Family sues US government over Chinese immigrant’s death in ICE custody

A Chinese national’s death in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody is now the subject of a federal lawsuit filed by his family, who say the government has refused to explain how he died while detained at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Pennsylvania in August.

Catch up: Chaofeng Ge, a 32-year-old Queens resident from China, was found “hanging by the neck” in a shower stall “with his hands and legs tied behind his back” on Aug. 5, according to ICE statements and the family’s complaint. A handwritten note was recovered near the scene, and Pennsylvania State Police and ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility opened investigations shortly afterward. ICE said staff performed emergency measures before he was pronounced dead shortly after 6 a.m., with his death ruled a suicide.

Ge had entered ICE custody just five days earlier after pleading guilty to access-device-related charges that carried concurrent six- to 12-month state sentences. His brother, Yanfeng, says Chaofeng was the only Mandarin speaker at Moshannon and received no effort from staff to communicate with him. “I don’t know how he could have had the opportunity to take his own life. What drove him to do so? But at least these things should not happen to people who are in the government’s custody,” Yanfeng told the South China Morning Post.

About the suit: The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) suit, filed Nov. 12 in the Southern District of New York, argues that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE unlawfully withheld records related to Ge’s detention, medical care, suicide-prevention protocols, staff communications and incident reporting. Yanfeng submitted a FOIA request on Sept. 9, but the agencies allegedly missed the statutory deadline to respond. The suit seeks to compel the release of surveillance footage, body-camera video, medical and mental-health charts, interpreter-use logs, staff reports and any other investigative findings.

Attorney David Rankin told amNY that “no one from Moshannon has reached out to the family,” adding that Ge had attorneys he “couldn’t talk to,” underscoring how the absence of language access may have prevented him from seeking help. Advocates say the missing records are necessary to determine whether isolation, lack of interpretation or failures in suicide-prevention protocols contributed to his death. ICE, for its part, said all in-custody deaths are “taken seriously” and “thoroughly investigated,” citing its stated commitment to detainee care.

Why this matters: Ge’s case comes amid a growing crisis in immigration detention. At least 23 people have died in ICE custody so far this year, the highest number since 2004, with five being Asian nationals. This increase follows a sharp rise in Asian immigrant arrests, which have nearly tripled since 2024. Advocates warn that language barriers like those Ge faced further heighten risk; detainees who cannot communicate effectively often struggle to request medical care, report suicidal ideation or understand facility rules.

His death, alongside fatalities involving Huabing Xie, Tien Xuan Phan, Nhon Ngoc Nguyen and most recently Kai Yin Wong, has intensified calls for transparency, independent investigations and stricter enforcement of ICE’s detention and suicide-prevention standards.