ICE DETAINEE FOUND DEAD IN SHOWER
The family of a New York man found deceased in Pennsylvania ICE detention has filed a lawsuit seeking answers and justice.
By Cristina Matuozzi
Published March 26, 2026
Brother of deceased ICE detainee calls for justice in Lower Manhattan, NY on Wednesday, November 12, 2025. Photo Copyright: Cristina Matuozzi
Nov. 12, 2025
NEW YORK, NY — The coroner ruled it a suicide. The family has unanswered questions.
Mr. Yanfeng Ge spoke to press in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday demanding transparency and justice for his brother, Chaofeng Ge, 32, who was found dead inside a Moshannon Valley Processing Center (MVPC) shower stall in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania on August 5, 2025.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Detainee Death Report cites:
“On August 5, 2025, at approximately 05:20 a.m. EDT, MVPC Detention Officer (DO) found Mr. GE with a cloth ligature around his neck in a shower stall, immediately called for assistance via his radio, and additional MVPC staff responded.”
“At approximately 5:25 a.m., MVPC staff utilized a cut down tool to remove the bed sheet tied around Mr. GE’s neck, placed him on the floor, and began life saving measures including cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and utilizing an Automated External Defibrillator.”
Mr. Ge was pronounced dead at 6:03 a.m. and the county coroner ruled the death a suicide. The family has filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit to demand more information surrounding Chaofeng’s death after their FOIA requests went unanswered.
The family says Mr. Ge was also found with his hands and legs tied behind his back, a detail not included in ICE’s Detainee Death Report. But the family’s attorney, David B. Rankin of Beldock, Levine & Hoffman, said the autopsy indicated the additional signs of distress.
Brother of deceased ICE detainee uses a translator to speak to the press in Lower Manhattan, NY on Wednesday, November 12, 2025. Photo copyright: Cristina Matuozzi
“I still find it hard to believe he would take his own life.”
“I don’t know how he would have the opportunity to take his own life or what drove him to do so.”
Preceding his time in MVPC, Chaofeng Ge began serving about six months in Dauphin County Prison (DCP) in Harrisburg, PA in January 2025 for allegedly possessing a stolen device with unauthorized access and unlawful use of a computer.
On July 31, 2025, Mr. Ge was convicted of “access device issued to another who did not authorize use.”
“The Court sentenced Mr. Ge to incarceration for a period of six to twelve months with credit for time served.”
Upon Mr. Ge’s anticipated release from prison on July 31st, an ICE detainer request was fulfilled and he was immediately taken to MVPC the same day, charging him with “inadmissibility as an alien present in the United States without being admitted or paroled.”
He was found dead just five days later.
Originally from China, Mr. Ge primarily spoke Mandarin and very little English. The family’s attorney expressed outrage at MVPC’s lack of Mandarin-speaking personnel to support Mr. Ge.
The official ICE Newsroom statement regarding Mr. Ge’s death said:
“ICE remains committed to ensuring that all those in its custody reside in safe, secure, and humane environments.”
The Moshannon Valley Processing Center is the largest ICE detention facility in the northeast and is owned and operated by private prison contractor, GEO Group.
GEO Group has garnered a villainous reputation among human rights groups citing poor mental-health care, exploitative prison labor, detainee retaliation and obscuring access to public information.
Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, was denied entry to visit the facility after Mr. Ge’s death. Her letter to ICE Field Director Brian McShane pointed to inhumane conditions:
“We have received persistent reports that ICE and GEO officials routinely fail to provide comprehensive and appropriate medical services to those in custody here, including mental health care and medical and gynecological care for women detainees. I am aware of at least one constituent from my district currently in custody at Moshannon who has been unable to access proper medical care. Earlier this month, a Chinese national allegedly committed suicide while detained here, raising concerns about the supervision of detainees and the availability of mental health resources. We have also received multiple reports of inadequate nutrition, with detainees either going hungry or being forced to purchase their own food from the detention center commissary.”
Health and safety compliance inspections inside MVPC are not administered by a third party, instead by the ICE Office of Detention Oversight. ODO graded Moshannon with “superior” conditions in its most recently available report from March 2025.
Moshannon consistently shows the highest rates of detainees in solitary confinement compared to all other detention facilities according to ICE data.
United States Attorney General, Pam Bondi, was a former lobbyist for GEO Group before heading the DOJ under the current Trump administration.
Immigration advocacy group calls for investigation into Mr. Ge’s death in Lower Manhattan, NY on Wednesday, November 12, 2025. Photo copyright: Cristina Matuozzi
Deputy Director of the Free Migration Project, Adrianna Torres-García, joined other immigration advocacy groups to condemn MVPC’s inhumane treatment of Mr. Ge and that of many other detainees across the country:
“Mr. Ge’s life was valuable. He was a member of this community, of a family and he was loved. We stand in solidarity with his family, ready to fight for justice for him and everyone who has been or is being abused in Moshannon.”
ICE was created under the post-9/11 Bush administration in March 2003 resulting from a merger of Immigration and Naturalization Services (I.N.S) and U.S. Customs Service.
ICE data indicates 15 people have died in detention since January of this year and 249 people have died in ICE custody between 2003 and September 2025.
Mr. Yanfeng Ge is determined to ensure his brother doesn’t become another statistic.
Please visit summitpress.substack.com for more text reports by Cristina Matuozzi
