Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin says he feels for the family of a Haitian immigrant who died by apparent suicide earlier this week, but that his department isn't to blame.
Mullins was speaking during a visit to Warren County in Ohio to promote ICE cooperation with local law enforcement. He also said DHS won't stop using ankle monitors in its efforts to deport Haitians who no longer have Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
Pierre Damas Bel came from Haiti to Springfield in 2024. Shortly after TPS ended in late July, the 20-year-old received an ankle monitor from ICE. On Monday, his father says Bel called him to express emotional distress. Shortly after, the Ohio State Highway Patrol says Bel took his own life.
"It breaks my heart for the parents," Mullin said of Bel's death. "But we were following our procedures; we did our job. What happened when he went home... he wasn't in our custody. We're not responsible for that."
Bel was studying at Wright State University and, according to immigration advocates, was a member of the Marine's Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps.
ICE placed him and a number of other Haitians in Springfield on ankle monitors shortly after a July 27 federal court decision allowed the Trump administration to end TPS for Haitian immigrants. The protected immigration status was first granted to Haitians following a massive 2010 earthquake in the country that disrupted basic infrastructure and rule of law there.
The Trump administration argued the country is now safe to return to as its reason for ending Haitian TPS.
"TPS is just that — it's temporary," Mullin said Friday. "It was never designed to be permanent."
Critics point out, however, that Haiti is still high on the list of places the U.S. Secretary of State's office has declared unsafe to travel to.
Many Haitians living in Springfield and nearby were ordered to check in at ICE field offices and wear the monitors ahead of future immigration court dates. Those devices have caused many required to wear them to feel shame, according to immigration advocates.
"Someone will look at me like, 'This guy is a criminal,' " Springfield resident and Haitian immigrant Phillip Vil told WVXU after a recent check in.
Bel expressed similar feelings about the monitor in a social media post he made in late July.
"I came to this country to pursue my education," Bel wrote in an Instagram post. "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 I never imagined I would experience."
287(g) Contracts
Mullin was in Warren County to meet with regional ICE field office managers and Warren County Sheriff's Office officials for a roundtable discussion on 287(g) contracts. Those contracts allow local law enforcement agencies, like the Warren County Sheriff's Office, to conduct limited immigration enforcement actions.
Warren County's 287(g) agreement with ICE is under what is called the task force model, one of several ways local agencies can chose to work with federal immigration authorities.
Jail Division Captain Brian Payne told Mullin and other officials the county is currently holding 14 ICE detainees, all of whom were picked up on local misdemeanor or felony charges.
After the roundtable, Mullin answered questions on a number of other subjects, including an April incident in which off-duty police officers from Gratis, Ohio visited Cincinnati Public Schools looking for immigrant students. The visits caused the suspension of the department's 287(g) contract and led to the firing of the Gratis chief of police.
Mullin defended ICE contractors visiting schools looking for immigrant students, saying they weren't seeking arrests but merely doing welfare checks.
Asked about the tense situation in Springfield, which is home to as many as 15,000 Haitian immigrants, Mullin told reporters his agency intends to continue using GPS monitors and detaining and deporting Haitians who were relying on TPS.
"We've made 380 arrests in Springfield," he said. "We're going to continue to push."
Anyone considering suicide or in crisis can text or call 988 to reach the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
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