Southwest Florida Haitian leader: One crime doesn't define 40,000 immigrants

FORT MYERS, Fla. (WINK)— Many members of Southwest Florida's Haitian American population are expressing fear and sadness after the brutal killing of a store clerk, allegedly at the hands of a Haitian undocumented immigrant.

Florida has the largest Haitian population in the U.S., with more than half a million people.

With violence in their home country, uncertainty about the future of temporary protected status, and now President Donald Trump speaking about Haitian immigrants in Southwest Florida, members of the community say it creates instability.

Rolbert Joachin, a Haitian undocumented immigrant, is accused of killing a store clerk with a mallet.

Joachin was arrested on April 3 by the Fort Myers Police Department and ICE after a multi-hour search was conducted following the killing of the store clerk.

President Trump weighed in on the deadly attack at a Fort Myers gas station when he posted on Truth Social, blaming the Biden administration for allowing Joachin to stay in the United States.

The Haitian-American Community Coalition of Southwest Florida estimates there are nearly 40,000 Haitian immigrants in the area.

WINK News spoke with the president of that organization, Beatrice Jacquet-Castor, who condemned the brutal murder that happened in Fort Myers.

However, Jacquet-Castor believes Trump is unfairly casting Haitian Americans because of the actions of one person.

"We're standing against violence against anyone, no matter what culture you are, if you do the crime, you need to pay the time," Jacquet-Castor said. "But again, that doesn't generalize the Haitian community. That is not the forefront of the Haitian community."

Jacquet-Castor said she feels Haitian Americans are constantly at a disadvantage due to the ongoing violence in their home country.