How a “safe states” doctrine moved mothers and children across the Canada–U.S. border — told through the court record. All quotations below are verbatim from federal court filings (readable in full on CourtListener, a public archive run by the non-profit Free Law Project) and from The Daily Beast’s published investigation. Family members are identified by initials or relationship only.
The doctrine
In a sworn declaration filed March 2026 (ECF 84-2, Life Mastery Network LLC v. Haygarth, No. 1:25-cv-00297), an eight-year member of Wilson’s community described the teaching from the inside: “In Ms. Wilson’s closed groups and private Signal chats, I observed an ongoing narrative that remaining in Canada was increasingly dangerous or ‘dark'” (¶34); “Remaining in Canada was framed as choosing a life sentence of darkness, stagnation, or harm” (¶34); and “Ms. Wilson conducted private Signal sessions with a number of women who were actively planning to leave Canada, including myself. During these sessions, Ms. Wilson discussed which U.S. states purportedly held the best ‘energy,’ strategies for dealing with ex-spouses or co-parents, and considerations related to border crossings. These discussions went beyond general encouragement and involved individualized guidance related to relocation.” (¶35.) The court letters say the same in plainer words. One husband, formerly of North Carolina: “Liana Shanti told countless women to leave their homes for ‘safe’ states such as Florida, Texas, Montana, etc. She advised people in Canada, Australia (and certain European countries) to flee with their families since they were no longer safe due to the vaccine mandates and protocols.” (Doc 87, PageID.543.)
The departures — December 2021
The family impact statements filed with the federal court as Document 87 (United States v. Wilson, No. 1:19-cr-00105, April 20, 2023, redacted as filed) record what happened next. One father: “December 19, 2021. [She] took my daughters and crossed the Canadian border with her current husband … and went to Florida (according to Liana Florida is a ‘safe state’). I did not give my consent to do this.” (PageID.556.) A grandmother whose granddaughters were moved to Jacksonville: “This wasn’t a vacation, it was abduction.” (PageID.553.) The Daily Beast reported that one mother who crossed that December posted in Wilson’s private Facebook group: “I admit I had to do what I could to get her to the States and took the only path I could see.” By a former member’s count reported in the same investigation, of about 180 followers, “about 38 of them moved to places [Wilson] deemed safe.” Nor was the migration only Canadian. A North Carolina father wrote: “In December of 2021 I received a call late on a Monday, she said ‘I don’t know how to say this… we are in Texas.'” — “She moved 1200 miles away to Texas with our daughter behind my back with the urging of Liana.” He recovered his daughter through an emergency custody order: “This was the most traumatic thing I have ever had to deal with.” (Doc 87, PageID.599–600.)
The machinery
The letters describe how departures were preceded by severed family bonds. One father recounted his ex-wife emailing her parents, “accusing them of being complacent of sexual abuse,” then making their daughters read it — adding: “This is a pattern of Liana Shanti’s students, to cut out family.” (Doc 87, PageID.556.) Letters also note mothers and children receiving new names from Wilson. The 2026 declaration corroborates the pressure mechanics: “negative framing of dissent created meaningful pressure that influenced members’ decisions regarding marriages, custody, and family relationships” (ECF 84-2 ¶32), and — directly contradicting Wilson’s own sworn statement (ECF 63 ¶30) — “I am personally aware of no fewer than six women who relocated themselves and their families from Canada to the United States following sustained influence and pressure within Ms. Wilson’s community.” (¶34.)
Families against the system
The left-behind families found that no agency would act. Grandparents of a child taken across the border in the same December week: “the police and other agencies such as Edmonton child protection services, RCMP and the Hague convention, were of no help as they felt that because the child was with her mother she was not in immediate danger.” (Doc 87, PageID.603.) Another father: “[She] abducted my children and I haven’t seen them in 16 months.” (PageID.557.) The Daily Beast’s investigation opened with the same experience in California: Jason Veras, whose wife left with their children after following Wilson, told the publication: “Liana Shanti’s cult has convinced my wife to kidnap my kids and keep them away from me.” Per the article, he regained joint custody in December 2022.
Discovery — and the record that followed
The isolated families found each other online: “In April of 2022, an Instagram page was started about Liana Shanti being labelled a cult. Until this point, I thought I was the only one going through losing his children.” (Doc 87, PageID.557.) In March 2023, The Daily Beast published “The Mysterious ‘Sisterhood’ Tearing Families Apart” (Jennings Brown, March 3, 2023). The following month, Wilson was summoned to federal court, and on April 20, 2023 the twenty-three family impact statements entered the court record as Document 87. Three years later, the sworn declarations in the civil case (ECF 84-2, March 2026) corroborated the pattern from inside the community. The case remains ongoing at the time of publication (June 2026).
The evidence
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2020–2021 | “Safe states” doctrine; individualized relocation guidance in private Signal sessions | ECF 84-2 ¶¶34–35 |
| Dec 19, 2021 | Mother crosses Canada–U.S. border with two daughters, without father’s consent, to Florida (“safe state”) | Doc 87, PageID.556 |
| Dec 2021 (same week) | Second border crossing; RCMP, Hague Convention, Edmonton CPS decline to intervene | Doc 87, PageID.603 |
| Dec 2021 | “I admit I had to do what I could to get her to the States” (private Facebook post) | The Daily Beast, Mar 3, 2023 |
| Dec 2021 | North Carolina mother moves child 1,200 miles to Texas “with the urging of Liana”; father recovers daughter via emergency custody order | Doc 87, PageID.599–600 |
| Apr 2022 | Instagram page identifies the community as a cult; isolated families connect | Doc 87, PageID.557 |
| Mar 3, 2023 | The Daily Beast investigation published | Jennings Brown |
| Apr 20, 2023 | 23 family impact statements filed in U.S. v. Wilson | Doc 87 (97 pp.) |
| Mar 2026 | Sworn declaration: “no fewer than six women” relocated under pressure | ECF 84-2 ¶4 |
Editorial note: quotations are verbatim from the cited filings and reporting; bracketed text replaces names of private individuals. The Daily Beast reported that it contacted Wilson by phone, email, and through her lawyer for comment, and she did not respond.
Sources
- United States v. Wilson, No. 1:19-cr-00105 (D. Haw.), Doc. 87 — Family Impact Statements (23 letters, redacted as filed), filed Apr. 20, 2023. Quoted at PageID.543, .553, .556, .557, .599–600, .603 — CourtListener
- Life Mastery Network LLC v. Haygarth, No. 1:25-cv-00297 (D. Haw.), ECF 84-2 — Declaration of eight-year former member, filed Mar. 27, 2026. Quoted at ¶¶32, 34, 35 — CourtListener
- LMN v. Haygarth, ECF 63 — Declaration of Liane Wilson (referenced at ¶30; contradicted by ECF 84-2 ¶34) — docket entry on CourtListener
- Jennings Brown, “The Mysterious ‘Sisterhood’ Tearing Families Apart,” The Daily Beast, Mar. 3, 2023 — via Yahoo News
See the site-wide Source Index for every document cited on this site.