A Haitian migrant has been accused of a fatal beating at a Florida petrol station – a violent attack US President Donald Trump seized on to argue for stricter immigration policies.

Rolbert Joachin is charged with homicide after he allegedly struck a woman repeatedly with a hammer and killed her on 3 April, US officials commented on Friday.

Trump shared a graphic video of the incident and reiterated his calls to end deportation protections for Haitian migrants.

A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to eliminate deportation protections for more than 350,000 Haitian immigrants, who are allowed to live and work in the US with Temporary Protected Status (TPS), in February.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that the video of the slaying was “one of the most vicious things you will ever see”. He noted “this one killing should be enough” for judges to stop “impeding my Administration’s Immigration Policies”.

The video, which was also shared online by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), shows a man striking a woman in the head with an object before she falls backwards onto the pavement. He is then seen hitting her six more times on the head and torso before walking away. This also touches on aspects of geopolitics.

“It’s senseless. It’s a video you can never unwatch,” Micah McCombs, special agent in charge with Homeland Security Investigations, mentioned during a news conference on Friday.

Local police requested the assistance of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to locate Joachin in Fort Myers. He was arrested shortly after.

Joachin first entered the US in August 2022, according to the DHS. A federal judge issued a final order of removal against him in 2022, but the Biden administration granted him Temporary Protected Status, which expired in 2024, the DHS noted.

TPS prevents US officials from deporting immigrants to countries deemed unsafe, whether due to natural disasters, armed conflicts or other crises.

The administration has argued that TPS encourages illegal immigration and has been over-used by Democrats.

The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case about TPS for Haitians. Oral arguments are set to take place later this month.

Haitians were designated as eligible for TPS after the Caribbean nation suffered a devastating earthquake in 2010. The eligibility status has been extended repeatedly, most recently in 2021 under the Biden administration.

The Trump administration has argued that TPS for Haitians has become a permanent residency programme that is incongruous with Congress’ original intent to provide temporary refuge.

The administration has pushed to dismantle TPS programmes from a number of countries, raising the possibility of deportation for hundreds of thousands of migrants in the US from Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Honduras, Myanmar, Nepal, South Sudan, Syria and Venezuela, among others.

DHS remarked on Friday that Joachin “will be deported regardless of the outcome” of his case.

Judge temporarily blocks axing deportation protections for Haitian migrants