By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-04-04 16:41:34 | Updated at 2025-04-05 08:02:58
15 hours ago
A Chinese woman who was detained at the US-Mexico border has died by suicide while being held by immigration officials.
The woman, 52, who has not been named, had been taken into custody for overstaying a visitor visa before she was transferred to a facility in Yuma, Arizona, where she died by suicide.
It is unclear what the woman's exact cause of day was, with an ICE spokesperson telling the Tuscon Sentinel that she was found 'unresponsive in a cell' at the Yuma Border Patrol Station.
The shocking incident was revealed Friday by Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, who said in a scathing statement that border authorities may have acted improperly.
The representative, who is a ranking member of the House subcommittee overseeing immigration, said initial reports raised concerns over whether officers had properly conducted welfare checks on the woman.
'There is no excuse for why agents cannot verify if some of the necessary welfare checks occurred — or why some of the documented welfare checks were incorrectly reported,' Jayapal said.
Jayapal said that officials at ICE could not verify if any checks had actually taken place, and said she was also concerned about the conditions immigrants were being kept in at the facilities.
'Another preventable death only increases that concern,' she said, per the New York Times.
A Chinese woman who was detained at the US-Mexico border near Yuma, Arizona (pictured) has died by suicide while being held by immigration officials
The shocking incident was revealed Friday by Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, who said in a scathing statement that border authorities may have acted improperly
Jayapal said the woman had been in the US on a B-1/ B-2 visa, which is a temporary visa for tourism or business purposes.
After the woman was found unresponsive, ICE staff provided medical assistance and she was raced to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead, an ICE spokesperson said.
Officials said the death was reported to the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, and an office that oversees ICE agency conduct has launched an investigation.
The circumstances surrounding the woman's detainment and her identity are not clear, however the New York Times noted that it coincides with the arrest of two Chinese people last week.
The arrests, announced by the US Border Patrol Yuma Sector's Facebook page, said a 52-year-old woman and 38-year-old man had been arrested with more than $220,000 hidden in duffel bags.
Officials said agents stopped a minivan and found the illegal immigrants inside carrying blocks of money wrapped in aluminum foil in two duffel bags.
The woman's detainment coincides with the arrest of a 52-year-old woman with more than $220,000 hidden in duffel bags after she was found to be an illegal immigrant. It is not clear if the arrested woman is the same one who took her life in Arizona
The agency said it planned to charge the two Chinese nationals under 8 U.S.C. 1182., a law that makes certain people ineligible to receive a visa or enter a country on ground that include suspected money laundering or criminal activity.
Officials said they believed the $220,000, which was seized, was linked to illegal activity.
It is not clear on Friday if the woman arrested in that incident is the same as the woman who died in custody.
