An Ohio college student died in an apparent suicide. His family says he felt ‘humiliated’ by his ICE ankle monitor

By Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN

(CNN) — Pierre Damas Bel was an avid soccer player at his high school in Springfield, Ohio. He loved being part of JROTC, the US military-sponsored program that provides training to students. And friends and family say he headed to college planning to study neuroscience and excited about the future.

But as the 20-year-old Haitian immigrant began his freshman year at Wright State University, his loved ones say he became increasingly depressed over the ankle monitor he was issued in late July by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The device, they say, sidelined him from playing soccer, stopped him from getting a new ROTC uniform and prompted bullying from some of his classmates.

On Monday morning, the college student made a video call to his father in distress.

“He said, ‘Dad, I’m not feeling ok. I’m not thinking right … because of the bullies,’ and I told him, ‘Come home so that we can talk,’” Pierre Ronal Bel said in a statement.

Soon afterward, the Ohio State Highway Patrol says the 20-year-old got out of his Toyota Avalon on the shoulder of Interstate 70 and stepped into westbound lanes of traffic. The agency says its investigation remains open. Bel’s family says they were told he took his own life.

“Police showed up at my door,” his father said, “to report that my son had thrown himself under a truck.”

Bel was among a growing number of Haitians in Ohio outfitted with the ankle monitors after the Trump administration ended Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, which allowed them to work legally in the US and protected hundreds of thousands of people across the US from deportation. Immigrant rights advocates are pointing to the young man’s apparent suicide as they call for federal officials to stop using the monitors.

“Pierre died as a result of policy. And it’s our immigration policy that took his life,” Pastor Carl Ruby of the Central Christian Church in Springfield said at a news conference Tuesday, calling on Republican lawmakers to speak out and “put an end to the shackling program before other people end up taking their lives.”

ICE says it will continue issuing ankle monitors

Immigration and Customs Enforcement says Bel applied for admission into the United States in Brownsville, Texas, in March 2024 and was released into the country by the Biden administration. The agency issued Bel an ankle monitor on July 29 while he continued his immigration proceedings.

Asked about reports that the student had died by suicide after facing bullying for wearing the device, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson said in a written statement that the highway patrol’s investigation into the death is ongoing.

“ICE does not comment on the cause of death while that investigation is pending, and we will not speculate about unverified claims regarding other individuals,” the spokesperson said, reiterating the administration’s push for undocumented immigrants to “self-deport.”

“Remaining in the country illegally, while fighting removal, is a choice. Leaving with a free flight home and $2,600 is also a choice,” the spokesperson said. “ICE will continue to use detention or alternatives to detention as needed (for) those illegal aliens who stay in violation of the law.”

In a statement on its Facebook page, Wright State University did not directly address the bullying allegations, but said counseling and support services had been made available to students, faculty and staff.

“The safety and well-being of our students is the highest priority, and we remain dedicated to providing a campus community where every student feels safe, supported, included and welcomed,” the statement said.

Wright State University President Sue Edwards said the school community was heartbroken.

“Pierre was an active honors student who was passionate about soccer and was already actively engaged in his classes and the campus community,” she said. “The University mourns the death of Pierre and extends our deepest condolences to his family, friends and loved ones during this unimaginably difficult time.”

Social media posts described his struggle

According to his father, on Friday Bel said something had devastated him in his ROTC class at the school.

“He told me, ‘Dad, I felt humiliated … Everyone got uniforms, except for me, because of the bracelet,” Pierre Ronal Bel said.

Wright State said questions about the ROTC program and its participation requirements and uniform issuance should be directed to the United States Army Cadet Command.

A spokesperson for the US Army Cadet Command told CNN the ankle monitor wasn’t the reason Bel did not receive a uniform. Bel was not eligible to become a cadet in the ROTC program because of his immigration status, the spokesperson said, and therefore was taking the class as an elective and could not be issued a uniform. Class leadership was “very supportive” of him joining the class, the spokesperson said.

In recent social media posts, Bel described the ankle monitor and how difficult it was for him to wear it.

“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, carrying a feeling of shame and humiliation that I never imagined I would experience,” he wrote in a July 30 Instagram post, which included a series of pictures of him at awards and recognition ceremonies.

“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?”

The student also shared testimonials from Springfield High School teachers and coworkers at a Texas Roadhouse restaurant, apparently provided as letters of support in his pending immigration case, praising his work ethic and leadership skills.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican who’s been a vocal critic of the Trump administration’s decision to end TPS for Haitians, told reporters Tuesday that Bel’s death was a “horrible tragedy.” And at a news conference Tuesday in Springfield, community leaders and immigrant rights advocates slammed the way they said authorities had treated Bel and other Haitians, many of whom have been living in fear since their deportation protections were revoked.

The ankle monitors are part of a frequently used ICE program known as “alternatives to detention.” But advocates say that for many Haitians in Springfield, the devices evoke the painful history of shackles worn during slavery. The day before Bel’s death, demonstrators marched in a protest dubbed “Unshackle Springfield.”

Advocates estimate that ankle monitors have been issued to hundreds of Haitians in Springfield in the past month, and many in the Columbus area as well.

“There’s nothing illegal or criminalizing about Pierre Damas Bel, not even a traffic ticket, and it shouldn’t have to get to this point for this administration to understand that there’s blood on their hands,” said Yola Lamarre of the Haitian Community Network. “There’s nothing just about shackling people that have not ever committed a crime. … This was a situation that could have been prevented.”

Lamarre, who organizers described as a close friend and mentor to Bel, said she’d spoken with him multiple times about his concerns over the ankle monitor.

“Pierre shared a lot of depressive thoughts with me after we saw the ankle monitor situation being targeted to Haitians in Springfield,” she said, tearing up as she described her friend to reporters. “Pierre Damas Bel was not a criminal, but he was treated as one.”

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CNN’s Omar Jimenez and Lizzie Jury contributed to this report.