Hundreds of people gathered in Springfield, Ohio, on Saturday, October 3, for the funeral of Pierre Damas Bel, a 20-year-old Haitian student who died by suicide after losing his immigration protection. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine was among those at St. John Missionary Baptist Church, and many more watched the two-hour service online.

Bel was born in Tiburon, in southern Haiti, and grew up there and in Les Cayes. He came to the United States legally in 2024 through the Biden-era humanitarian parole program. At Springfield High School he joined the JROTC, played varsity soccer and graduated with honors this spring, while working at a restaurant. He wanted to become a doctor and build a hospital in Haiti, said immigrant advocate Yola Lamarre.

His obituary says he was headed to Wittenberg University on a full scholarship. After the Trump administration ended Temporary Protected Status for an estimated 350,000 Haitians, he decided to study at Wright State University instead. In July, Immigration and Customs Enforcement summoned him and fitted a GPS monitor on his ankle. He wrote on Instagram that it left him with “a feeling of shame and humiliation.”

“Whenever someone opens the front door, I have the sense that it is him coming home,” his father, Pierres Ronal Bel, said in a message read at the service. His stepmother, Landy St. Juste, said he filled out the job application that got her hired and acted as her interpreter.

Guerline Jozef, executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, which organized the service with Springfield's Haitian Support Center, blamed immigration policy for his death. “He was killed by the system,” she said. She said Bel twice asked ICE officers to remove the monitor.

Ohio State Representative Latyna M. Humphrey urged support for a bill in the U.S. Senate that would extend protections for Haitians. “We cannot let his death be in vain,” she said. A fundraiser for the family had passed $40,000.

If you or someone you know is struggling, help is available. In the United States, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, 24 hours a day. Support is available in Spanish, and interpreters are available for other languages.