ICE reports a man death in its custody!
ICE
Miami, US, Jul 15 (EFE).-
A 45-year-old Venezuelan man died in the custody of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Georgia, the agency reported Wednesday, bringing the total number of migrants who have died under similar circumstances in 2026 to 22.
The man, identified as Jesús Manuel Arenas Silva, died Monday of an alleged cardiac arrest while authorities were transferring him between detention centers in Georgia, ICE revealed in a statement.
Agents found Arenas Silva unconscious around 7:46 am while he was traveling on a bus from the Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla to the Folkston D. Ray Processing Center, prompting them to request medical assistance, according to ICE’s account.
Emergency services transported the Venezuelan man to Irwin County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead less than an hour later.
“The cause of death is suspected to be cardiac arrest. The official cause is pending a subsequent medical examination,” ICE stated.
With this death, the total number of migrants who have died in ICE custody so far this year stands at 22, following the 33 deaths in 2025, the highest figure in two decades, according to the tally by the National Immigration Project.
In this context, the mortality rate among migrants detained by ICE is at its highest level in more than a decade and has more than doubled since the start of Donald Trump’s second term, Human Rights Watch stated in a recent report.
The Venezuelan man’s death comes amid protests over the deaths last week of two men shot by ICE agents while they were driving: Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican father of three, on July 7 in Texas, and Joan Sebastián Guerrero, a 26-year-old Colombian, on Monday in Maine.
In addition, a Mexican man was struck and killed by a car on Tuesday after fleeing an immigration raid in Florida.
ICE stated that Arenas Silva received medical care and health checkups while in custody, and noted that he entered the United States “illegally and without inspection” in October 2021 under the Joe Biden administration (2021–2025) across the border.
An immigration judge in Atlanta had ordered his deportation to Venezuela last April. EFE
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