when.”

Looks like he might be moving to Haiti.
 

mobrouser

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.......He also mentions "her ID", which is very important since he claims that she's stateless. If she had some ID then she clearly isn't.

She had ID prior to the earthquake. It's not clear if it was also destroyed in the quake but even if it hadn't been it was revoked by Haiti.

In 2015 the family encountered yet another hurdle when a new law was enacted that revoked Haitian citizenship for anyone born outside Haiti, even to Haitian parents.

Earle said Widlene subsequently had her Haitian passport and citizenship stripped, and became stateless in the Dominican Republic, because that country does not grant citizenship by birth on its soil.
 

windeguy

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She had ID prior to the earthquake. It's not clear if it was also destroyed in the quake but even if it hadn't been it was revoked by Haiti.

Hmm.

In 2015 the family encountered yet another hurdle when a new law was enacted that revoked Haitian citizenship for anyone born outside Haiti, even to Haitian parents.

Sounds like Haiti does not want those "extra" people. Where is the world outrage against Haiti for not granting jus sanguinis?

Earle said Widlene subsequently had her Haitian passport and citizenship stripped, and became stateless in the Dominican Republic, because that country does not grant citizenship by birth on its soil.

Only 30 of 196 countries grant jus solis. Jus solis is the exception rather than the rule.
 

obiuno

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She had ID prior to the earthquake. It's not clear if it was also destroyed in the quake but even if it hadn't been it was revoked by Haiti.
 




That what he's claiming, but is that believable?  Did the earthquake destroyed his copies of these documents as well?  Supposedly we're talking about his efforts to adopt this child and he's basically saying that he handed over ALL paperwork to the Haitian government and didn't keep a single copy?  




He's either very incompetent or he's lying.  Which one is it?  Then he said that a law in Haiti revoked citizenship for anyone born in that country.  Have any of you heard or read of any such laws in Haiti?  




Earle said Widlene subsequently had her Haitian passport and citizenship stripped, and became stateless in the Dominican Republic...




I assumed that this is the passport that was destroyed in the earthquake, but anyway: if such documents existed then the girl's legal guardian could have applied for amnesty in the D.R., the same way over 200,000 undocumented Haitians did.  




My guess is that since he's not her legal guardian he couldn't do that and did not contact or couldn't contact her actual legal guardian to do it.  There are simply too many holes in his account. 
 

obiuno

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"It leaves him without any way to bring this girl to Canada without Canada making a special exception for her. What is the legal precedent for that?"
 The only way that Canada would do such a thing was if there was a gross violation of human rights. The biggest danger for this girl right now is to be pick up and deported, and is not even clear if she faces that. 
Let's assume for the sake of argument that she's at risk of deportation; she's not the only one and if those were grounds for admission into Canada then there's a long list of people in the D.R. that would like to head to Canada as well.
And there's the small detail that he's not her legal guardian...
 

user123

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If you are going to slander someone, then you need to post your complete contact details.

Full name and contact details in the post.
 
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Bla123

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The sad part, that will manifest much later down the road, is that the girl was taken away from her family. A mother is not the only one who cares for a child, especially in Haitian culture. They could of supported her schooling, food, etc while also keeping her with her natural family. imo
 

obiuno

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The sad part, that will manifest much later down the road, is that the girl was taken away from her family. A mother is not the only one who cares for a child, especially in Haitian culture. They could of supported her schooling, food, etc while also keeping her with her natural family. imo

That's the thing that bugs me; this guy wrote in his blog that the girl grandmother asked him to take her in, but in this story he said he tracked her down in Haiti and got permission from her father. Which is it? I mean, if the latter is true then he's actually admitting to human trafficking. Even if your intentions are pure, you can't break the law that way.
 

obiuno

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"Maybe I will email The Star to let them know they have been duped into giving this guy publicity. Not sure if the mods for legal reasons are gonna delete this post but this is the truth.

You'll be wasting your time; any journalist worthy of his/her name would have spotted the inconsistencies in his account from a mile away. Instead they just wrote what he told them; why don't you contact the local authorities? Or maybe the Dominican equivalent of child protection services (CONANI).