A Chinese language lady detained by border patrol officers for overstaying her visa died by suicide on the US Border Patrol station in Arizona after officers reportedly didn’t carry out required welfare checks on her, US Consultant Pramila Jayapal alleged.
The girl, a 52-year-old Chinese language nationwide, was picked up in California after authorities decided she overstayed her B1/B2 customer visa, Jayapal stated in a press release final week. She was despatched to the Yuma station in Arizona and was detained there till her sudden loss of life on March 29.
The patrol officers allegedly uncared for to comply with inner insurance policies about publicly acknowledging deaths once they happen of their custody and solely printed a public discover after the Tucson Sentinel reported on the girl’s loss of life on Friday.
Surveillance footage reportedly confirmed the girl making a noose and tying it round her neck. Shockingly, there was no medical response for 2 hours after she hung herself.
A border patrol spokesperson informed the Tucson Sentinel that when the girl was discovered “unresponsive in a cell,” they did present her with medical help and had emergency medical companies transport her to a hospital the place she was pronounced useless.
“All in-custody deaths are tragic, taken seriously, and are thoroughly investigated by CBP,” the spokesperson stated.
Beforehand, the Yuma sector border patrol reported that they arrested two Chinese language nationals, a 38-year-old man and the girl, on March 26 throughout a automobile cease in California. They seized greater than $220,000 hidden in aluminum foil of their baggage, which officers claimed was the earnings from unspecified criminality, in accordance with a Fb publish from the sector.
Jayapal, a Democrat consultant from Washington and a rating member of the Home subcommittee that oversees immigration, stated that early studies point out that the border patrol brokers concerned didn’t carry out the mandatory welfare checks within the days main as much as the girl’s loss of life.
The welfare checks that had been logged couldn’t be verified by officers investigating the girl’s suicide.
“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 stated in a press release.
Jayapal added that the shift in america’ failure to “treat all detained people with dignity and fairness” raises issues in regards to the situations on the services the place immigrants are being held.
The Submit has reached out to US Border Patrol for remark.
If you’re scuffling with suicidal ideas or are experiencing a psychological well being disaster and stay in New York Metropolis, you possibly can name 1-888-NYC-WELL totally free and confidential disaster counseling. In the event you stay exterior the 5 boroughs, you possibly can dial the 24/7 Nationwide Suicide Prevention hotline at 988 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.
