The Department of Homeland Security responded to the death of 20-year-old Haitian student Pierre Damas Bel by defending ICE’s use of ankle monitors and saying that migrants who do not want to wear a GPS monitor have another option: self-deportation.
In a statement released after Bel’s death, DHS said, “No one is required to stay in the United States illegally and wear a monitor,” adding that migrants can leave the country through the CBP Home app and may receive a government-arranged flight and a cash payment after departure is confirmed.
The statement came after reporting that Bel, a first-year student at Wright State University, died Monday morning after he stepped into traffic and was struck by a tractor-trailer on Interstate 70. Investigators said the circumstances of his death remain under investigation, but his parents described it as a suicide.
While Bel’s family and Haitian community advocates described grief, humiliation and fear connected to ICE’s ankle-monitor requirement, DHS issued a sharply defensive response. The department referred to Bel as a “non-detained illegal alien from Haiti” and said ICE would not comment on the cause of death while the Ohio State Highway Patrol investigation remains pending.
ICE also rejected any suggestion that the agency was responsible.
In a statement to WSYX, an ICE spokesperson said: “Any attempt to blame ICE for the death of Pierre Damas Bel is FALSE.”
For Bel’s family, the ankle monitor was not just a tracking device. His father, Ronald Bel, said that after his son was fitted with the monitor, “he felt like he was treated like an animal.” Bel’s father and community advocates said the young student was bullied because of the ankle monitor.
Community advocate Yola Lamarre said Bel had been forced to keep explaining that he was not a criminal.
“Pierre Damas Bel was not a criminal, but he was treated as one,” Lamarre said, according to WSYX.
DHS framed the case in enforcement terms. The agency said Bel entered the United States on March 5, 2024, through a CBP One appointment and was later placed by ICE in an alternatives-to-detention program with an ankle monitor on July 29, 2026, while his immigration proceedings continued.
That response has deepened frustration among advocates who say the federal government is ignoring the human impact of its immigration policies. As a Haitian family mourned a 20-year-old student, DHS emphasized illegal presence, monitoring, voluntary departure and deportation.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine also raised broader concerns about mass deportations, saying he has spoken about the impact they could have on Springfield, Clark County, the Miami Valley and the state of Ohio. He questioned whether Americans truly support mass deportation being carried out in their name.
Wright State University expressed condolences, describing Bel as an active honors student who loved soccer and had already become involved in his classes and campus life. The university said counseling and support services were available, while also stating it had no confirmed information about bullying complaints or investigations tied to Bel.
Bel had planned to join Wright State’s club soccer team.
Before enrolling there, he had been recruited by Wittenberg University, whose men’s soccer team said he had been tagged with an ICE ankle monitor just days before preseason training began and was no longer able to play.
For Springfield’s Haitian community, Bel’s death has become more than a local tragedy. It is now part of a larger conversation about immigration enforcement, public stigma, ankle monitors, bullying, and the emotional toll placed on young immigrants and their families.
DHS says ICE is not to blame. Bel’s family and advocates say the system treated him like a criminal before his life ended. What remains clear is that a Haitian student is dead, a family is grieving, and the federal agency at the center of the controversy has offered a defense of its policy — not an apology.
https://ctninfo.com/illegal-immigran…damas-bels-death/
Source: WSYX.
This article was originally written in English. Other language versions are produced using AI translation software, and errors are possible — the English version is authoritative. CTN also uses AI to convert text into audio.
