Mother-daughter owners of Tigard Nursing Home are accused of keeping Haitian immigrants in “indentured servitude.”

Daughter denies allegations, says KGW allegations are 'crazy'

PORTLAND, Ore. (KGW) – The mother-daughter operators of an adult nursing home in Tigard made their first appearance in federal court Friday after they allegedly forced three Haitian immigrants, including a minor, into strenuous hours akin to indentured servitude equaled. KGW reported.

Marie Gertrude Jean Valmont, 66, and her daughter Yolandita Marie Andre, 30, were charged with a seven-count federal indictment of conspiracy to commit forced labor, committing forced labor and facilitating forced labor.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Oregon, Valmont and Andre co-managed Velida's nursing home in Tigard. According to court documents, in 2023 they invited two adults and a child from Haiti to travel to the United States and work for them at the nursing home.

The three alleged victims arrived in early September 2023 before being forced to work 17 to 19 hours a day at the nursing home for a maximum of $2 an hour, federal prosecutors allege. The underage victim went to school but also had to work without pay. According to court documents, all three ended up sleeping on the living room floor.

Valmont and Andre allegedly took the victims' immigration papers and intimidated them from leaving Velida. Prosecutors said Valmont would variously threaten deportation, using voodoo curses, being arrested on false charges or organizing the murder of victims' family members in Haiti.

Authorities with the Oregon Department of Justice learned of the plan when the minor victim spoke to a pediatrician about his situation in the summer of 2024, federal prosecutors said. The minor was picked up by Velida and placed in a foster family. The other two victims were released a few weeks later, at the end of July.

Court documents indicate that at least two other witnesses have spoken to investigators about conditions at Velida's, one of whom is close to Andre.

When authorities searched the nursing home, they also encountered a caregiver who said “she had not personally been exploited” but feared that would be the case based on things she had heard or seen, prosecutors said . That worker said she was paid $110 a day and worked from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, but “often worked late” to care for a client who required 24-hour supervision, court documents said.

The FBI arrested Valmont and Andre on Thursday.

Arguments against release

Court documents show that each of the victims wrote a letter to prosecutors asking that Valmont and Andre be held in jail pending trial and saying they feared for their lives. They all said Valmont threatened to harm not only them but also their families in Haiti.

“Please don’t let (Valmont) out of jail,” one wrote. “She has a lot of power and control over her daughter Yolandita Andre. Yolandita will do anything her mother tells her. They should both be in prison.”

“I am scared every time I drive through Tigard now and I worry that if she sees me or knows where I live now, she will follow me back to my new place of residence and cause me physical harm,” wrote a second victim. “She told me and I believe her.”

“Since (Valmont) sent her daughter Yolandita Andre to my school two weeks ago to look for me, I have been unable to sleep at night,” the minor wrote. “I have constant nightmares that (she) is in my bedroom trying to kill me. I’m afraid of being alone and I’m always afraid that she might find me and hurt me.”

Prosecutors, for their part, argued that Valmont had a history of abusing U.S. immigration authorities, including using fake travel documents, and was “able to travel from country to country with ease.” They said she should be held because she was a flight risk and a danger to the community.

Both defendants pleaded not guilty at their court appearance Friday and were released pending further court proceedings.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, charges of committing forced labor and facilitating forced labor are each punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison for each count.

Defendants respond to allegations

On Friday, KGW sat down with Yolandita Andre, hours after she and her mother were released from federal custody after pleading not guilty to all seven charges.

“It’s crazy that they would say something like that about us now,” she said. “No, they weren’t employees. We had hired other people, you know, and we only had two clients. There was no need for us to hire five, six, seven, eight people to look after just two [elderly] Guys, when my mother and I were already in the house. And we have already hired two more people.

Andre said that although some of the relatives she sponsored lived in her home – which also served as a nursing home – for up to two years, they were never contract employees. She said several people – including the alleged victims – came to the United States through a humanitarian parole program.

“My mother and I are assisting some of our relatives to enter the United States,” Andre said. “Just being a woman, you hear the stories about the things that are done to young girls down there. I felt like I had a responsibility to do something about it.”

She said she and her mother helped her relatives get the proper papers and identification, paid for food, clothing and medical expenses and were sending money back to Haiti. Andre said it was shocking to be criminally charged for allegedly holding people in forced servitude.

“Growing up with an undocumented mother, a black woman who was undocumented, I saw how the world treated her. I wouldn’t do that to anyone,” she insisted.

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Tigard's mother and daughter are charged with holding three victims in forced labor at an adult nursing home
United States Attorney's Office – District of Oregon – 9/27/24 3:24 p.m

PORTLAND, Ore. – A mother and daughter from Tigard, Oregon, were arraigned in federal court today after they were accused of using violence and threats to coerce three victims, including an underage victim, into working in one for little or no pay Foster family for adults to work home.

Marie Gertrude Jean Valmont, 66, and Yolandita Marie Andre, 30, were charged in a seven-count indictment with mutual conspiracy to commit forced labor, committing forced labor and facilitating forced labor.

According to court documents, Valmont and Andre, the owners and operators of Velida's Care Home in Tigard, began their human trafficking scheme in 2023 when they convinced two adults and a child from Haiti to travel to the United States to work at Velida's.

In early September 2023, all three victims arrived in Portland and were immediately taken to Velida, where they were forced to work long, hard hours for little or no pay. Valmont and Andre are also said to have taken their victims' immigration papers and prohibited them from leaving Velida under any circumstances. Valmont also allegedly threw objects at the victims, threatened to send them back to Haiti and have them killed, and threatened to call the police and make false allegations of theft against them.

In the summer of 2023, Oregon Department of Corrections authorities were alerted to the Velida situation after the minor victim disclosed his indentured servitude to a pediatrician. Shortly thereafter, the underage victim was removed from Velida and placed in a nursing home. On Thursday, the FBI arrested Valmont and Andre without incident at Velida.

Both defendants made their first appearance before a U.S. judge in federal court today. They were charged, found not guilty and released pending further court proceedings.

Both committing forced labor and facilitating forced labor are punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison per conviction.

This case was investigated by the FBI with assistance from the Tigard Police Department. The charges are being brought by Eliza Carmen-Rodriguez, Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Oregon.

An indictment is simply an allegation of a crime, and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

If you or someone you know is a victim of human trafficking or has information about a possible human trafficking situation, please call or text the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) at 1-888-373-7888 233733. NHTRC is a nationwide toll-free hotline with specialists available to answer calls from anywhere in the country 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can also submit a tip on the NHTRC website.

If you believe a child is involved in a human trafficking situation, you can also submit a tip through the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's (NCMEC) CyberTipline or call 1-800-THE-LOST. FBI personnel assigned to NCMEC review information submitted to the CyberTipline.