Haitian lawyer for jailed US missionaries fired

Sorry, folks, I know these people thought they were doing good, but aren't we all a little tired of right-wing religious groups making decisions about laws which are outside their purview?

These same people are the ones who might think George Tillerman's murderer is a hero. They go to 'tea bagger' rallies with pictures of dead Dachau victims to make a point (who knows which one) about health care. They put bumper stickers like this on their cars:

"Let his days be few; and let another take his office. Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.

What dumbasses!!!!

You can't go to another country and abduct children! And you can't bring undocumented people into America! These people have to be simpletons if they believed they could get away with either of these illegal acts.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

They are totally in the wrong, and they deserved to be punished---I am so tired of these people taking it on themselves to "save the world""

If what they did was in "good faith", they would have sought some sort of permission. There is no doubt they knew what they were doing was illegal. I believe they went into chaos hoping no one would notice. It will be interesting to find out what they told the children to get them to go along. What scumbags to take advantage of this horrible situation. On the other hand, we have all come to know that Baptists seem to think that no one but they understands God's Word. So, maybe it was in a misguided faith, caused by the Right Wing's determination to keep people stupid and thus, easier for the wolves to herd.

In truth I doubt the group had ill intentions towards the children...they just weren't bright neough to figure out that even if one country gave permission to bring the children in, the country they were removing the kids from might of, sort of ,would have liked to have a say in the matter.

In other words, as already stated, a group can't walk into a country, round up children, and then remove them from their country without the proper documentation. Even if Haitian parents were letting their kifds go, word of mouth and "they gave me this child to care for" is NOT going to get them out of the country with anyone without going through the proper channels.

A message needs to be sent to church groups on this, however, if this group is brought back to the states for prosecution, I don't see a major sentence here. A hefty fine (to be donated back to Haiti....my idea) and time served will probably be the decision.

Now, on that note, if however, it came out or was determined that the group knew they were doing something illegal or had less than sterling intentions in regards to the children, then yes, they need to be prosecuted accordingly.

There is nothing worse than do-gooders! At least bad people are honest about their wrong doings. These sanctimonious types make me sick! It's too bad the Hatian jail probably crumbled because that's where the lot of them belong!

I think that they, like so many others, got so wrapped up in patting themselves on the back for doing volunteer/rescue work that they ignored common sense, the law, and the people they were trying to help. We saw a lot of that here after Katrina; well intentioned people but stepped on toes anyways.

We certainly dislike these missionaries, don't we.

There is "no doubt" these "scumbags" and "do gooders" knew what they were doing was illegal but hoped to sneak the stolen kids out of the country anyway. Man, are we quick to judge guilt on the basis of skimpy evidence. Not even the Haitian government has gone that far.

What's really surprising is that the Haitian government, to the extent that there is one, is unable to organize the distribution of food and other sorts of material aid, yet is efficient enough to arrest and jail a dozen do-gooders from Idaho trying to get some kids into an orphanage in the country next door.

I can easily imagine at least some of these scumbag do-gooders winging their way down from Idaho, getting the proper papers from the Dom Rep, and thinking that was enough, not knowing much about paperwork, permits, and bribes in a third-world country. I can imagine at least some of these stupid do-gooders thinking, well, France has accepted hundreds of these kids, the Dom Rep has twice the area and one half the population of Haiti, and this is, after all, an emergency, and their village is "devastated".

But some of us are "sure" of their guilt, even hinting that maybe they were being taken into Dom Rep to become slaves. So easy to find enemies who should be punished, isn't it?

I feel very bad for the 18 year old girl that is in the group with her mother and is now rotting in a Haitian jail cell.

I wonder what kind of father would think it safe to send their daughter to Haiti during all the chaos in the aftermath of the earthquake. Of course, the mother also is of questionable judgement seeing as she is sitting in the jail too.

Even before the earthquake I have heard that Haiti is not the safest place for a person to be.

Hopefully she will be able to return home safe and sound without too much long lasting mental trauma.

Once again the media has put a slant to this story to make the jailed missionaries look at best like they were attempting to circumvent Haitian laws and at worst like child smugglers. Do a little research and look at the recent history of the Haitian government, one of the most corrupt governments on the planet. The country is riddled with poverty and disease and a government that is only interested in padding it's own pocket with monies that should be spent trying to help the people of Haiti. It is very possible and highly probable that the paperwork was in order but that the border guards saw this as an opportunity to exploit the workers for money. There are conflicting reports that they were told the paperwork was complete and then the rules were changed. Instead of allowing them the opportunity to retrieve the additional document they were arrested. It is very common in Haiti and other impoverished countries for parents to allow their children to be taken to an area where they will be provided food, medication and education. These workers spent thousands of dollars of their own money to buy medicine, diapers, toys, clothing, etc., they may have been naive but they were there to help, not to spread their doctrine or smuggle children into slavery. Really people, do some research and use some common sense, these could be your neighbors and do not deserve to be vilified by any of us without knowing all the facts.