Haitians in Central Florida left with painful memories 10 years after devastating earthquake

Jan. 10--Moontina Pétion remembers hugging her sister Esther on Jan. 11, 2010, in a suburb of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, before boarding a plane back to Orlando.

The next day, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck near the Haiti capital, killing more than 200,000 people, injuring 300,000 and displacing about 1.5 million people whose homes were destroyed.

Pétion's sister was inside a church that collapsed after the quake and died in a hospital a few days later, according to Pétion. The natural disaster 10 years ago Sunday crippled the country's infrastructure, which has struggled to recover amid a cholera epidemic, political unrest and more destruction in 2016 caused by Hurricane Matthew.

"Even though it's been 10 years, there are times when I think about it that it feels like yesterday," said Pétion -- now 32, her sister's age when she died -- who moved to Florida when she was a teenager and has since become a U.S. citizen. "Emotionally, it has gotten better. But it's not easy."

After the earthquake, scores of Haitians sought refuge primarily in South and Central Florida. Under President Barack Obama's administration, Haitians who fled to the U.S could apply for Temporary Protected Status, a designation offered to natives of countries affected by catastrophic events such as armed conflict or a natural disaster.

In Central Florida, an estimated 2,600 Haitians are TPS holders, according to the Center of Migration Studies.

The status, which grants work authorization and a reprieve from deportation, was extended multiple times by Obama's administration.

But the Department of Homeland Security, under President Donald Trump's administration, terminated the designation in 2017 for four countries including Haiti.

A series of federal lawsuits have blocked the order from taking effect and the department extended the protections for Haitian immigrants until January 2021 as appeals by the U.S. government play out in court.

In the Orlando area, a significant number of Haitians are employed in the theme park and hospitality industry, according to Jean Julionex Louis, who works at Walt Disney World and is a union leader of Unite Here Local 362.

Louis, 41, a Haitian TPS holder, said it's painful to recall memories of the devastating earthquake.

"I was there, I saw the bodies all over the place," he said.

He began working for the Magic Kingdom in 2011 in the custodial division and has built a life in Orlando, where he teaches bible classes on Sundays at a local church.

The Caribbean country, he said, has been trying to rebuild but is unstable. Ending the TPS program would create a hardship if he was forced to return.

"If I go back to Haiti, I'll lose my pension and Social Security [benefits]," he said.

Louis said he hopes that TPS holders are eventually able to find a path to gain a permanent resident card or U.S. citizenship.

"Haitians contribute a lot to his country," he said.

The 10-year anniversary of the earthquake will be commemorated this weekend with various events and church services in Central Florida.

To honor her sister and the memory of those who died in the earthquake, Pétion wrote a poem in Creole to recite during a Saturday fundraiser concert at the Philadelphia Haitian Baptist Church in Pine Hills.

Pétion described Esther as "more beautiful than sunshine" and said she thinks of her everyday.

"She was the person who encouraged me when it comes to the things that I like to do in life," said Pétion, who does modeling work and sings.

Her poem references the ongoing grief of losing so many Haitians in the earthquake but ends with a spark of hope for the Caribbean country and a call for unity.

"Remember we are Haiti," she wrote. "Haiti is ours."

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