A 20-year-old Haitian migrant is believed by his family to have died by suicide after losing his temporary protected status amid the Trump administration’s intensified immigration crackdown.
Police said Pierre Damas Bel died Monday after pulling over on Interstate 70 in Springfield, Ohio, getting out of his car and walking into traffic.
His relatives believe the young man’s death was intentional.
Bel’s father, Pierre Ronal Bel, said his son had called shortly before his death and described the distress he was feeling after being bullied over an ankle monitor he had been required to wear when his immigration status was revoked.
“He called me at 8.03 on a video call, [and said] I’m not feeling okay mentally because of the bullying, and I told him to come home so we can talk,” his father said in a statement to The New York Times.
About three hours later, he was told his son was dead.
Bel had recently graduated from high school after coming to the United States in 2024 to reunite with relatives who had fled Haiti. His family had received Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, a designation that allowed roughly 330,000 Haitians to live and work legally in the U.S., the Times reported.
But in July, the Trump administration moved to end the program and began an aggressive electronic monitoring effort, with particular attention on Springfield, a city that is home to about 10,000 Haitians, according to the outlet.
Pierre Damas Bel, 20, died on Monday after he parked his car on Interstate 70 in Springfield, Ohio, and walked into traffic
Bel had recently graduated high school after arriving into the United States in 2024 to join his family who had fled Haiti and all received TPS, which granted around 330,000 Haitians to live and work in America
Pierre Ronal Bel, Bel’s father, said Bel had called him and shared his struggles with bullying over an ankle monitor he was forced to wear after his status was revoked
‘In his last days, I did not recognize him as he was such an energetic kid who loves life, friends and family, and education,’ Bel’s father said in a statement.
After he had the ankle monitor fixed on him, Bel’s father said his son was ‘treated like an animal,’ WSYX reported.
On Instagram, a month before he died, Bel posted a carousel of photos showing him in some of his proudest moments, including receiving an award of excellence, a superior fitness award and his high school diploma.
Alongside the pictures, Bel wrote: ‘I came to this country to pursue my education. I didn’t come here to commit a crime or hurt anyone. Yet now I’m walking through the streets of the United States with a GPS monitor on my leg.’
Bel said, with the monitor, he was ‘carrying a feeling of shame and humiliation that I never imagined I would experience.’
‘I came here to study, to build my future, and to live a better [life], not to be treated like criminal. So now, how am I supposed play college sports with a GPS monitor on my leg?’
Bel was set to major in neuroscience.
Pastor Carl Ruby of Central Christian Church in Springfield, a longtime advocate for Haitian immigrants, wrote on Facebook that he wished President Donald Trump ‘could hear the mom’s wails.’
After he had the ankle monitor fixed on him, Bel’s father said his son was ‘treated like an animal’
Bel said, with the monitor, he was ‘carrying a feeling of shame and humiliation that I never imagined I would experience’
On Instagram, a month before he died, Bel posted a carousel of photos seeing him in some of his proudest moments, including receiving an award of excellence, a superior fitness award and his high school diploma
Bel had been set to begin his first semester at Wright State University after he had been unable to play soccer at Wittenberg University due to his ankle monitor
‘The family wants people to know that this was a suicide, and they want people to know that President Trump, [White House deputy chief of staff] Stephen Miller, and [Homeland Security Secretary] Markwayne Mullin’s inhumane immigration policies made this happen,’ Ruby continued.
‘I’m sitting with a family right now whose son threw himself in front of a semi truck today after being teased by fellow students at Wright State about his ankle monitor.’
According to Bel’s father, the young man traveled to plead with officers to remove his ankle monitor so he could play soccer.
He had been set to begin his first semester at Wright State University after he had been unable to play soccer at Wittenberg University due to his ankle monitor, the Wittenberg men’s soccer team wrote on Facebook.
‘He took 2 trips to Cincinnati and Westerville to plead to the officers to remove the bracelet since he’s a soccer player and he felt embarrassed and humiliated when he’s among his classmates at the University,’ Bel’s father wrote on social media.
‘Last Friday, August 28, 2026, he told me, “Dad I felt humiliated. Since they gave uniforms to all my classmates at JROTC their uniform, but except me because of the bracelet.”‘
In a statement, Wright State University President Sue Edwards said that the school is ‘heartbroken by this devastating loss.’
‘Pierre was an active honors student who was passionate about soccer and was already actively engaged in his classes and the campus community. The University mourns the death of Pierre and extends our deepest condolences to his family, friends and loved ones during this unimaginably difficult time,’ Edwards continued.
The young man had been inducted into the National Honor Society at Springfield High School in November and served as co-captain of the soccer team as well as a lieutenant in the Marine Corps Junior Reverse Officers’ Training Corps
Bel wrote: ‘I came to this country to pursue my education. I didn’t come here to commit a crime or hurt anyone. Yet now I’m walking through the streets of the United States with a GPS monitor on my leg’
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement declined to comment on Bel’s death to The New York Times, however, they said in a statement that Bel had been fitted with the monitor in July as an alternative to detention.
‘No one is required to stay in the United States illegally and wear a monitor,’ the statement added.
Bel had been excitedly awaiting his first semester at college in Dayton after earning himself a scholarship.
On August 24, Bel posted a wheel of photographs of himself on Wright State University’s campus. The first photo featured Bel holding up a poster that read: ‘First Day of Class.’
‘My son was a bright, very responsible young man who helped his family and studied really hard,’ Bel’s father said.
The young man had been inducted into the National Honor Society at Springfield High School in November and served as co-captain of the soccer team as well as a lieutenant in the Marine Corps Junior Reverse Officers’ Training Corps, the Times reported.
In a letter from his Senior Marine Instructor posted to Bel’s Instagram, Bel was described as ‘an extremely dedicated and influential cadet.’
‘Mr Bel exhibits the type of individual character that makes our society great,’ the letter continued. ‘He has my highest endorsement and upmost confidence that he will make us proud and be value added to our nation.’
On August 24, Bel posted a wheel of photographs of himself on Wright State University’s campus. The first photo featured Bel holding up a poster that read: ‘First Day of Class’
In a letter from his Senior Marine Instructor posted to Bel’s Instagram, Bel was described as ‘an extremely dedicated and influential cadet’
Bel’s Senior Marine Instructor said in a character reference letter Bel had his ‘highest endorsement and upmost confidence that he will make us proud and be value added to our nation’
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said in a news conference that Bel’s death was a ‘horrible, horrible tragedy.’
‘I think that you know you’ve heard me talk a lot about what I consider to be a very misguided and wrong policy in regard to mass deporting people from this country,’ he continued.
‘[Bel] was well liked. He was in the junior ROTC. And, I’m told by those that knew him that he had great dreams about what he could do in this country and what he could contribute to this country.
‘I think we have to ask ourselves: Is this really good? Is it what we want done to people like this being picked up and facing deportation? Do we want that being done in our name?’
Miles Dooley, 18, played soccer with Bel during his high school senior year and recalled a recent memory of Bel winning a five-kilometer charity race for a local food bank.
‘He was so thrilled when he crossed that finish line,’ Dooley told the Times.
‘We had a lot of language barriers on the soccer team, and he often translated for the other kids who didn’t speak as good English.’
Kaitlyn Bitzan, a friend and former Texas Roadhouse co-worker of Bel’s, wrote on Facebook: ‘It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that someone who talked about his future with so much ambition isn’t going to get the chance to live it. you had graduated high school. you were supposed to start college. you were going to keep playing soccer. you had plans and goals and an entire life ahead of you that you were working toward.’
Miles Dooley, 18, played soccer with Bel during his high school senior year and recalled a recent memory of Bel winning a five-kilometer charity race for a local food bank
‘You deserved the chance to become the person you were working so hard towards. you deserved more soccer games, more late nights, more stupid conversations at work, more accomplishments, more birthdays, more friendships, more opportunities to help people, and so many more years to figure out exactly where life was going to take you,’ she added.
Guerline Jozef, executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, a nonprofit, told the Times: ‘This is one of the most tragic outcomes of the Trump cruel and inhumane attacks on the Haitian community.’
Our News Outlet reached out to ICE and the White House for comment.
