OSINT Report: Huabing Xie - ICE Detention Medical Emergency Death¶

Date of Research: February 5, 2026
Published by: Mortui Vivos Docent Intelligence Project
Subject: Huabing Xie - Medical emergency death in ICE custody
Confidence: HIGH

PRIVATE CONTRACTOR: MTC (MANAGEMENT & TRAINING CORPORATION)

Facility operated by Management and Training Corporation (MTC) — a Utah-based for-profit prison company. MTC operates Imperial Regional Detention Facility. Weeks after Xie's death, MTC posted a job opening for a part-time physician — suggesting chronic understaffing. See Infrastructure for full contractor profiles.

Executive Summary¶

On September 29, 2025, Huabing Xie, a Chinese national in ICE custody at the Imperial Regional Detention Facility in Calexico, California, experienced a seizure and died at El Centro Regional Medical Center at 3:15 PM. Xie's death marked the 23rd person to die in ICE custody in fiscal year 2025, making it the deadliest year for ICE detainees since 2004. Despite congressional requirements, ICE failed to release the mandated death report within the legally required 90-day window, raising questions about transparency and medical care quality at the facility.

1. VICTIM PROFILE¶

Huabing Xie¶

Personal Information:
- Age: Not disclosed in public records
- Nationality: China (Chinese national)
- Gender: Not specified in available records
- Immigration Status: Undocumented; in removal proceedings

Immigration History:

First Encounter (December 31, 2023):
- Arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents near Tecate, California
- Given notice to appear before Department of Justice's Executive Office for Immigration Review
- Placed into removal proceedings
- Released same day on order of recognizance (no detention)

Second Encounter (September 12-13, 2025):
- Border Patrol arrested Xie in Indio, California on September 12, 2025
- Transferred to ICE custody on September 13, 2025
- Detained at Imperial Regional Detention Facility in Calexico, California

Time in Final Detention: Approximately 16 days (September 13-29, 2025)

2. THE INCIDENT - September 29, 2025¶

Timeline¶

Date: Friday, September 29, 2025
Location: Imperial Regional Detention Facility, Calexico, California

Events:

2:13 PM: Facility staff reported that Xie experienced what appeared to be a seizure
2:13 PM: Xie became unresponsive
Shortly after 2:13 PM: Xie transported to El Centro Regional Medical Center
3:15 PM: Xie pronounced dead at El Centro Regional Medical Center

Total Time from Seizure to Death: Approximately 1 hour

Medical Emergency Details¶

Type of Emergency: Seizure leading to unresponsiveness

Response:
- Facility staff observed seizure
- Emergency transport initiated
- Medical personnel at hospital attempted treatment
- Death pronounced at hospital, not detention facility

Preliminary Cause of Death: Not publicly disclosed by ICE or medical examiner

3. FACILITY BACKGROUND - Imperial Regional Detention Facility¶

Facility Profile¶

Location: Calexico, California (Imperial County)
Type: County detention facility under contract with ICE
Operator: Imperial County (public facility, not private prison)
Capacity: Varies; held over 100 ICE detainees as of late 2025

Medical Care Concerns¶

Documented Issues:

Medical Staffing Shortages:
California Attorney General's office found facility struggling to hire medical director
Shortage led to "delays in addressing clinical errors by lower-level health staff"
Management and Training Corporation (MTC) posted job ad seeking doctor for emergency medical aid shortly after Xie's death
Job posting mentioned need to "monitor all potential catastrophic illnesses"
Pattern of Medical Deaths:
Xie was second death in California in two weeks
Ismael Ayala-Uribe (39) died September 21, 2025 at Adelanto detention center
Multiple detainee family members reported inadequate medical care
Common complaint: staff provide "pills" or "Band-Aid solutions" instead of proper treatment
Oversight Failures:
Lack of medical director meant insufficient oversight of medical staff
Clinical errors by lower-level staff went unaddressed
No clear protocol for catastrophic medical emergencies

4. ICE'S FAILURE TO REPORT¶

Legal Requirements¶

Federal Law (Passed by Congress, 2018):
- ICE must publish a "Detainee Death Report" within 90 days of any in-custody death
- Report must include:
- Brief summary of deceased's medical history
- Circumstances that ICE says led to death
- Timeline of events
- Medical interventions attempted

Purpose: Congressional oversight and public transparency

ICE's Non-Compliance¶

Status as of January 5, 2026:
- ICE missed the 90-day deadline for Xie's death report
- No report released as of 107 days post-death (January 5, 2026)
- ICE did not respond to multiple requests for comment from media
- No explanation provided for delay

Broader Pattern:
- ICE has "completely stopped" issuing full death reports as legally required
- Widespread non-compliance with congressional mandate
- Lack of accountability for deaths in custody
- Advocates describe this as illegal obstruction of oversight

Media Coverage:
- KPBS reported on January 5, 2026: "ICE misses deadline to release report on in-custody death"
- Multiple advocacy organizations criticized ICE's failure to comply with law

5. CONTEXT - 2025 DEADLIEST YEAR FOR ICE DETAINEES¶

Statistics¶

Fiscal Year 2025:
- 23rd person to die in ICE custody (as of Xie's death, September 29)
- Deadliest year since 2004 (21-year high)
- By end of FY 2025: 31 total deaths reported (some sources cite higher numbers)

Comparison:
- 2025 deaths exceeded previous decades' annual averages
- Advocates attribute increase to:
- Expanded detention capacity under second Trump administration
- Deteriorating medical care
- Inadequate mental health services
- Poor facility conditions

California Deaths in September 2025¶

Two deaths in two weeks:

Ismael Ayala-Uribe (39) - September 21, 2025
Died inside Adelanto ICE detention center (High Desert)
First California ICE death in September
Huabing Xie - September 29, 2025
Died at hospital after seizure at Imperial Regional Detention Facility
Second California ICE death in September

6. SYSTEMIC ISSUES HIGHLIGHTED¶

Medical Care in ICE Detention¶

Problems Identified:

Understaffing:
Facilities cannot recruit sufficient medical personnel
Medical directors positions remain vacant
Lower-level staff make decisions without proper oversight
Inadequate Emergency Response:
Unclear whether Xie received appropriate seizure care before transport
One-hour window from seizure to death raises questions about response quality
No public information about medical interventions attempted
Preventable Deaths:
Advocates argue many ICE custody deaths are preventable with proper medical care
Delays in treatment, misdiagnosis, and neglect commonly cited
Family members report detainees' medical complaints ignored or minimized

Transparency and Accountability Failures¶

Congressional Oversight Blocked:
- ICE's refusal to issue death reports violates federal law
- Congress cannot effectively oversee detention conditions without data
- Public cannot hold ICE accountable for preventable deaths

Pattern of Secrecy:
- ICE frequently fails to respond to media requests about deaths
- Limited information released even when deaths are publicly reported
- Families often struggle to get answers about loved ones' deaths

7. INVESTIGATIONS & FOLLOW-UP¶

Official Investigation Status¶

As of February 5, 2026:
- No public death report issued (legally required within 90 days)
- No independent investigation announced
- No medical examiner report released publicly
- No autopsy findings disclosed

Media and Advocacy Pressure¶

Organizations Tracking Case:
- KPBS (California public media) - sustained reporting on missing death report
- American Immigration Council - tracking 2025 deaths
- ACLU and immigration advocacy groups - demanding transparency

Key Reporters:
- KPBS immigration team documented ICE's failure to comply with law
- Multiple follow-up reports through January 2026

Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz (January 6, 2026)¶

Just months after Xie's death, another detainee died from same facility:

Age: 68 years old
Nationality: Honduras
Date of Incident: January 4, 2026 - chest pain reported at Imperial Regional Detention Facility
Date of Death: January 6, 2026 at John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Indio
Time: 1:18 AM PT
Cause: Medical emergency (chest pain leading to hospitalization)

Family Account:
- "Three or four days after arriving to Calexico, he started reporting symptoms of stomach pain"
- Yanez-Cruz tried seeking medical attention at detention center
- Family said staff "would provide pills or, like, kind of Band-Aid solutions"
- Proper medical care delayed until emergency hospitalization

Significance:
- Second death linked to Imperial Regional Detention Facility within 4 months
- Similar pattern: medical complaints not adequately addressed
- Raises questions about systemic medical care failures at facility

9. LEGAL AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS¶

Potential Legal Violations¶

Congressional Mandate:
- ICE's failure to issue death report within 90 days violates federal law
- No apparent consequences for non-compliance
- Sets precedent for ignoring congressional oversight requirements

Medical Care Standards:
- Federal detention standards require adequate medical care
- Seizure response should follow established protocols
- Unclear if Imperial Regional Detention Facility met legal standards

Advocacy Responses¶

Calls for Reform:
- End immigration detention for non-violent individuals
- Independent oversight of ICE medical care
- Enforcement of death reporting requirements
- Investigation of preventable deaths

Immigration Policy Context:
- Xie was released on recognizance in 2023 (deemed not a danger/flight risk)
- Re-detained in 2025 and died within 16 days
- Questions raised: Was detention necessary? Could he have been released again?

10. GAPS & UNVERIFIED INFORMATION¶

What Remains Unknown:

Personal Details:
Xie's age not publicly disclosed
No information about family in China or U.S.
Background and reason for coming to U.S. unclear
No public statements from family or representatives
Medical History:
Did Xie have pre-existing seizure disorder?
Was medical history documented when detained?
What medications (if any) was Xie taking?
Were there warning signs before the fatal seizure?
Emergency Response:
What medical interventions were attempted at facility?
How quickly was 911 called after seizure began?
What treatment was provided en route to hospital?
What did hospital staff attempt upon arrival?
Cause of Death:
Official cause of death not released
Was autopsy performed?
If seizure was immediate cause, what was underlying cause?
Natural death vs. medical negligence determination?
ICE's Non-Compliance:
Why did ICE fail to issue legally required death report?
Has ICE been held accountable for violating federal law?
Will death report ever be released?
What is ICE hiding by not releasing information?
Facility Accountability:
Has Imperial Regional Detention Facility faced consequences for medical care failures?
Were any staff disciplined or retrained after Xie's death?
What changes (if any) were made to medical protocols?
Has medical director position been filled?

FINAL ASSESSMENT¶

Overall Confidence: HIGH

Confirmed Facts:
- Huabing Xie, Chinese national, died in ICE custody on September 29, 2025
- Death occurred at El Centro Regional Medical Center after seizure at detention facility
- Xie was detained at Imperial Regional Detention Facility in Calexico, California
- Time from seizure to death: approximately 1 hour (2:13 PM - 3:15 PM)
- First arrested December 31, 2023 (released); re-arrested September 12, 2025
- Death was 23rd in ICE custody for fiscal year 2025
- ICE failed to issue legally required death report within 90 days
- Facility had documented medical staffing shortages and oversight problems

Key Pattern:
Xie's death exemplifies systemic failures in ICE medical care: understaffed facilities, inadequate emergency response, and lack of transparency. The fact that ICE violated federal law by refusing to issue a death report suggests an agency-wide pattern of avoiding accountability for preventable deaths.

Critical Questions:
- Why was Xie re-detained in 2025 after being released in 2023?
- Could proper medical staffing have prevented this death?
- What is ICE hiding by refusing to issue the death report?
- How many other deaths has ICE failed to properly document?

Disputed/Unclear:
- Cause of death (not publicly disclosed)
- Whether medical care met legal standards
- Xie's complete medical history
- Quality of emergency response
- Why ICE is not complying with federal reporting law

Research Standards Applied:
- Three-source rule: Major facts verified across multiple independent sources
- Official sources: ICE press releases, congressional reporting requirements documented
- Cross-platform verification: News outlets (KPBS, LAist, ABC, Newsweek) cross-referenced
- Timeline construction: Dates and times verified across sources
- Legal analysis: Federal reporting requirements researched and violations documented

Disclaimer:

This information was gathered from publicly available sources as of February 5, 2026. ICE's refusal to release the legally mandated death report means many facts remain unknown. Accuracy cannot be guaranteed for information ICE has withheld from public. Use responsibly and verify independently before taking action.

Research completed: February 5, 2026
Total sources consulted: 12+ independent sources
Methodology: OSINT Cycle with Bellingcat-style verification
Sources documented: See sources.md

Note: This case is marked by unusual lack of information due to ICE's illegal refusal to comply with congressional death reporting requirements.

Published by Mortui Vivos Docent Intelligence Project
Methodology: Bellingcat-standard OSINT — public sources only