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Name: Pierre Damas Bel

Age: 20

Date: August 31, 2026

Location: Springfield, OH

Agent: Immigration & Customs Enforcement

Cause of Death: Suicide

Damas Bel, a 20-year-old Haitian immigrant, died by suicide on August 31, 2026, in Springfield, Ohio. His death followed the termination of his Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and the traumatic humiliation of beginning college while wearing an electronic ankle monitor imposed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He had legally arrived in the United States in 2024 to reunite with his family in Springfield, where they built a life together under TPS until it all changed under the second term of the Trump presidency.

In July 2026, the Trump administration ended TPS for approximately 330,000 Haitians and began an aggressive electronic monitoring campaign targeting Haitians in Springfield. As a result, Pierre was fitted with an ICE ankle monitor for weeks, not because he had committed a crime, but because his legal status had been revoked. He was bullied by classmates over the monitor and told his father days before his death that he had not been issued an ROTC uniform because of it. About a month before his death, he posted a photo of the ankle monitor on Instagram, writing, “I didn’t come here to commit a crime or hurt anyone.”

On the day of his death, Pierre called his father from the shoulder of Interstate 70 in Springfield. His father told him to come home so they could talk. Forty minutes later, state troopers were called to the same stretch of highway, where the 20-year-old had walked into oncoming traffic and died by suicide. His father later told The New York Times, “Everything was fine with him before this happened. They put an ankle monitor on him and everything changed.”

Damas Bel was a high achieving student at Springfield High School, where he graduated with honors, was inducted into the National Honor Society, served as co-captain of the soccer team, and was a lieutenant in the Marine Corps Junior ROTC program. He had just begun his first semester at Wright State University on a scholarship, majoring in physiology and neuroscience with plans to attend medical school. Teachers described him as an asset to the school and community.

There is no doubt that ICE is responsible for the death of this young man. Despite being decorated with academic and athletic awards, he was treated like an animal by the system he worked so hard to become a part of only to be stripped of his dignity, his future, and ultimately his will to live. This country that sells you the idea that if you work hard and stay out of trouble, you will be successful but the reality could not be further from the truth. No matter how much you toe the line as a black immigrant, the system will find a way to criminalize and ruin your life.

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