ICE detains embattled former North Miami mayor's partner, mother of his children

MIAMI — Sarahjane Ternier, the long-time partner of former North Miami mayor Philippe Bien-Aime and mother of three of his children, has been detained by federal immigration officials amid an ongoing effort to strip the Haiti-born politician of his U.S. citizenship.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman confirmed Friday to the Miami Herald that Ternier was arrested by agents on Wednesday in Miami in relation to a final deportation order issued on July 31, 2000. According to the agency, Ternier entered the U.S. on June 12, 1994; her appeal of the deportation order was dismissed on Oct. 23, 2002, by the Board of Immigration Appeals. She will remain in ICE custody pending her removal from the United States. ICE’s detainee locator showed on Saturday morning that she was being held at the Broward Transitional Center.

Ternier and Bien-Aime have long been a couple, though details from Bien-Amie’s ongoing federal denaturalization case cast doubt upon whether the couple’s 1993 marriage in Haiti was legitimate. According to the case, he was simultaneously married to two other women during his relationship with Ternier, a registered nurse

When reached by phone by a Herald reporter, Bien-Aime, 60, did not offer much comment on Ternier being in ICE custody, beyond saying, “She’s coming home.” Bien-Aime said he did not know who her lawyer was. The federal government has accused Bien-Amie of spinning a decades-long web of deceit involving multiple identities — and wives — to gain a green card and later American citizenship.

Prior arrest

Ternier also wasn’t always saying who she was.

A criminal complaint filed in the U.S. Northern District of New York shows that on Feb. 14, 1997, she attempted to enter the U.S. using a fake Canadian identification card.

She was in a car with a man named William Jean Louis when they arrived at the Champlain Port of Entry at the Quebec-New York border. Broward County has records of a 2001 marriage between Ternier and a Haitian man with a similar name.

During the inspection in New York, the officer noted that Ternier did not match the identification on the citizenship card. “She was unable to match the card signature, or produce additional documentation to support her claim,” read the complaint.

After a search of the car revealed a Haitian passport with Ternier’s name and photo, Ternier ultimately admitted to her true identity. She told the officer she was on her way to Florida to obtain an “an illegal residence” and look for work in the United States.

She pleaded guilty to possessing an ID with the intent to defraud the U.S. and was ordered to spend two days in jail (which was listed as time served) and pay a $225 fine and a special assessment, according to a judgment.

ICE’s statement to the Herald did not specify if this arrest also led to the immigration case where Bien-Aime and Ternier were ordered deported in July 2000. The denaturalization complaint against Bien-Aime states the 1997 deportation case was opened against him “for not being in possession of a valid entry document.” Bien-Aime had testified during those proceedings that he had used a fake passport to enter the United States in 1995, according to federal court records.

Three wives, two husbands

Ternier has long been publicly described as Bien-Aime’s wife. The couple share three adult children and frequently appeared together during his political career, which spanned several terms as a North Miami councilman, a term as North Miami mayor and an unsuccessful bid for county commissioner.

But according to the federal denaturalization complaint, Bien-Aime was simultaneously married to other women at various points, including during the times he lived with Ternier.

Court documents say that Bien-Aime married Ternier in Haiti on June 20, 1993, under the name Jean Philippe Janvier. But the federal filing also shows that same day he also married another woman, Beatrice Gelin, under the name Philippe Bien-Aime. A U.S. immigration summary of Haitian government records show that the marriage and divorce certificates for Janvier and Ternier were found to be fraudulent.

On April 16, 2001, Ternier married Jean Louis. The following month Bien-Aime married Marie Rose Evelyn Chauvet in Broward County, online court records show. He later applied for and obtained permanent residency and eventually U.S. citizenship in 2006 through his marriage to Chauvet, according to the civil complaint.

But during all those years of marriage to Chauvet, Bien-Aime was still married to Gelin in Haiti because his divorce certification was fraudulent, according to federal documents, and he was living part-time with Ternier and raising their children. Broward County online records show that an older child, a daughter, was the subject of a paternity lawsuit Ternier filed against Bien-Aime months before her 2001 marriage to Jean Louis.

Ternier’s love story with Bien-Aime was briefly detailed in a 2021 profile of the politician by Island Origins Magazine. According to the article, the duo met and fell in love in Haiti. As a 9-year-old, Ternier had a crush on Bien-Aime, who is 10 years her senior. The two would eventually reconnect as adults and have been inseparable since, the story said.

“He’s a loving man, a loving father,” Ternier told the online magazine, and described him as a “protector and provider” and hands-on father to their three private school-educated children. Ternier also quit her nursing job to canvas fulltime for Bien-Aime during his mayoral run, according to the profile, which also notes that two of his children have political aspirations.

One of their children is listed as a planner for North Miami in the office of land use services on the city website as well as her private LinkedIn.