Overview
- The Ohio State Highway Patrol says Pierre Damas Bel stepped from his parked car into westbound lanes of I‑70 and was struck by a tractor‑trailer on Monday, and his family says he died by suicide.
- Bel’s family and friends say he became deeply distressed after ICE fitted him with an ankle monitor on July 29 and that classmates bullied him and excluded him from JROTC and soccer because of the device.
- Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirms it issued Bel an electronic monitor while his immigration case continued, and ICE says it will not comment on the cause of death while the highway patrol’s investigation is pending.
- Local faith leaders, immigrant‑rights groups and Ohio officials have held vigils and news conferences demanding a review of monitoring practices and signaling possible legal and legislative challenges.
- The incident comes after the Supreme Court allowed the end of TPS for Haitians, a change that affected roughly 300,000–350,000 people and led ICE to broaden use of ankle monitors as an alternative to detention, a policy that advocates say is stigmatizing and harmful.