The Chinese government is pressing for answers after a Chinese man died hours after being taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a U.S. territory.

Lianyong Wei, 51, died Aug. 23 at a hospital in the Northern Mariana Islands, ICE announced in a news release Tuesday.

Wei was arrested Aug. 21 by the Northern Mariana Islands Department of Public Safety on criminal charges stemming from an alleged assault on a family of five at their home, according to ICE. He was taken into ICE custody the next day pending removal proceedings.

ICE said a guard at the lockup in Saipan found Wei unresponsive during routine morning checks on Aug. 23. He was taken to a hospital emergency room, where he was pronounced dead after “life-sustaining interventions were initiated,” the agency said, noting that the cause of his death is under investigation.

Wei entered the U.S. territory in February 2019 and was authorized to stay for two weeks, according to ICE. U.S. authorities began removal proceedings in July 2026, and Wei’s next hearing had been scheduled for this month.

The Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles said it had been notified of Wei’s death.

“We have expressed serious concerns to the relevant U.S. authorities over this incident and required a timely and thorough investigation into the cause of Mr. Wei’s death, notification of the findings, measures to prevent any recurrence of similar incidents, and assistance to the family of the deceased in handling the aftermath,” the consulate said in a statement.

Wei is at least the fifth Chinese national who has died in the custody of ICE or the U.S. Border Patrol since March 2025, according to tracking by the Associated Press. Two of the first four deaths have been ruled suicides and the other two were the result of medical complications.

At least 57 ICE detainees have died since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, a death rate that has alarmed public health experts, advocates for immigrants and the Mexican government.

ICE hasn’t said whether Wei received the medical intake screening, which the agency promises to detainees within their first 12 hours in custody. Medical experts say a thorough screening is critical to preventing deaths.

It’s unclear why it took ICE more than a week to acknowledge Wei’s death, which was announced by authorities in the Northern Mariana Islands on Aug. 24. ICE has said it aims to issue a news release on detainee deaths within two business days.

The lockup in Saipan has held an average of 18 ICE detainees on any given day this year, according to ICE data. Roughly 50,000 people live in the Northern Mariana Islands.

“Following this incident, the Department is reviewing relevant procedures and will implement any necessary corrective actions to strengthen prevention and response measures,” Northern Mariana Islands corrections commissioner Anthony Torres said in a statement.

Student wearing monitor kills himself

Haitian and faith leaders in Springfield are calling on the Trump administration to stop using GPS ankle monitors to track immigrants following the suicide of a 20-year-old Wright State University student who was required to wear one.

Pierre Damas Bel’s family says the monitor humiliated him and he was bullied at school because of it.

A 2021 study from Yeshiva University’s Cardozo School of Law found that 90% of immigrants surveyed reported physical problems from ankle monitors, including swelling and wounds. Eighty-eight percent said the devices harmed their mental health, and 12% reported having suicidal thoughts.

Springfield’s Haitian community is questioning why someone like Bel needed one at all.

He had no criminal record, was an honor roll student and JROTC cadet at Springfield High School. He was attending Wright State while his asylum case proceeded.

Man sues over agents’ actions

A Springfield man has filed a federal lawsuit against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, saying agents retaliated against him for documenting immigration enforcement activities in public and subjected him to a campaign of intimidation that escalated over nearly two weeks.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Dayton, was brought by Sean Moorman, a Springfield resident who says he volunteers as an observer of ICE operations involving members of the city’s Haitian community.

The complaint seeks a temporary restraining order.

According to the complaint, Moorman began conducting what are commonly known as “ICE watch” patrols in mid-August, monitoring and recording immigration enforcement actions from public locations in Springfield.

The complaint says agents swerved a vehicle toward his car, photographed his face and license plate at close range, surrounded and boxed in his vehicle with multiple SUVs, followed him through Springfield, traveled to his home, photographed the property and repeatedly shouted his name while sounding an air horn from a truck.

Vermont to improve detainee conditions

Facing the prospect of a discrimination lawsuit, the Vermont Department of Corrections has agreed to provide federal immigration detainees in its prisons with better access to language interpretation, legal counsel and court hearings.

The Vermont Human Rights Commission announced Tuesday it had reached a settlement with the department, following a discrimination complaint the commission filed in January.

Immigration lawyers previously said the department restricted their ability to meet with federal detainees and that non-English speakers lacked language interpretation in state prisons.

With the settlement, the Corrections Department is resolving the discrimination complaint before it’s brought to civil court, according to Lauri Fisher, general counsel for the department.

Under the agreement, the department is required to ensure that immigration detainees are provided language interpretation services and regular access to immigration lawyers with the Vermont Asylum Assistance Project. The settlement does not include a monetary sum.

This report includes information from the Cleveland Plain Dealer.