A woman being detained in Arizona by US border patrol for overstaying her visa has died by suicide, according to Democratic congresswoman Pramila Jayapal.
The woman, a 52-year-old Chinese national, had first been picked up in California after it had been determined that she had overstayed her B1/B2 visitor visa, Jayapal said in a statement. She was later sent to the Yuma station in Arizona where she stayed until her death on 29 March.
The Tucson Sentinel first reported the woman’s death, saying that border patrol officials did not follow internal policies about publicly acknowledging the death of someone in custody – and then only provided a statement after the Sentinel made inquiries.
Yuma sector border patrol reported in a social media post that two people – a 38-year-old man and the woman, both Chinese nationals – had been arrested on 26 March during a vehicle stop near Needles, California. The agents seized more than $220,000 wrapped in aluminum foil in two duffel bags which officials say was the proceeds from unspecified illegal activity.
Jayapal said “initial reports” suggest border patrol agents failed to perform required welfare checks prior to the woman’s death.
“When Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents take a person into custody, they are responsible for their well-being, full stop,” Jayapal’s statement read. “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.”
Jayapal, a ranking member of the House subcommittee overseeing immigration, said that while welfare checks were logged, officials investigating the death could not verify whether the checks had actually happened.
“As the CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) investigates this death, they must provide answers on why these welfare checks were not conducted and falsely recorded, and why this woman was able to die by suicide without any guard intervention,” Jayapal said.
She further expressed concern for the conditions at detainment facilities amid an immigration crackdown that the second Trump administration has carried out during its first three months in office.
The congresswoman said reports have consistently shown that the US falls short of its obligations to “treat all detained people with dignity and fairness”.
A border patrol spokesperson told the Tucson Sentinel that the woman was found “unresponsive in a cell” at the Yuma border patrol station on 29 March. Border patrol staff provided medical assistance to the woman before emergency medical services transported her to the hospital where she was pronounced dead, the spokesperson told the Sentinel.
“All in-custody deaths are tragic, taken seriously, and are thoroughly investigated by CBP,” the spokesperson said.
• In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
