Haitian student dies by apparent suicide after TPS loss

A 20-year-old Haitian immigrant student died by apparent suicide on Monday, August 31, 2026, after losing his protected immigration status and being fitted with an electronic ankle monitor, according to his family and community advocates. Pierre Damas Bel was struck by a tractor-trailer on Interstate 70 near Springfield, Ohio, in what authorities are investigating as a suicide. His family stated that hours before his death, he called his father expressing distress and mentioning bullying related to the ankle monitor he had been required to wear by immigration officials. Bel, who arrived in the U.S. in 2023 or 2024, had excelled academically and athletically. He was an honor roll student, a member of JROTC, and a soccer player who had recently enrolled at Wright State University with aspirations of attending medical school. However, his life took a difficult turn in late July 2026 when his Temporary Protected Status (TPS) expired. This status, which had allowed him and hundreds of thousands of other Haitians to live and work legally in the U.S. due to conditions in their home country, was allowed to lapse following a Supreme Court decision.