Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) posted Saturday that she had been told of what she characterized as the “60th death” in ICE custody since Donald Trump returned to office.
“Today I received notification of the 60th death in ICE custody since Trump returned to office. Sadly, this appears to be a death by suicide. When our country detains people, we have the responsibility of ensuring both their physical and mental health — not driving them, though [sic] incredible cruelty, to commit suicide. Dismantle ICE.”
The man was Luis Sandoval, 48, a Salvadoran national. He was found with a ligature around his neck early Friday at the Folkston ICE Processing Center in Charlton County, Georgia, a facility run by the private contractor GEO Group. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported he was the fifth ICE detainee to die in Georgia custody since 2024.
ICE put out a release headlined “Criminal alien from El Salvador dies in ICE custody in Georgia.” It said Sandoval entered the country illegally, was arrested in New Jersey, had prior convictions and charges, and arrived at Folkston on Oct. 8. The agency said it is “committed to ensuring that all those in custody reside in safe, secure and humane environments.”
[NOTE: ICE supplied details of the death, including “ligature around his neck,” but did not confirm suicide as the cause of death, writing: “Sandoval’s death is under investigation. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the official cause and manner of death.”]
Sandoval arrived in the middle of a hunger strike at the facility. About 500 detainees at Folkston began refusing meals in early October. The Current GA reported that Sens. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Jon Ossoff (D-GA) wrote Thursday to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and the department’s inspector general, urging an “immediate investigation” and citing “reports of medical neglect and retaliation by custodial officers in response to the hunger strike.”
The senators also asked whether ICE or GEO has “sought or obtained any court order for involuntary feeding or hydration of any detainee.”
ICE did not comment on the hunger strike or the retaliation allegations. GEO Group had earlier declined to comment and referred questions to ICE.
A detainee, heard in an audio recording obtained by The Current GA, described the strikers’ demands: “We have serious concerns about the food, sleep conditions, medical care, and the length of our detention.”
Azadeh Shahshahani, legal and advocacy director at Project South, issued a statement Monday: “We call for an immediate independent investigation into this tragic death and for accountability. Folkston must be shut down immediately.”
DHS has answered the death-count argument before. When Senate Judiciary Democrats said in December that 30 immigrants had died in ICE custody since Trump took office, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News they were “trying to twist data to smear” ICE law enforcement.
“There has been NO spike in deaths. Consistent with data over the past decade, death rates in custody are 0.00007%,” she said. “As bed space has rapidly expanded, we have maintained a higher standard of care than most prisons that hold U.S. citizens.”