Haitian Student, 20, Dies After TPS Loss as 350,000 Face Removal Under Supreme Court Ruling
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Sep 2
Haitian Student, 20, Dies After TPS Loss as 350,000 Face Removal Under Supreme Court Ruling
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 2
Summary
Pierre Damas Bel, a 20-year-old Haitian-born student in Ohio, died Monday after walking into traffic on Interstate 70 in what his family says was a suicide.
Weeks after losing TPS protections, Bel had been required to wear an ankle monitor; his father said he became distraught, while Bel wrote that the device left him feeling ashamed, humiliated and treated like a criminal.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine called the death a "horrible" tragedy, and Wright State University said it was heartbroken over the loss of a student who had just begun his first semester.
The case unfolded after the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the Trump administration can end TPS for Haitian and Syrian migrants, a move that could expose about 350,000 Haitians to deportation.
In Springfield, where roughly 15,000 Haitians live, Bel's family and local advocates are tying his death to the administration's immigration crackdown, while ICE said it would not speculate during the investigation.