A 51-year-old Chinese immigrant died hours after being taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in the Northern Mariana Islands, becoming the 57th immigrant detainee to die in government custody since President Donald Trump returned to office, according to NPR.
Lianyong Wei was found unresponsive during morning checks at a detention facility in Saipan on August 23, a day after ICE took him into custody pending removal proceedings. He was transported to a local emergency room and pronounced dead around 7:30 a.m., ICE said. His cause of death remains under investigation.
Wei had been arrested Aug. 21 by local authorities after allegedly attacking a family in their home. ICE said his legal immigration status had expired in 2019.
Department of Homeland Security rules require detainees to receive a basic health screening within 12 hours of intake. NPR reported that DHS did not answer questions about whether Wei received that screening, instead saying that "comprehensive medical care is provided from the moment individuals arrive and throughout the entirety of their stay."
Wei is at least the fifth Chinese national to die in ICE or U.S. Border Patrol custody since March 2025, according to Associated Press tracking cited by the South China Morning Post. His death was not publicly disclosed until more than a week later.
The Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles said it had raised "serious concerns" with U.S. authorities and requested a timely and thorough investigation, disclosure of the findings and measures to prevent similar deaths.
Chinese-American advocates also raised concerns about conditions in immigration detention. Gabriel Chin, a professor at the University of California, Davis School of Law, said Chinese and Asian Americans "should be very concerned about this."
NPR reported that 24 immigrant detainees have died in government custody since the beginning of 2026. The official tally excludes people who die after being released from ICE custody, following a June policy change that ended a Biden-era requirement to report deaths occurring within 30 days of release.
