What threat did Pierre Damas Bel pose to America? It is a question I have been unable to shake since learning of the death by apparent suicide of the 20-year-old Haitian immigrant and college student in Springfield, Ohio.
Was he dangerous? From all reports he was not. Was he a convicted criminal? According to his mentor, Pierre did not have a criminal record — “not even a traffic ticket.” Was he hiding from immigration authorities? No.
Pierre had presented himself at a U.S. port of entry through a CBP One appointment in March 2024. He was released into the United States and was continuing through immigration proceedings. He had also applied for asylum. So why did this young man need an electronic ankle monitor?
Pierre was an honors graduate of Springfield High School, a former JROTC member, and a young man reportedly immensely proud of his 3.8 GPA. Just days before his death, he had begun his freshman year at Wright State University, where he planned to study neuroscience before eventually attending medical school.
He worked at Texas Roadhouse; he loved soccer and had been recruited to play at the collegiate level. In other words, Pierre Damas Bel was doing many of the things America constantly tells immigrants they should do: learn English, get an education, work, obey the law, and build something with their lives.
And still, on July 29, Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed an ankle monitor around his leg while his immigration case continued. DHS itself confirms that.
Think about what an ankle monitor means beyond immigration bureaucracy. It is visible to everyone — classmates, coworkers, church members, strangers walking past. And whether the government intends it or not, society associates that device with criminality.
Pierre apparently understood that stigma painfully well. According to reporting cited by his family and advocates, he wrote about feeling shame and humiliation after being fitted with the monitor. His father says Pierre was subsequently taunted by classmates and felt as though he was being treated “like an animal.”
His family says Pierre twice went to regional ICE offices asking for the monitor to be removed so that he could play college soccer. It remained! On August 31, Pierre died after parking his car and entering traffic on Interstate 70 and being struck by a tractor-trailer. His family says he died by suicide. We should be careful here. Suicide is complex, and it would be irresponsible to reduce Pierre’s death to one cause. Wright State has also said it has no confirmed information about complaints or investigations concerning alleged bullying.
But none of that eliminates the question America should be asking: why was this young man electronically monitored in the first place? DHS’s response after Pierre’s death was revealing.
The agency described him as a “non-detained illegal alien” and said no one is required to remain in the United States illegally while wearing a monitor. It pointed instead to the government’s self-deportation program, under which eligible immigrants can receive a government-arranged flight and $2,600 after leaving.
“Remaining in the country illegally, while fighting removal, is a choice,” DHS said. Pierre apparently believed he had another choice. He could pursue his immigration case; he could pursue asylum; he could attend college; he could study neuroscience; he could work; he could play soccer; he could build a life, and one day perhaps save lives too.
And there is another uncomfortable context we cannot ignore. This happened in Springfield, Ohio — home to thousands of Haitian immigrants and the same community thrust into the national spotlight in 2024 by Donald Trump and his MAGA Party, after false claims that Haitians were eating residents’ pets were amplified during the presidential campaign.
Two years later, this young Haitian man in that community was walking around a college campus wearing an ICE ankle monitor despite, according to those who knew him, having no criminal record.
Perhaps Trump’s America has become so consumed with labeling people “legal” and “illegal” that they have forgotten an important distinction: being in immigration proceedings is not the same thing as being a criminal.
Pierre Damas Bel was 20 years old, pursuing an education and a future. He could have contributed a lot to America and its health care system. Yet, America decided he needed to be tracked everywhere he went.
So I return to the question with which I began: what threat exactly did young Pierre Damas Bel pose to America?
Felicia J. Persaud is the founder and publisher of NewsAmericasNow.com, the only daily syndicated newswire and digital platform dedicated exclusively to Caribbean Diaspora and Black immigrant news across the Americas.
