‘She showed love for everyone’: how did Daphy Michel end up frozen to death in a Pittsburgh bus shelter?

Summary

Haitian immigrant with mental illness found dead after ICE (immigration enforcement agency) released her in 20F weather wearing summer clothes Family to sue after woman released from ICE custody froze to death On the night of 26 February this year, the Michel family in Pennsylvania expected to see their loved one, Daphy, again very soon. She wasn’t having any problem,” he said through an interpreter in an interview with Pittsburgh’s Action News 4, in which he asked to remain anonymous. Michel was a resident of Charleroi and had been living in the US since 2022, having moved to the Pennsylvania community that has a significant Haitian immigrant population. Much detail from the three days spanning the moment Michel had the criminal charges against her dismissed in court, was arrested by ICE officers and released and then died a lonely death are still unclear. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS (Dept. of Homeland Security)) acknowledged that ICE processed Michel and placed her in removal proceedings before expected deportation – despite the fact she had a hearing in her asylum case coming up – right after she was released from Washington county jail to the south-west of Pittsburgh. The DHS then said in a statement on X in June that ICE had “NOTHING to do with this woman’s death” because “she passed away THREE days after ICE encountered her”. The DHS also said Michel was “an illegal alien from Haiti” and that she was released “with all of her belongings, including a fully charged phone, in sunny weather in the middle of Pittsburgh, where public transport is readily available”. The DHS has not responded to questions from the Guardian regarding this story. Joseph Murphy, an immigration and civil rights attorney representing members of the Michel family in Pennsylvania, disputes many of those federal claims. That hasn’t been the practice under either past or current US administrations,” said Adrianna Torres-García, deputy director of Free Migration Project, a Philadelphia-based organization that provides legal services for immigrants facing deportation. “Once people leave the detention center or jail where they were held, it’s as if it’s no longer ICE’s responsibility – they don’t worry about anything else, nor do they help them get to their destination, make plans or anything of the sort.