Death in ICE Custody: Examining the Case of Chaofeng Ge
On August 5, 2025, 32-year-old Chaofeng Ge was found dead in the shower stall at an ICE detention facility.
Ge had been an undocumented immigrant from China living in Queens, where he worked as a driver and package delivery worker. In late July 2025, after being released from a short jail sentence for participating in a gift card scheme, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained Mr. Ge and transferred him from New York to Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania. Moshannon Valley is the largest immigration detention facility in the state and has been repeatedly criticized by advocacy groups for inhumane and unsafe conditions. While detained there, ICE began processing Mr. Ge for deportation.
The distance between Queens, New York City, and Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania is 229 miles (370 km) in a straight line
Credit: GoogleMyMaps
On August 5, 2025, at approximately 5:20 a.m., Mr. Ge was discovered in a shower stall with a cloth ligature around his neck. His brother, Yanfeng Ge, described him as “a very down-to-earth person” and “very industrious,” emphasizing that his family had no prior reason to believe he was at risk of self-harm.
Autopsy Details and Questions Raised
ICE quickly classified Chaofeng Ge’s death as a suicide by hanging. However, a more detailed autopsy report by a Pennsylvania coroner raised serious questions. According to the report, Mr. Ge’s hands and feet were bound behind his back at the time he was found. This highly unusual detail prompted immediate concern from medical professionals, advocates, and the family.
The presence of bound limbs raises critical questions:
How could a detainee restrain both their hands and feet while alone in custody?
Under what circumstances did this occur, and why were these details absent from ICE’s initial public statements?
Despite these unresolved questions, the federal government did not open an investigation, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not release more in-depth details regarding the man’s death. To this day, there is no clear answer to the concerns brought up by the autopsy.
Lack of Transparency
Ge’s brother filed a request with ICE and the Department of Homeland Security under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), seeking all records related to his brother’s detention, treatment, and death. These requests reportedly were not met within statutory, or legally mandated, deadlines.
Geraldshields11, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
As a result, his brother, Yanfeng Ge, announced plans to file a lawsuit under FOIA. This lawsuit seeks access to surveillance footage, medical records, incident reports, and internal communications in order to determine what truly occurred while his brother was in custody.
Advocates argue that this lack of transparency is emblematic of a broader pattern within ICE, where families are routinely forced to pursue litigation simply to obtain basic information about deaths that occur under government supervision.
Policy Concerns
In addition to the hog-tied limbs, Jeremy Ravinsky, the family’s attorney, raised concerns about the conditions of Chaofeng Ge’s detention. Mr. Ge reportedly experienced extreme isolation due to the absence of Mandarin-speaking staff at the facility, leaving him unable to effectively communicate with guards, medical staff, or fellow detainees.
Under U.S. detention standards, the government bears responsibility for both the physical and mental well-being of individuals in its custody. Although Mr. Ge reported having no mental health concerns upon arrival, self-reports are unreliable and high-stress and isolating environments easily shift a person’s mental stability.
ICE responded to criticism with a statement that said, “ICE remains committed to ensuring that all those in its custody reside in safe, secure, and humane environments.”
However, testimony from detainees and advocates sharply contradicts this claim.
According to Adrianna Torres-García, a member of the Shut Down Detention Campaign, “The people who I’ve spoken to have said they don’t like going to the medical facilities because then they’re sort of punished for it by being isolated. They describe not being able to get regularly clean clothes. They describe not being able to get pillows.”
Moshannon Valley Processing Center is a for-profit prison owned by GEO Group that brings in around 3.4 million dollars per month, all funded by the government. According to immigrant advocacy organization CASA, “For-profit detention centers have a well-documented history of cutting corners on medical care, staffing, and safety at the expense of human lives”.
The Bigger Pattern
Chaofeng Ge is not the only example of this long-standing problem within immigration detention centers. In 2025 alone, over 30 detainees have died within ICE custody, making it the deadliest year for immigration detention in the past two decades. At least four of these deaths have been classified as suicide, intensifying concerns about mental health screening, monitoring, and detention conditions. Alarmingly, the number of deaths continues to rise. By early 2026, six additional deaths had already occurred inside ICE detention centers with barely a month into the year. These numbers underline an urgent need for reform, oversight, and accountability within the U.S. immigration detention system.
ICE officers at the border in October, 2025
In recent years, the Trump administration pursued policies that significantly increased both the intensity and volume of immigration arrests. However, these efforts were not accompanied by sufficient measures to ensure the safety, well-being, and humane treatment of detained immigrants.
Chaofeng Ge and many other individuals who have died in immigration detention serve as a powerful reminder of the urgent need for humanity and justice within our systems. Moving forward, it is critical to demand clear and transparent communication from ICE, safer and more humane conditions within detention facilities, and regular, independent assessments of both the mental and physical health of all detainees. Without these safeguards, detention practices risk continuing to endanger lives rather than uphold justice or due process.