A mother of two was killed in a hammer attack outside a Fort Myers convenience store 11 days ago, in a tragedy that has been seized upon by President Donald Trump to justify efforts to terminate humanitarian protections for more than 350,000 Haitians, despite a federal judge blocking such action two months ago.
Nilufa Easmin, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Bangladesh who was working as a store clerk at a gas station, was fatally attacked on the morning of April 2, 2026, according to CNN. Police said the victim did not know the suspect, 40-year-old Rolbert Joachin, a Haitian national, though they had a previous encounter. Joachin was charged with murder after officials said he repeatedly struck the woman with a hammer in what they described as a targeted attack.
Samir Bahadur Syed, president of the Bangladesh Association of Southwest Florida, wrote in a GoFundMe he organized for Easmin's daughters that "Easmin was a devoted mother who worked tirelessly to provide for her two young daughters. Tragically, her life was cut short while she was at work in Fort Myers, FL, leaving her family and friends heartbroken. The loss of Easmin has created an unimaginable void in the lives of her daughters."
The Attack and Arrest
Video circulating online and shared by the Department of Homeland Security showed a man repeatedly hitting a car parked in the gas station's parking lot with an object that appeared to be a hammer. When a woman exited the store and approached him, he walked toward her and struck her with the object in his hand. The woman fell onto the sidewalk before he struck her another six times on her head and torso and walked away.
Police received calls around 7:19 a.m. ET, and when they arrived they found the woman unresponsive and not breathing, according to court documents. Witnesses told police they had seen a man hitting a car and then striking a woman "with a mallet," according to the arrest report.
Authorities identified Joachin and arrested him later that day after "an extensive coordinated manhunt," Fort Myers Police Chief Jason Fields said Friday. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents assisted Fort Myers police in tracking down and arresting Joachin, DHS said in a statement Tuesday. Joachin is being held without bond after a hearing in Lee County court Wednesday and is scheduled to be arraigned on May 4.
Micah McCombs, acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Tampa, said Friday that Easmin "got her citizenship the right way" after coming to the U.S. from Bangladesh, calling the killing "senseless."
Immigration Status and Policy Exploitation
Joachin entered the U.S. in 2022 and had temporary protected status until the Trump administration revoked his protections last week, according to Kelei Walker, the acting Miami field officer director for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations. Joachin was previously arrested by U.S. Border Patrol in what ICE described Friday as a "maritime smuggling event" and was issued a final order of removal in 2022 before "the prior administration allowed him to be released into the United States, and subsequently granted him temporary protected status, giving him a legal safeguard to remain in our country," Walker said.
Temporary protected status allows people to live and work in the U.S. if they are from certain countries designated by DHS where conditions prevent nationals from returning safely, including ongoing armed conflict or environmental disaster. Recipients are not eligible if they have been convicted of any felony or more than one misdemeanor in the U.S. Haitian immigrants became eligible for TPS after a massive, destructive earthquake in 2010.
Trump posted graphic video of the attack four days ago on Thursday night and wrote, "The Biden Administration granted him, and all Haitians, 'Temporary Protective Status,' a massively abused and fraudulent program which my Administration is working to terminate," and, "This one killing should be enough for these Radical Judges to STOP impeding my Administration's Immigration Policies, and allow us to END THIS SCAM ONCE AND FOR ALL."
Legal Protections and Advocacy Response
The administration sought to terminate temporary protected status for more than 350,000 Haitians before a judge blocked that move in February, two months ago, citing, among other points, the president's repeated derogatory comments about Haitians. Trump has since asked the Supreme Court to weigh in.
The Haitian Bridge Alliance condemned Trump's decision to weaponize the tragedy to undermine TPS protections. Guerline Jozef, executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, said, "Our hearts are with the family of the victim during this unimaginably painful time. We condemn this act of violence in the strongest possible terms. But we must also be clear: one individual's actions do not define an entire people," and, "The exploitation of this tragedy to demonize Haitian immigrants and dismantle humanitarian protections is both unjust and deeply harmful. Haitian TPS holders and immigrant families in the United States are workers, caregivers, students, and neighbors. They deserve dignity, protection, and policies grounded in truth—not fear."
Why This Matters:
The killing of Nilufa Easmin represents an unspeakable tragedy for her two daughters and community, while the administration's use of this crime to justify terminating humanitarian protections for more than 350,000 Haitians raises fundamental questions about due process and the politicization of individual criminal acts. The judicial decision to block TPS termination two months ago cited the president's derogatory comments about Haitians, highlighting concerns about discriminatory policy motivations rather than evidence-based assessment of country conditions. Haitian TPS holders, as the Haitian Bridge Alliance notes, are workers, caregivers, students, and neighbors who contribute to their communities and deserve protections grounded in humanitarian need rather than having their status determined by the criminal actions of one individual. The case underscores the tension between public safety, which requires effective law enforcement and accountability for violent crime, and immigration policy that should be based on systematic evaluation of country conditions and protection needs rather than political exploitation of tragedy.