Family, advocates question why woman was left without support in unfamiliar city after charges dropped and ICE custody ended
The Haitian community in Pennsylvania is grieving the sudden death of Daphy Michel, a 31-year-old asylum seeker who was found unresponsive at a Pittsburgh bus shelter on March 2 while still wearing an ICE ankle monitor.
Daphy had been detained in Washington County Jail since September 2025 on misdemeanor charges of harassment and terroristic threats. On February 26, a judge dismissed the charges entirely. Her brother, Carlo Michel, attended the hearing and reported that she appeared stable: “I saw my sister. She wasn’t having any problem.”
Instead of immediate release, ICE took custody due to an immigration detainer. Daphy was transported about an hour away to the ICE Pittsburgh Enforcement and Removal Operations office. There, she was enrolled in ICE’s Alternatives to Detention program, fitted with an electronic ankle monitor, and released the same day (February 27), alone, in an unfamiliar city, far from her family and community, with no notification to her brother.
Carlo waited anxiously outside the jail expecting to pick her up. Days passed in silence. On March 2, he received a devastating call from UPMC Presbyterian Hospital asking if he recognized the name Daphy Michel. “I replied… that it’s my sister,” he told WTAE Pittsburgh through an interpreter. He rushed to the hospital but could not save her. Doctors determined she suffered cardiac arrest.
Port Authority Police reported that maintenance workers found her shortly after 10 a.m. near the Monongahela Incline on East Carson Street. Officers performed CPR, used an AED, and administered Narcan before she was transported to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner is conducting an autopsy, with toxicology results pending.
The family, supported by immigration attorney Joseph Murphy, is questioning why Daphy was released alone in Pittsburgh without support, transportation back to her community, or any follow-up, especially given reports of her prior mental health concerns.
ICE maintains they followed protocol: she was enrolled in monitoring, released with her belongings (including a charged phone) on a sunny day with public transit available, and her death occurred three days later with “nothing to do” with their actions.
This incident has reignited scrutiny of ICE release practices, particularly for vulnerable detainees in unfamiliar locations without family or community support. Advocacy groups and local leaders have called for a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding her release and death.
L’Union Suite extends deepest condolences to Daphy Michel’s family, friends, and the entire Haitian community in Pennsylvania. We stand in solidarity and call for transparency, accountability, and humane treatment for all in immigration custody.
Justice and compassion must guide the way forward.
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