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A 52-year-old Chinese woman who had been detained by U.S. Border Patrol officers after overstaying her visa died by suicide while in custody at a border station in Yuma, Arizona, prompting a wave of concern over the treatment and monitoring of detainees.
The woman, whose identity has not been released, was taken into custody on March 26 in Needles, California. According to officials, she was allegedly found in the country illegally after overstaying a B-1/B-2 visa, which permits short-term travel for tourism or business. She was then transferred to the Yuma Border Patrol Station in Arizona, where she was later discovered unresponsive in a holding cell’s bathroom area.
Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington, the ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, confirmed the incident on Wednesday and issued a strong rebuke of the agency’s handling of the woman’s care.
Jayapal stated that surveillance footage reviewed by investigators showed the woman fashioning a noose and hanging herself inside a bathroom stall, a space that was not fully visible to the station’s surveillance cameras. She further revealed that despite welfare checks being logged, initial findings suggest agents may have failed to carry them out properly.
“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,” said Jayapal in a statement. “When Customs and Border Protection agents take a person into custody, they are responsible for their well-being, full stop.”
“This is yet another preventable death that calls into question the conditions in which immigrants are detained,” Jayapal said. “It is urgent that we hold these systems accountable.”
Internal Investigations Launched
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency has since launched an internal investigation into the incident. A spokesperson confirmed that all in-custody deaths are “taken seriously and are thoroughly investigated.” The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General has also been notified and is conducting a separate review.
The timeline of the agency’s response has raised further alarms. Jayapal disclosed that there was a two-hour delay between the moment the woman was seen attempting suicide and when she received medical attention. Emergency services transported her to a nearby hospital, but she was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
The tragic incident coincided with the arrest of two Chinese nationals, a woman aged 52 and a 38-year-old man, in a minivan during a traffic stop in Needles. The U.S. Border Patrol’s Yuma Sector had reported seizing over $220,000 in cash hidden inside duffel bags, raising suspicions of possible money laundering. It remains unclear whether the deceased woman is the same individual involved in that arrest.
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