Pierre Damas Bel, a 20-year-old Haitian immigrant and student at Wright State University, died by suicide August 31 after losing Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and being fitted with an electronic ankle monitor by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The TPS for about 340,000 Haitians in the US expired in July after the Supreme Court declined to intervene. Bel's family says he became withdrawn and felt stigmatized by the ankle monitor, which was one of several ways ICE tracks people who may be deported. The Trump administration has sent two deportation flights to Haiti since TPS for Haitian residents was canceled.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-05,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event.
The family of Pierre Damas Bel, a 20-year-old Haitian immigrant in Springfield Ohio, says he died by suicide August 31 after losing Temporary Protected Status.
asserted
he → say → Status
Bel, an avid soccer player and JROTC member, was beginning his freshman year as an honors neuroscience student at Wright State University.
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Bel → begin → University
But in July, Bel became one of about 340,000 Haitians in the US whose Temporary Protected Status expired, after the Supreme Court ruled not to intervene.
asserted
Court → become → US
In late July, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement fitted Bel with an electronic ankle monitor, one of the ways the agency tracks people who it may soon deport.
uncertain
it → fit → who
As the device interfered with and stigmatized his day-to-day life, Bel’s family says he became withdrawn.
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he → interfere → life
“After my son was outfitted with this ankle monitor, he felt like he was treated like an animal,” Bel’s father, Pierre Ronal Bel, wrote in a statement.
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father → outfit → statement
Pierre Damas Bel uploaded a picture of the ankle monitor on Instagram in late July.
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Bel → upload → July
“I came to this country to pursue my education.
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I → come → education
I didn’t come here to commit a crime or hurt anyone,” he wrote in the caption.
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he → come → caption
“Yet now I’m walking through the streets of the United States with a GPS monitor on my leg, carrying a feeling of shame and humiliation that I never imagined I would experience.”
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I → walk → shame
“I came here to study, to build my future, and to live a better [life] not to be treated like criminal,” he wrote.
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he → come → life
“So now, how am I supposed play college sports with a GPS monitor on my leg?”
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I → suppose → leg
Bel’s next asylum court hearing was scheduled for October.
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hearing → schedule → October
Vilés Dorsainvil, executive director of the Haitian Support Center in Springfield, is working to support the family.
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Dorsainvil → work → family
As Dorsainvil told Mother Jones in June, deportation to Haiti can be a matter of “life and death.”
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deportation → tell → life
The State Department maintains a “do not travel” advisory for risk of kidnappings, sexual assault, and robbery in Haiti.
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Department → maintain → Haiti
Haitians will face the same dangers if deported back, Dorsainvil said: “There is no safe place in Haiti.”
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Dorsainvil → face → Haiti
“No one is required to stay in the United States illegally and wear a monitor,” an ICE spokesperson said.
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spokesperson → require → monitor
“Any attempts to blame ICE for the death of Pierre Damas Bel are false.”
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attempts → blame → Bel
“These policies are what caused his untimely death,” Guerline Jozef of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, an Ohio legal aid nonprofit, told The Washington Post.
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Jozef → cause → Post
Ohio’s Republican governor, Mike DeWine, called Bel’s death a “horrible, horrible tragedy” and said that ending TPS for Haitian residents was “misguided and wrong,” Capital B reported.
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B → call → residents
The Trump administration has sent two deportation flights to Haiti since TPS for Haitians was canceled.
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TPS → send → Haitians
Meanwhile, another large group of TPS-holders may see their protected status expire in the coming week: About 180,000 people from El Salvador have held TPS status since 2001, but that could end on Sept. 9.
uncertain
that → see → Sept.
The Department of Homeland Security has not yet announced whether that designation will be extended or terminated.
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designation → announce → Security
