Due to adoption delays brought on by gang violence and upheaval in Haiti, a Plano family is hoping to bring their 6-year-old daughter home soon.
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One Plano family is celebrating the holidays with one less child after efforts to bring their 6-year-old daughter home from Haiti have been unsuccessful.
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Several members of Congress have written the Secretary of State and the Department of Homeland Security asking for “humanitarian parole” of approximately 70 kids in Haiti.
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The Caribbean nation has seen escalating gang violence after the 2021 death of the country’s president during a coup attempt.
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One Plano family is celebrating the holidays with one less child after efforts to bring their 6-year-old daughter home from Haiti have been unsuccessful.
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Several members of Congress have written the Secretary of State and the Department of Homeland Security asking for “humanitarian parole” of approximately 70 kids in Haiti.
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The Caribbean nation has seen escalating gang violence after the 2021 death of the country’s president during a coup attempt.
PLANO, Texas:One Planofamily found that the excitement of Christmas was tinged with melancholy because the gifts under the tree had not yet been opened.
With lots of presents for their three biological children beneath the tree, the Smith family had a lovely Christmas.
However, some gifts were left for their fourth child, who hasn’t arrived home, after those were unwrapped.
What We Know In February, gangs began to take over Port-Au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, while Jordan and Kathleen Smith were in the process of adopting a 6-year-old girl named Esther.
Over the past nine months, a number of congressional representatives have signed letters to the Secretary of Homeland Security and the U.S. Secretary of State requesting “humanitarian parole,” but Esther and about 70 other children are still in Haiti.
What They’re Saying: Kathleen Smith claims that she wants Esther to return home because she is concerned about her safety.
“We’re more worried about her safety and the other kids’ safety,” Smith stated. “And yes, that would have been a special, special Christmas, but we just want her home.”
Michelle Reed is in a similar predicament and resides in Florida.
“I have adopted two little boys from Haiti in 2022, and I’m adopting their biological brother,” Reed stated.
However, 6-year-old Esai is still in Haiti, where gang violence is getting worse, for the time being.
According to Reed, “It’s still escalating,” “It continues to worsen. Children are now being enlisted in gangs.
With no apparent government solution in sight, Reed, the Smiths, and other American families are desperate to get their children out of Haiti due to the escalation.
The other kids at the Smiths have requested that the Christmas tree be left up until Esther gets home.
Background: Following the death of the country’s president in a coup attempt in 2021, gang violence in Haiti has gotten worse.
The Caribbean nation, which is currently run by a transitional council, has had difficulty holding an election that would reinstate democratic governance.
Gang members broke into the general hospital on Tuesday and opened fire on reporters covering the facility’s reopening, killing two journalists and a police officer.
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Alex Boyer of Fox 4 conducted interviews that provided the information for this report.
Alex Boyer of Fox 4 conducted interviews that provided the information for this report.
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