Sarahjane Ternier taken into custody Wednesday in Miami on 2000 deportation order; family faces new uncertainty as legal battles continue
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained Sarahjane Ternier, the longtime partner of former North Miami Mayor Philippe Bien-Aimé and mother of three of his children, this week in Miami.
According to ICE officials, Ternier was arrested on Wednesday based on a final deportation order issued on July 31, 2000. She originally entered the United States on June 12, 1994, and her appeal of the deportation order was dismissed by the Board of Immigration Appeals on October 23, 2002. She is currently held at the Broward Transitional Center in Florida and will remain in ICE custody pending removal from the country.
The detention follows federal allegations against Bien-Aimé, a Haitian native who served as mayor of North Miami from 2019 to 2022. In a civil complaint filed in February 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, the Department of Justice (DOJ) accuses him of using multiple identities and committing immigration fraud to obtain U.S. citizenship in 2006.
Prosecutors claim Bien-Aimé first entered the U.S. illegally under the name Jean Philippe Janvier using a fraudulent, photo-switched passport. He faced removal proceedings in 2001 but allegedly withdrew his appeal by claiming he had returned to Haiti, while remaining in the U.S. Under his current name, he reportedly entered into a fraudulent marriage with a U.S. citizen (deemed invalid due to bigamy, as he was already married to a Haitian citizen) to adjust his status and later naturalize. The complaint alleges he made numerous false statements during the adjustment and naturalization processes, including concealing a prior removal order. Fingerprint comparisons reportedly confirmed the two identities belong to the same person.
Bien-Aimé has not been criminally charged in connection with these allegations, and the civil denaturalization case remains ongoing.
Ternier’s detention appears unrelated directly to Bien-Aimé’s denaturalization proceedings but coincides with heightened scrutiny amid the case. The timing has raised concerns among supporters in Florida’s Haitian-American community about the broader impact on families tied to high-profile immigration matters.
L’Union Suite will continue following developments in both the denaturalization lawsuit against Bien-Aimé and the immigration proceedings involving Ternier. We extend support to the family during this difficult period.
Family unity and due process matter, now more than ever.
