Carl Ruby, senior pastor of Central Christian Church in Springfield, Ohio, has blamed United States immigration policy for the death of Haitian Wright State University student Pierre Damas Bel, who took his own life Monday by walking into interstate traffic following the loss of his Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which allowed him to live and work in the country.
“People die of lots of things. Some people die of cancer. Some people die of accidents. Some people die by suicide. Pierre died as a result of policy,” said Ruby during a press conference he organized on behalf of Springfield G92, a coalition of churches, clergy and faith advocates across Ohio.
“Pierre was a beautiful young man, smart, kind. … It was immigration policy that took his life.”
Bel, 20, who is also a recent graduate of Springfield High School, died around 8:45 a.m. on I-70, near Clark County’s Harmony Township, according to a statement from the Ohio State Highway Patrol cited by The Cincinnati Enquirer. He reportedly parked his Toyota Avalon on the interstate’s right shoulder, exited the car, and “entered the westbound lanes of Interstate 70.” He was struck by a 2001 Kenworth tractor-trailer tanker combination and pronounced dead at the scene.
The transcript of a 911 call cited by the Springfield News-Sun shows the semi-truck driver telling the dispatcher a man “got out of his car and jumped right out in front of my semi.” The driver said the man was “under my truck.”
“He jumped right out in front of me. Oh my God; I killed him,” the driver said.
Other witnesses reported to police that Bel threw himself in front of the truck.
On June 25, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a favorable decision concerning the Trump administration’s TPS terminations, and the Haiti TPS designation was terminated, effective July 27, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). TPS had prevented Bel and more than 300,000 Haitians across the United States from being deported and allowed them to live and work here temporarily due to adverse conditions in their country that made it unsafe for them to return home.
In a statement to CBS News, ICE confirmed Bel entered the U.S. with the government’s permission in 2024 under a now-defunct Biden-era program that allowed migrants waiting in Mexico to request a time to enter the country through a smartphone app known as CBP One. He joined his father, mother and two brothers, who had arrived about three years earlier.
The immigration enforcement agency confirmed with CBS News that it fitted the 20-year-old Bel with an ankle monitor on July 29 “while he continued in his immigration proceedings.” Officials rejected “any attempt to blame ICE for the death.”
“No one is required to stay in the United States illegally and wear a GPS monitor,” ICE said. “Illegal aliens have a lawful, voluntary option: they can self-deport through the CBP Home app. Eligible participants receive a government-arranged flight home and a $3,000 check.”
On his Instagram account, Bel highlighted how he excelled as an honors student at Springfield High School, played varsity soccer, participated in the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, and earned a scholarship to attend Wright State University to study neuroscience thanks to hard work and faith.
“From Haiti to the graduation stage. … Hard work, faith, and perseverance brought me here.
Class of 2026,” he wrote on Instagram after he graduated from high school in May.
A day after he was fitted with an ankle monitor by ICE in July, Bel publicly mourned his “shame.”
“I came to this country to pursue my education. I didn’t come here to commit a crime or hurt anyone. Yet now I’m walking through the streets of the United States with a GPS monitor on my leg, carrying a feeling of shame and humiliation that I never imagined I would experience,” he wrote in a statement on Instagram. “I came here to study, to build my future, and to live a better [life] not to be treated like criminal. So now, how am I supposed [to] play college sports with a GPS monitor on my leg? ICE.”
In a statement on Facebook Monday night, Pastor Ruby again placed blame immigration policy for Bel’s death.
“I’m sitting with a family right now whose son threw himself in front of a semi-truck today after being teased by fellow students at Wright State about his ankle monitor,” Ruby said. “I wish President Trump could hear the mom’s wails. The family wants people to know that this was a suicide and they want people to know that President Trump, Stephen Miller and Markwayne Mullin’s inhumane immigration policies made this happen.”
In April, Bel seemed excited about starting college. In an Instagram post from Wright State University, he shared how his goal was to become a neurosurgeon.
“I’m passionate about understanding the brain and excited to meet people who share similar interests in science, medicine, and personal growth,” he said in his bio.
At a news conference on Tuesday, his father, Pierres Ronal Bel, said his son had called him at 8:03 a.m. Monday and said, “Dad, I am not feeling OK.”
He complained about being bullied because of the ankle monitor.
“I told him, ‘Come, come home so that we can talk,’” the elder Bel said.
Around 11 a.m., the grieving father said police showed up at the family’s home and told him “that my son had thrown himself under a truck.”
Wright State University confirmed that Bel had started classes there only a week ago and said the community was being provided with grief counseling services.
“We are heartbroken by this devastating loss. Pierre was an active honors student who was passionate about soccer and was already actively engaged in his classes and the campus community,” Sue Edwards, president of Wright State University, said in a statement.
“The University mourns the death of Pierre and extends our deepest condolences to his family, friends and loved ones during this unimaginably difficult time.”
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