PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — A Haitian prosecutor investigating the case of 10 Americans suspected of trafficking in Haitian children whom they had claimed were earthquake orphans was expected to decide later Thursday whether to pursue criminal charges or drop the matter.

At about noon on Thursday, two vehicles carrying the Americans pulled up to the city’s white central courthouse, where they were met by a crush of reporters there to cover a case that has become a flashpoint for Haiti’s fears of foreign encroachment in the aftermath of the Jan. 12 earthquake.