A tragedy, not only of Pierre, but the hundreds of Haitians who are being deported right now and the many more who face deportation – as a result of Trump’s inhumane policies to end TPS and the scapegoating of all our immigrant and refugee families. No other alternative – but to keep on organizing!
Black With No Chaser
Pierre Damas Bel was 20 years old. He died Monday morning in Clark County, Ohio. His family says he took his own life.
Here is who he was. Class of 2026, Springfield High School. National Honor Society. Marine Corps JROTC. Varsity soccer, forward and midfielder. Scholarship recipient. He had just finished his first week at Wright State, studying neuroscience, headed for medical school. He was the oldest of three.
In July, this administration stripped Temporary Protected Status from Haitians in Ohio and told them to report to an ICE office in Blue Ash. The ones who showed up were fitted with ankle monitors. Pierre was one of them.
He posted about it on July 30. Twenty photos. His diploma, his awards, his team, his plans, and the monitor on his leg. He wrote that he came here for his education. “I didn’t come here to commit a crime or hurt anyone.”
He asked ICE to remove it. They refused.
He stopped eating. He stopped going to work. His father says the device made it hard to move, so soccer went too. His first week on campus, students taunted him about it. He called his father Monday morning and said he was not okay.
Remember what came before this. On a national debate stage, America was told that Haitians in Springfield, Ohio were eating people’s pets. A lie, repeated by the most powerful men in this country until it hardened into policy. First they made a whole people a punchline. Then they took their papers. Then they strapped a tracker to a kid who wore a Marine Corps uniform to school.
His father said the government treated his son like an animal.
Ohio’s Republican governor asked the question out loud: do we want this done in our name?
Suicide is never one thing. It is layers. But this country decided a 20-year-old honors student was a threat and made him carry the tool of their xenophobia on his body, in public, every single day.
He should still be here. He was going to be a doctor.
If you or someone you love is struggling, call or text 988. You can also text HOME to 741741. Please reach out.
Rest in peace, Pierre Damas Bel you deserved better. You deserved to be treated with humanity. Our prayers are with the family.
