Florida-based Haitian American family reunites with adopted children from gang-controlled Port-au-Prince

ORLANDO, Fla. — After nearly four years of navigating Haiti’s fractured legal system, Haitian American couple Emmerson Philippe and Michelle Lake-Philippe are finally celebrating the homecoming of their two adopted children, Jade Sarah Mira and James Marcus Philippe.

The siblings, now ages 5 and 7, arrived safely in Miami via Cap-Haïtien on Oct. 11, ending a perilous ordeal that left them trapped in gang-controlled Port-au-Prince for months despite their adoption being legally finalized. Their arrival came weeks after a Sept. 16 report by The Haitian Times spotlighted their case — a story that prompted direct inquiries from officials who then contacted the families for more details and moved the children’s files forward. While it’s unclear to what extent the report influenced official decisions, families and their representatives said authorities referenced the coverage in subsequent conversations.

“We got our kids from Haiti yesterday, and they’re home in Vero Beach,” Michelle said through tears of joy a day after hugging her children for the first time since Sept. 2023. 

Sept. 2023 was her last visit to spend time with the kids in Port-au-Prince before security worsened further and the adoption process continued to be delayed.  “We are so happy and thankful they are here.”

Emmerson, who adopted his nephew and niece from Jérémie, the capital city of the Grand’Anse Department, had completed all legal and immigration requirements under the Hague Convention for intercountry adoption more than two years ago. Yet the children’s departure was repeatedly delayed by the lack of Haitian passports — documents that had been awaiting a single signature from the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (MICT, its French acronym) for months.

“The U.S. Embassy confirmed the children met all visa requirements,” Emmerson said in an earlier interview. “But until Haiti issued their passports, they couldn’t leave. Every day that passed increased the danger.”

Port-au-Prince, where the children were staying after completing medical exams for their U.S. visas, remains largely under gang control, with road travel nearly impossible. Despite their departure from Haiti being delayed over passport requirements, they could not return to the safer Jérémie region—about 280 miles southwest of the Haitian capital.

Amid the slow process, the couple said the children’s grandmother who cared for them died of a heart attack in 2023 during a gang incursion. The kids’ older sister was also kidnapped by gangs, intensifying their desperation to bring the children to safety.

“This was more than a bureaucratic delay,” Michelle said. “It was a matter of life and death.”

Official response amid systemic failure — and a rare success

After The Haitian Times contacted Pierre Canisius Guignard, director general of the Ministry of the Interior (MICT), on Sept. 15, he acknowledged that Jade and James’ passport files had been delayed due to missing paperwork. He said his office only signs authorization letters for passport issuance, not adoption approvals, but confirmed that he had gathered the necessary documents and forwarded the files to the Directorate of Immigration and Emigration (DIE) for processing. Guignard later followed up via WhatsApp after the Sept. 16 article was published, requesting additional details about the children. With the families’ permission, The Haitian Times provided him with the requested information, which he said helped locate the files. He then instructed DIE officials to expedite the issuance of the children’s passports, which were delivered on Sept. 24.

Officials at the DIE also responded quickly, issuing the passports and helping the children obtain their visas for U.S. entry.

The Philippes’ case, among dozens facing similar setbacks, underscores how fragile Haiti’s adoption system has become amid the state’s collapse. Despite millions of dollars invested in reforming child welfare systems after the 2010 earthquake, government institutions remain paralyzed by corruption, leadership turnover and insecurity.

Haiti has one of the most complex and lengthy international adoption systems in the Caribbean, governed by the Hague Convention since 2014. Decades of corruption, poor recordkeeping and weak child protection institutions have caused prolonged delays. Ongoing gang violence has worsened the situation, with major government offices often on lockdown.

International agencies estimate that hundreds of legally adopted children remain stranded in unsafe conditions due to bureaucratic paralysis.

Last year, The Haitian Times reported that 55 U.S. families had formed an advocacy group to pressure authorities in both Haiti and Washington to act. While about 60 children have since made it to the United States, several others remain stuck due to passport or court delays.

Wasatch International Adoptions (WIAA) still represents 17 of those American families, including the Philippes, Chereyl Moyes, a case manager at WIAA told The Haitian Times. As of last month, 23 Haitian adoptees from these families were still trapped in Port-au-Prince despite being fully adopted. 

“All the children’s adoptions are legally finalized, but bureaucratic delays and security risks are preventing their departure,” Moyes said.

She added that Haitian officials have, in past crises, waived passport requirements when violence or state collapse made processing impossible. “It can be done — they just won’t do it this time,” Moyes said.

Last week, Moyes was excited to see several files released from the MICT to the DIE. Besides the Florida couple’s two children, another family from the WIAA group also managed to bring their three adoptees out of Haiti. “Another one is leaving Port-au-Prince this week and four more will get home by the end of October, hopefully,” Moyes said joyfully.

Joy after heartbreak

Now home in Florida, Jade and James are settling into a new life surrounded by love, stability and safety for the first time in years. The family celebrated their reunion at Disney World last week, a symbolic gesture of new beginnings after years of anxiety and separation.

“Bringing them home means everything to us,” Michelle said. “They’re safe, happy, and finally where they belong.”

The Philippes said they remain committed to supporting reforms in Haiti’s adoption system so that other children — still waiting amid violence and bureaucracy — can have the same chance.

“We love Haiti — it’s our country, our culture,” Emmerson said. “But the system has to work for the children. Every day they wait is another day they risk their lives.”   

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