Chinese-American community alarmed after China national dies in ICE custody

Wei Lianyong, 51, reportedly died in Northern Mariana Islands on August 23, after he was found unresponsive at a local detention facility4-MIN READ4-MIN0 ListenPublished: 7:42am, 4 Sep 2026Updated: 7:52am, 4 Sep 2026The Chinese-American community expressed anger and concern on Thursday over the death in custody of a Chinese national by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] on US territory.“Asian-Americans, Chinese-Americans, should be very concerned about this and very energised to stop what is essentially an attack on the existence of the community,” said Gabriel Chin, professor at the University of California, Davis School of Law.“We should not accept the idea that Chinese Immigration is a bad thing because it’s Chinese because that’s inevitably going to affect the position of US citizens of Chinese ancestry.”08:08Widespread anti-immigrant operations spark fear in Asian communities across the USWei was arrested on August 21 by the Northern Mariana Islands Department of Public Safety on criminal charges following an alleged assault on a family of five at their home, according to ICE.