A 43-year-old immigrant from China has died while in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, becoming at least the 17th person to die in federal immigration detention so far this year and prompting renewed scrutiny over medical care and transparency in detention facilities.
ICE identified the man as Huabing Xie, who, according to the agency, experienced a seizure on September 29 at the Imperial Regional Detention Facility in Calexico, California. Staff members reportedly performed CPR and used a defibrillator before emergency medical personnel arrived. Xie was transported to El Centro Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
ICE said Xie had been arrested in Indio, California, on September 12 and transferred to its custody the following day. The agency also confirmed that Border Patrol agents had previously detained him near Tecate in December 2023, and was later released under an order of recognizance.
ICE stated that it has notified the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General, ICE's Office of Professional Responsibility, and the Chinese consulate, as required by policy.
The agency emphasized in its statement that "comprehensive medical care is provided from the moment individuals arrive and throughout the entirety of their stay," and that "at no time during ICE detention is an alien denied emergent care." ICE added that all in-custody deaths are posted publicly within two business days and that full reports are made available within 90 days.
Immigrant rights groups in Imperial County, consulted by local KPBS, said Xie's death fits into a broader pattern of inadequate medical oversight and lack of accountability across the federal detention system.
"This is not an isolated incident," said Marina Arteaga, an organizer with the Imperial Liberation Collaborative, who called for state and county investigations. She said community groups have been barred from visiting the Calexico facility since August, limiting transparency.
Daniela Flores, executive director of the Imperial Valley Equity and Justice Coalition, questioned whether ICE properly evaluated Xie's health and whether delays or force were involved in his detention. "Knowing that his family probably wants answers, we just want to know what happened," she said.
The Imperial Regional Detention Facility, operated by the private contractor Management and Training Corporation, has faced past allegations of unsafe conditions and medical neglect. California's attorney general recently reported that the facility had struggled to hire a medical director, resulting in "delays in addressing clinical errors."
Xie's death follows that of Ismael Ayala-Uribe, a 39-year-old Mexican national who died at another California ICE facility on September 21.
According to a letter sent in March by Georgia Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, at least 15 people had already died in ICE custody as of September 23 — a rate the senators described as the highest in any six-month period since 2018. The senators accused ICE of failing to meet its own reporting standards, writing that the agency's delays "leave families in the dark as to their loved ones' fates."
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