Haitian college student in Ohio dies by apparent suicide after losing TPS status, family says

A Haitian-born college student in Ohio died in what his family believes to be a suicide after he lost his temporary protected status protections amid the Trump administration’s termination of Haiti’s TPS designation.

Pierre Damas Bel, 20, died on Monday as he walked into oncoming traffic after parking his vehicle on the right shoulder of Interstate 70, according to Ohio State Highway Patrol.

"Bel succumbed to fatal injuries at the scene," Ohio State Highway Patrol said in a statement, adding that the incident remains under investigation.

Ohio Gov.

Mike DeWine, a Republican, said Tuesday that Bel's death is a "horrible, horrible tragedy." SUPREME COURT'S LATEST IMMIGRATION RULING WILL CAUSE AMERICANS TO 'DIE AND SUFFER' ATTORNEY WARNS "He graduated from high school here," DeWine said.

"He was well liked.

He was in the junior ROTC.

And, I’m told by those that knew him that he had great dreams about what he could do in this country and what he could contribute to this country." "I think we have to ask ourselves: Is this really good? Is it what we want done to people like this being picked up and facing deportation? Do we want that being done in our name," he added.

Bel's father told The Haitian Times that his son was "distraught" after weeks of wearing an ankle monitor.

He was among some Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio area who have been required by the Department of Homeland Security to wear ankle monitors, after the U.S.

Supreme Court cleared the way for the administration to end Haiti’s TPS designation, potentially exposing roughly 350,000 Haitian nationals to removal.

"In his last days, I did not recognize him as he was such an energetic kid who loves life, friends and family, and education," Bel's father, Pierre Ronal Bel, said in a statement read by Pastor Carl Ruby.

Bel's father said he was "treated like an animal" after receiving his ankle monitor, according to WSYX.

His father told The Washington Post that Bel left home before 8 a.m. on Monday and called shortly after to tell his father he was not feeling okay mentally.