After former North Miami Mayor Philippe Bien-Aime was accused by federal authorities of lying during the naturalization process to become a U.S. citizen, his partner was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, records showed.
Sarahjane Ternier, Bien-Aime’s longtime partner and the mother of their children, is currently in ICE custody at the Broward Transitional Center, online records showed.
Details of Ternier’s detention remain limited.
NBC6 exclusively reviewed a 13-page civil complaint filed by the U.S. Department of Justice that claims Bien-Aime “willfully misrepresented his identity and immigration history throughout the naturalization process.”
Court documents state that Department of Homeland Security records — including fingerprint comparisons — show that the person who naturalized as Philippe Bien-Aime is the same individual who was previously ordered removed from the United States under the name Philippe Janvier.
The complaint alleges that on July 31, 2000, an immigration judge determined that Janvier gained entry into the United States by fraud, specifically through the use of a photo-switched passport. The judge ordered him removed to Haiti.
Ternier is also from Hatti.
However, the filing states there is no indication he ever left the United States as ordered.
The complaint further alleges that Bien-Aime was not eligible to obtain a visa as the spouse of a U.S. citizen because his marriage was invalid.
Federal prosecutors accuse him of bigamy, claiming his Haitian divorce certificate was counterfeit and fraudulent.
Bien-Aime, originally from Haiti, was elected mayor of North Miami in 2019. Most recently, he ran unsuccessfully for the Miami-Dade County Commission.
North Miami’s city code states that candidates seeking office must be qualified electors — meaning they must be citizens eligible to vote and registered at the time.
To register to vote, a person must be a U.S. citizen.
NBC6 has reached out to ICE for more information on Ternier’s detention.