Hours before Ohio college student and athlete Pierre Damas Bel took his own life Monday morning, he called his father for help. It was around 8 a.m., and he was sitting inside his car on the side of Interstate 70, struggling mentally and emotionally with the shame of being forced to wear an ankle monitor by immigration officials. Bel, a 20-year-old Haitian student at Wright State University, said he had been bullied at school and felt “humiliated” by the device.
Belの父親は、息子に帰宅して話すよう伝えたと電子メールの声明で述べた。「11時頃、息子の身に何があったのか、トラックに身を投げたと警察が自宅に知らせに来ました」
Bel stepped into oncoming traffic and died from his injuries, the Ohio State Highway Patrol said. The Ohio State Highway Patrol confirmed in a statement that Bel parked on Interstate 70, exited his Toyota and entered the westbound lanes of the highway. His family blamed the humiliation brought on by the ankle monitor he had been wearing since July. Carl Ruby, a local pastor and immigration advocate, said in a statement that Bel’s family wanted people to know it was a suicide related to immigration policies.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement Says Pierre Damas Bel Arrived in the U.S. in 2024
Bel arrived in the U.S. in 2024 and applied for admission into the country using the now-defunct CBP One app, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in an emailed statement. He was released into the country and settled in Springfield with his parents and two brothers. Bel excelled in academics and athletics, becoming an honor roll student at Springfield High School and joining JROTC. He was recruited to play soccer at Wittenberg University and later enrolled as a first-year student at Wright State University.
Bel was one of the more than 300,000 Haitian immigrants who lost Temporary Protected Status (TPS) after the Supreme Court in June cleared the way for the Trump administration to end the program, which provides work authorization and protection from deportation to migrants fleeing countries that are deemed unsafe due to armed conflicts or natural disasters. In August, Springfield’s Haitian residents received letters to report to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Cincinnati. He had recently been fitted with a GPS ankle monitor by Immigration and Customs Enforcement as part of the department’s effort to track former TPS holders, according to posts on his social media account.
Belは7月の投稿で、自分はこの国で教育を受けるために来たのであり、犯罪を犯したり誰かを傷つけたりするために来たわけではないと述べ、それにもかかわらず今やGPSモニターを足につけて米国の大通りを歩いており、かつて経験するとは想像もしなかった恥辱と屈辱の念を抱えているとつづっていた。
Central Christian Church in Springfield Hosted a Press Conference Following the Suicide
Community leaders, advocates, and family members gathered for a press conference Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2026, at Central Christian Church in Springfield to demand an end to ankle GPS tracking for Haitian immigrants following the suicide. The family attended the press conference following a meeting with a local funeral home, but chose not to speak publicly. Instead, Pastor Carl Ruby read a statement written by Pierre Damas Bel’s father, Pierre Ronal Bel (also referred to as Ronald Bel).
Pierre Ronal Belは声明の中で、息子は足首モニターを装着させられた後、まるで動物のように扱われていると感じたと述べた。また、サッカー選手であり恥ずかしさや屈辱感を覚えていたため、取り外しを懇願するために息子はシンシナティとウェスタービルへ二度足を運んだという。さらに、ライト州立大学の学生である息子は大学でクラスメートに囲まれている際、犯罪者だと言われるなど多大なないじめを受けていたと付け加えた。
The elder Bel wrote that his son felt humiliated
when he was denied a JROTC uniform because of the situation. Ronald Bel’s statement also detailed the final communication: Pierre Ronal Belの声明には最後のやり取りについても詳述されており、朝8時3分にビデオ通話がかかってきて、息子はいじめのせいで気分が悪く、まともに考えられないと言ったという。父親はそれに対し、話せるように帰ってくるよう伝えた。末っ子を学校に連れて行く必要があるため学校へ送り届けたところ、11時頃になって警察が自宅に現れ、息子がトラックに飛び込んだと報告したとのことである。
Yola Lamarre, a member of the Haitian Community Network and a community advocate, spoke at the Tuesday press conference, noting that Bel enrolled at Wright State to study neuroscience and hoped to contribute to his community. Pierre Damas Belは犯罪者などではなかったが、あたかも犯罪者のように扱われていたとLamarreは述べ、仕事場、学校、ソーシャルメディア、TikTok、Instagramなどにおいて、自分が犯罪者ではないということを（本来その必要はないにもかかわらず）絶えず過剰に説明するのが彼の言語における常であったと指摘した。
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine Called the Death of the Haitian College Student a Tragedy
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine called the death of the Haitian college student fitted with an ankle monitor a horrible, horrible tragedy.
DeWine stated that Bel had great dreams regarding what he could accomplish in the country and what contributions he could make to it.
DeWineは、これは本当に良いことなのか、このような人々が連行されて強制送還に直面することが自分たちの望むことなのか、自分たちおろか名前のもとでそのようなことが行われることを望むのか、私たちは自らに問いかけなければならないと述べた。
DeWine reiterated his opposition to the mass deportation of Haitian immigrants from Ohio, calling the approach of President Donald Trump’s administration very misguided and wrong.
He said rescinding TPS from Haitians in Springfield was a mistake, both economically and practically, adding, デワイン知事はさらに、一国民として私たちも、このような大量送還という行為が自分たちの名の下に行われることを望むのだろうかと考えることが重要であり、大半のアメリカ人がそれを支持しているとは思えないと付け加えた。