Later today, (September 2, at 6 p.m.) the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Ohio (CAIR-Ohio, Central & Southern Region), together with local organizations, faith leaders, and activists, will hold a community vigil at Columbus City Hall to honor Pierre Damas Bel, a 20-year-old Haitian immigrant and Wright State University student who died by suicide Monday. Attendees are asked to bring candles.
[NOTE: This release discusses a death by suicide connected to immigration enforcement. If you or someone you know is struggling, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24/7. Call or text 988.]
Bel was an honor roll student at Springfield High School, a JROTC cadet, and a college soccer player. He came to the U.S. in 2024 through the CBP One program and settled in Springfield with his family. After losing Temporary Protected Status following a Supreme Court ruling, Bel was placed into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) “alternatives to detention” program in July and required to wear a GPS ankle monitor. He wrote publicly that the device left him carrying “shame and humiliation” he never imagined experiencing. His family says the resulting bullying and humiliation broke him.
Bel’s death follows the loss of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for roughly 300,000 Haitian nationals nationwide, including thousands in Springfield, where dozens have been detained in recent weeks. Advocates believe it is the first Springfield suicide connected to ICE.
“Pierre is dead because a policy stripped away his protection and threw his life into crisis,” said Khalid Turaani, Executive Director of CAIR-Ohio, in Columbus. “This wasn’t an accident of fate, it was the direct, expected result of an immigration system that has grown crueler by design, and a political climate that has made it acceptable to humiliate people like Pierre. Today it is Haitian families torn apart. As a Muslim civil rights organization, we know exactly how quickly it becomes someone else tomorrow, and it ends with anyone who dares to speak up. We are asking everyone in Columbus who believes in immigrant families’ dignity to stand with us Wednesday evening, grieve Pierre, and say clearly: we will not stay silent while our neighbors are humiliated and discarded. Silence is acquiescence. Show up. Speak up.”
The vigil is open to the public and press.
WHAT: Community Vigil for Pierre Damas Bel
WHEN: Wednesday, September 2, 2026, 6:00 p.m.
WHERE: Columbus City Hall, 90 West Broad Street, Columbus, OH 43215
CONTACT: Khalid Turaani, Executive Director, CAIR-Ohio, KTuraani@cair.com, (313) 888-1111
CAIR-Ohio, Central & Southern Region is the Ohio chapter of the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, working to protect civil liberties, build cross-community coalitions, and advocate for policies that uphold the dignity of Ohio’s Muslim, immigrant, and refugee communities.
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