Ten U.S. citizens now face criminal charges and up to 15 years in the Haitian prison system after they tried to transport 33 Haitian children across the border into the Dominican Republic. The group, most of whom belong to a Baptist congregation in Idaho, have come to personify Haitian unease and concerns about loss of sovereignty following last month's devastating earthquake.

The Americans were arrested on Friday as they tried to take 33 Haitian children to what they had said was an orphanage in the Dominican Republic. A Web site for the orphanage said that children there would stay in a "loving Christian home-like environment" and be eligible for adoption.

While the church members say their good intentions were misinterpreted, family law attorney Elizabeth Durso Branch says it was poorly thought out to transport children out of the country with consent from Haitian authorities. "There was no true urgency to remove these children from Haiti," says Branch, who focuses on child-related issues as a partner at the Family Law firm of McCurley Orsinger McCurley Nelson & Downing, L.L.P. "While Port-au-Prince is devastated, there are other physically safe locations within the country to set up an orphanage or refugee camp. The group may have had good intentions, just far too little guidance."