Lianyong Wei
Lianyong Wei, 51, was a Chinese national held in immigration detention by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a facility on Saipan run by the Northern Mariana Islands Department of Corrections. ICE said he was found unresponsive during morning checks, taken to an emergency room, and pronounced dead on August 23, 2026, and it attributed his death to hypoxia from strangulation due to hanging. A death certificate reported in the press lists the manner of death as suicide, but NPR reported that the official cause of death remains under investigation. The Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles has asked for a thorough inquiry, and DHS declined to say whether he received the required health screening within 12 hours of intake.
Cause of death, as reported: Died by suicide. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said he died from hypoxia caused by hanging, and the death certificate lists the manner as suicide, while the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles has asked for a thorough investigation.
Reported by: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (the agency that held him); death certificate.