WASHINGTON, D.C. — The death of a 20-year-old Haitian immigrant by suicide in Springfield is spurring calls for changes to immigration policy.
Pierre Damas Bel, a Haitian immigrant and freshman at Wright State University, stepped in front of a truck on a highway and died on Aug. 31. Damas Bel’s family said he suffered from bullying and humiliation after immigration officials required him to wear an ankle monitor.
Damas Bel’s father, Ronald Bel, wrote in a statement shared at a press conference,
“After my son was outfitted with the ankle monitor, he felt like he was treated like an animal. He took two trips, to Cincinnati and Westerville, to plead with the officers to remove the bracelet, since he’s a soccer player. And he felt embarrassed and humiliated when he was among his classmates at the university.”
A vigil was held Saturday in Springfield to honor Damas Bel and call for immigration policy reforms, including the suspension of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)’s ankle monitoring program.
“We don’t want him to be forgotten. His family wants the world to know what happened to him. And I think it’s a symbol of the despair that I’m hearing and seeing every day,” said Marjory Wentworth, a Haitian community advocate and member of the Springfield-based advocacy coalition G92.
In fiscal year 2026, ICE reported 53,192 people fitted with ankle monitors, a 76% increase from 2025. It is unclear how many of Springfield’s roughly 15,000 Haitian residents with now-lapsed Temporary Protected Status have been required to wear an ankle monitor.
ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the status of the ankle monitor program.
The House members representing the area in Congress have so far been silent on the issue of ankle monitors.
Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, whose district includes Springfield, has not publicly commented on Damas Bel’s death, and his office did not respond to a request for comment.
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, whose district was redrawn to include Springfield starting next year, has been a strong advocate for the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement crackdown.
“We’re looking at it as tragic what happened to this young man,” Jordan told Spectrum News in an interview at the GOP midterm convention in Dallas last week. “But you got to enforce the law. And President Trump’s been clear, and the voters elected him in ‘24 and elected us, elected me in ‘24 to make sure our borders are secure, and we followed along.”
Legislation to extend Haitian TPS passed the House in April, with the support of Turner but not of Jordan. It remains stalled in the Senate without the votes to move forward.
“It’s really disappointing,” Wentworth said. “And, you know, I think people just feel like we have to press harder.”
