CBP Confirms In-Custody Death of Chinese National
A Chinese woman died by suicide at the notoriously inhumane Blythe Border Patrol station in Yuma, Arizona
Last week, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-07) released a statement documenting the death of a 52-year-old unnamed Chinese woman at a Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) station in Yuma, Arizona. Officials initially indicated that her death took place out of the view of cameras. Jayapal said agents failed to conduct welfare checks as required.
The woman was taken into custody last week in California during a traffic stop for being in the country on an expired visitor visa by agents assigned to roving patrol operations. A 38-year-old Chinese male was also taken into custody. The woman was later transferred to Arizona.
“This detainee died by suicide, and initial reports have indicated that certain CBP procedures to ensure the safety and welfare of individuals in custody were not conducted," said Jayapal. “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."
In a press release confirming her death, CBP verified Jayapal’s claims of agents not performing their required checks after a review by CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR). The agency admitted that her death did not take place out of the view of the cameras, and a Border Patrol Processing Coordinator (BPPC) said the logged checks that were recorded on as many as six occasions were not conducted.
According to the press release, surveillance footage also showed the woman creating a noose and tying it around her neck. No medical response occurred for nearly two hours.
“OPR's investigation revealed that the last interaction with the woman occurred at 10:29 p.m. on March 28, 2025. Following that interaction, welfare checks were recorded on six occasions before she was discovered unresponsive on March 29, 2025, at 5:57 a.m. OPR’s interviews with the relevant USBP personnel revealed that these welfare checks were not performed.”
CBP’s Tucson sector facilities, like most others, have a history of treating migrants inhumanely after taking them into custody. Photos leaked in 2022 reveal that years of overcrowded, unsanitary, and cruel conditions continue despite a long record of deaths and legal challenges. The photos showed people in a warehouse and outdoor areas where they sat on a concrete floor under shade from silver mylar blankets
In 2015, photos from the Tucson sector were obtained, showing unsanitary conditions. Those circumstances do not appear to have changed.
“OPR’s review of detention cell surveillance footage showed that on March 29, 2025, at approximately 4:42 a.m., the woman tore a mylar blanket with her teeth, pulled a strip from the mylar blanket lengthwise, twisted the strip, and formed it into a loop at one end. At approximately 4:47 a.m., the woman went behind the wall in the cell that provides privacy for people using the restroom. The woman remained standing and was visible in the video footage from the chest up for approximately one minute. The woman then sat down with her head still visible, then placed the loop around her neck. At approximately 4:48 a.m., the woman’s body moved forward out of camera view.”
According to CBP, OPR is still reviewing this incident. And stated that the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General was notified. CBP also said their personnel notified the Chinese Consulate of the woman’s death. While the Pinal County Medical Examiner’s Office (OME) preliminary report indicated the cause of death was suicide by asphyxia, the official report and cause of death will not be provided until all toxicology results have been returned, according to the press release.
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Thanks important story. Suicide is in Bushnell’s words, “about to engage in an extreme act of protest but, compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it’s not extreme at all” is what people feel they’re left with in the face of the government’s immense power to squash liberty after due process is eviscerated.
Do we know which officials initially said the suicide took place out of view of the cameras? What made them come clean?