Imperial County, California — Freedom for Immigrants, Imperial Liberation Collaborative, and Detention Watch Network are mourning the death of Huabing Xie who died in ICE custody on September 29 after being detained at the Imperial Regional Detention Facility in California. Immigrant justice groups are demanding an immediate investigation and public release of the findings related to Mr. Xie’s death.
Shockingly, there have been at least 20 deaths in ICE custody since Trump’s inauguration, a record number of deaths within a calendar year since DWN began tracking in 2006. By comparison, at least 26 people died in ICE custody during four years of the Biden administration. It’s alarming that within the first nine months of the Trump administration we are quickly approaching the total number of deaths that occurred under Biden.
Growing reports illustrate that the Trump administration is exacerbating unconscionable conditions in a detention system that is proven to be inherently inhumane. ICE subjects people to medical neglect, overcrowding, horrendous conditions of confinement, and rampant transfers that disappear people into the detention system, sowing confusion and cutting people off from their loved ones and support networks. Research has shown that medical neglect and abuse in ICE custody result in preventable deaths.
Local and national immigrant justice groups, issued the following statements:
Amanda Díaz, Organizing Director with Freedom for Immigrants, said: “We mourn the tragic loss of Huabing Xie and extend our deepest sympathies to his family and loved ones. We’re outraged that yet another life has needlessly been taken by the immigration detention system. For decades, detention has been defined by ICE’s deadly medical neglect, resulting in premature and preventable deaths. As the Trump administration expands detention to record heights, ICE is on track to record its deadliest year in history, with the agency already recording the highest number of deaths in the first six months of any year from January to June of this year. These senseless deaths will not stop until we close detention centers and free our community members. We call on our elected officials and all people of conscience to oppose Trump’s vicious agenda of mass detention and instead fight for the life-affirming care and resources all people are deserving of.”
Marina Arteaga, Organizer with Imperial Liberation Collaborative, said: “We are devastated by the loss of Huabing Xie and are angered that we have lost another life in ICE custody. The Imperial Liberation Collaborative has been visiting people detained at Imperial Regional Detention Facility (IRDF) for years and through our visits, we hear their stories of medical mismanagement, lack of access to food, overcrowding, and inhumane living conditions. ICE and Management and Training Corporation (MTC) have a longstanding history of disregarding the life of people detained there, they must be held accountable. IRDF must be closed so that we can avoid these preventable deaths.”
Marcela Hernandez, Capacity Building Director with Detention Watch Network, said: “In immigration detention, deprivation of freedom, isolation, uncertainty, and abysmal conditions, including inadequate medical care and mental health services, are a lethal combination that puts lives in jeopardy. Trump's cruel detention expansion is exacerbating inherently inhumane conditions and expanding abuses, with increasing reports of death, medical neglect, overcrowding, lack of food, and rampant transfers. We have long known that Trump’s cruel deportation agenda would be bottomlined by an aggressive multi-layered detention expansion plan at all costs. However, the scope and scale, and more importantly, human toll, continues to be shocking. No one should suffer in these conditions and no family should have to bear this tragic loss. We extend our deepest condolences to the loved ones of Huabing Xie.”
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Detention Watch Network (DWN) is a national coalition building power through collective advocacy, grassroots organizing, and strategic communications to abolish immigration detention in the United States.