Grey Bull Rescue helps 2 families bring adoptive daughters from Haiti to the U.S.
The Brief
Two out-of-state couples met their adoptive daughters from Haiti in person on Tuesday after a Tampa nonprofit rescued them from the Caribbean country.
Gang violence continues to be an ongoing problem in Haiti.
Grey Bull Rescue facilitates evacuations and rescues people from dangerous situations.
TAMPA - "This is crazy! Yes, it's all hitting all at once," emotional Texas resident Kathleen Smith told FOX 13 Tuesday. "It's wild. I feel like we've been -- not we, I! -- have been crying on and off for months."
Smith and her husband, Jordan, have been trying to bring their seven-year-old adoptive daughter, Love Esther, home from Haiti for over a year.
RELATED: Violence in Haiti stalls Plano family's attempt to adopt daughter
However, ongoing gang violence in the Caribbean country has made the process difficult.
"Gangs taking over everything," Jordan Smith said. "It's horrible."
It's a similar story for Jake and Maribeth Joraanstad of North Dakota: They've been trying to get their daughters out of the Haitian orphanages, too.
"The girls had heard gunshots in the neighborhood," Jake Joraanstad said of his adoptive daughters, Mitialove and Mirlanda.
Local perspective
Enter Grey Bull Rescue: The Tampa nonprofit facilitates evacuations, rescuing people in danger.
And that's exactly what they're doing for these two couples.
"They just got started coordinating, making plans, getting paperwork pushed through," Jordan Smith told FOX 13.
On Tuesday, Grey Bull Rescue founder, Bryan Stern, and his team flew to Haiti to get Love Esther, Mitialove, and Mirlanda to bring them back to Tampa.
Dig deeper
The families told FOX 13 that the three girls – who range in age from six to 12 -- have American visas. The president's current travel ban does include an exception for adoptions.
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The Source
Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13's Ariel Plasencia.
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