For Haitians in North Texas, assassination of president brings shock, uncertainty, painful memories

Fort Worth resident Ted Registre said he first heard about the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse when his 69-year-old mother phoned him from the Caribbean nation on Wednesday.

“When she called me this morning to tell me the news, I thought someone in my family had passed away, because you could hear the fear and shock in her voice,” Registre said.

Registre, who turned 28 on Wednesday, said he and his younger brother came to the U.S. shortly after the devastating earthquake of 2010. His father was killed when the school where he taught collapsed, he said.

Registre, president and co-founder of the Haitian Social Circle in Dallas, said he is concerned about how instability in the country will affect the relief work that his organization does for Haitians.

And as someone who remembers vividly remembers the earthquake, as well as the 2004 coup that led to the removal of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Registre said the current turmoil has triggered painful memories.

“Things are bad. It’s the reality,” he said. “In recent years and months, it seems like things go from bad to worse.

“But as for where my heart is, it’s home in Haiti,” he said. “I think that’s one of the reasons why the news of the assassination of the president is affecting me in this way today.”

Marie-Frantz Rene, who is in her 50s, is president of the Haitian American Association of Dallas-Fort Worth. She said she was born and lived as a child in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, before moving to the U.S. at age 9 or 10. Now living in Plano with her husband, Raymond Rene — who also emigrated from Haiti — she said the couple found themselves scrambling for answers Wednesday morning.

”Everybody is in shock,” Marie-Frantz said of her organization. Both she and Registre estimated that the D-FW area has about 3,000 residents of Haitian descent. “Everybody is sitting in front of their television trying to figure out what is going on. We don’t see it on CNN, we don’t see it locally, so we’re going online and trying to find answers however we can.”

She said her organization, which she estimates has about 300 members, was started in 2018 to educate others about Haiti’s history and culture and to foster a feeling of community among Haitians living in North Texas.

“It’s hard for us, but Haiti needs our help more than ever right now, so we’re here to support,” she said.