Haitian Student Dies After Calling ICE Monitor ‘Humiliating’

*Pierre Damas Bel, a 20-year-old Haitian immigrant and first-year Wright State University student, died after being struck by a tractor-trailer on an Ohio interstate, weeks after he publicly described the ICE ankle monitor he was required to wear as a source of “shame and humiliation.”

Bel died Monday after parking on the shoulder of Interstate 70 near Springfield, getting out of his vehicle and entering the westbound lanes, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

Springfield advocacy group G92 says Bel died by suicide, while the Ohio State Highway Patrol said the circumstances surrounding his death remain under investigation.

Bel had graduated with honors, played soccer, participated in JROTC, earned a scholarship and recently started college with plans to pursue medicine.

From Honors Graduate to GPS Monitoring

Bel came to the United States from Haiti to pursue his education and reunite with family. In May, he graduated from Springfield High School and received a scholarship through the district’s Business Advisory Council.

He began classes at Wright State University in August, studying physiology and neuroscience.

After Temporary Protected Status for Haitians was terminated, Bel was placed in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Alternatives to Detention program and fitted with a GPS ankle monitor while his immigration proceedings continued.

In a July social media post, Bel described what wearing the device meant to him.

“I came to this country to pursue my education. I didn’t come here to commit a crime or hurt anyone,” he wrote, according to The Washington Post.

Bel said the device left him carrying “a feeling of shame and humiliation” and questioned how he could participate in college sports while wearing it.

His Father Describes a Son in Distress

Bel’s father, Pierre Ronal Bel, said the monitor took an emotional toll on his son.

“After my son was outfitted with the ankle monitor, he felt like he was treated like an animal,” the elder Bel said in a statement released through Springfield advocacy group G92.

His family also says Bel experienced bullying over the device. Wright State, however, said it had no confirmed information about complaints or investigations involving bullying.

On Monday morning, Bel video-called his father at 8:03 a.m. and said he was not doing well mentally. His father told him to come home so they could talk.

At approximately 8:45 a.m., the Ohio State Highway Patrol received the call about the fatal collision.

EURweb Previously Reported on Ohio ICE Monitoring

Bel’s death comes less than two weeks after EURweb reported that Haitians in Ohio were emerging from ICE appointments wearing electronic monitoring devices.

In its Aug. 21 report, EURweb documented how the end of Haitian TPS was affecting jobs, immigration status and ICE monitoring, particularly around Springfield.

Bel reportedly had a pending asylum case, underscoring that losing TPS does not necessarily put every Haitian immigrant in the same legal position.

ICE said Bel was placed in its Alternatives to Detention program while his immigration proceedings continued. The agency has defended monitoring as an immigration-enforcement tool and says immigrants can choose to leave the United States voluntarily.

A Promising Life Cut Short

Springfield’s Haitian community was already thrust into the national spotlight during the 2024 presidential campaign, when false claims about Haitian immigrants eating residents’ pets were amplified by Donald Trump and JD Vance.

Now the community is confronting another chapter in the national immigration fight.

Bel was not merely a name attached to an immigration case. Springfield school records show a student recognized for achievement, service, character and leadership. Wright State President Sue Edwards described him as an active honors student who was passionate about soccer and already engaged in campus life.

His own words made clear what he believed he came to America to accomplish: He wanted an education and a future. He did not want to be treated like a criminal.

What role the pressures surrounding his immigration status, monitoring and reported bullying played in his death should not be reduced to a single definitive cause. His family and advocates have described the anguish they witnessed; investigators are still determining the circumstances.

What is established is that weeks before his death, Bel publicly said the monitor on his ankle left him feeling ashamed and humiliated.

He was 20 years old.

If you or someone you know is in crisis or considering suicide, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

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MORE NEWS ON EURWEB.COM: Haitians Lose Jobs as TPS Ends — Some Leave ICE Check-Ins Wearing Monitors

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