Haitian Student Dies by Suicide; Family Cites ICE Ankle Monitor

Pierre Damas Bel, a 20-year-old Haitian man, died by suicide on Monday after being struck by a tractor-trailer on Interstate 70 in Springfield, Ohio.

His family, friends, and his own statements indicate that the Trump administration’s immigration policy contributed to his distress. Bel's behavior reportedly changed after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) fitted him with an electronic ankle monitor in July. His father, Pierres Ronal Bel, 40, stated his son felt he was treated like an animal due to the device.

Bel posted on Instagram in July, expressing shame and humiliation from wearing the GPS monitor. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine called the incident a horrible, horrible tragedy. Lauren Hodges, a senior attorney at Amica, a migrant-rights advocacy organization, said these devices cause really harm to mental health. Amica filed a lawsuit in June against the Trump administration over the use of GPS monitors, with approximately 50,000 people wearing them at the time.

Bel, a Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipient, had recently started courses at Wright State University after graduating high school with honors. The ankle monitor prevented him from playing soccer without it beeping and from being fitted for a JROTC uniform, leading to bullying at school where he was called a criminal. His father reported that Bel made two trips to ICE offices to plead to the officers to remove the bracelet.

Guerline Jozef, co-founder of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, stated, that ankle monitor is what killed him, and attributed his death to the "Trump administration’s removing of TPS." More than 40 Haitians have been detained by ICE in Springfield since the Supreme Court ruling allowed TPS termination for several countries, including Haiti. Pastor Gilbert Joubert Adrien was detained on August 20, and another pastor from the First Haitian Evangelical Church of Springfield was detained last week. The Haitian Support Center estimates over 100 people in Springfield have been outfitted with ankle monitors.