A Chinese national believed to be in the United States illegally took her own life recently at a Border Patrol detention facility in Arizona.
On March 29, a 52-year-old Chinese woman — who had reportedly overstayed her B-1/B-2 visitor visa — fashioned a noose at the BP facility in Yuma and hanged herself. According to a statement from Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the woman did not receive medical attention “for nearly two hours.”
Jayapal also alleged that facility officials mishandled required wellness checks on the woman. Though logs showed that “multiple welfare checks were conducted,” a processing coordinator apparently indicated to the congresswoman that he did not conduct them. The Customs and Border Protection Office of Professional Responsibility was likewise “unable to verify” whether those checks even occurred, her statement said.
A CBP spokesperson confirmed the death on Thursday, the Tucson Sentinel reported, five days after it happened. According to the spokesperson, the woman was found “unresponsive in a cell.”
“Emergency Medical Services were called to the station and transported the woman to the local hospital, where she was pronounced deceased.”
An agency spokesperson then told the Sentinel on Friday that the suicide occurred just out of the range of surveillance cameras that constantly monitor the facility. “In this case, Border Patrol’s ability to observe the incident was limited due to privacy constraints — the incident occurred in a bathroom stall where cameras were not able to capture the full angle,” the spokesperson said.
The CBP OPR has been investigating the incident, and the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General has been notified, the agency claimed.
“All in-custody deaths are tragic, taken seriously, and are thoroughly investigated by CBP.”
Agents seized the money for possible ‘laundering,’ claiming it was likely the proceeds of some other ‘illegal activity.’
On March 26, a few days before the woman’s death, Border Patrol conducted a traffic stop on a minivan carrying four Chinese nationals near Needles, California. Two of those Chinese nationals — a 36-year-old male and a 52-year-old female — were arrested for alien inadmissibility after they were determined to be “illegally present in the U.S.,” said a Facebook post from the BP Yuma Sector.
Moreover, agents discovered $220,000 wrapped in aluminum foil and stashed in duffel bags inside the vehicle. Agents seized the money for possible “laundering,” claiming it was likely the proceeds from some other “illegal activity.”
Whether the Chinese woman arrested during that incident is the same Chinese woman who later committed suicide has not been confirmed. Both were 52 years old at the time of their arrest, and both were brought to the Yuma station after being arrested near Needles, California.
Blaze News left a message with the Yuma Border Patrol Sector, asking whether they are the same person, but did not receive a response. The name of the deceased woman has not been released.
Rep. Jayapal indicated in her statement that this latest death at a BP facility is part of larger humanitarian problem at immigration agencies in general. To demonstrate, she pointed to two deaths at a Northwestern facility in 2024.
“When Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents take a person into custody, they are responsible for their well-being, full stop,” she said.
“Reports have consistently shown that the United States falls far short of its obligations to treat all detained people with dignity and fairness.”
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