Venezuelan man dies in immigration custody in Georgia

Immigration Detention

July 17th, 2026

Jesus Manuel Arenas-Silva, a 45-year-old man from Venezuela, died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody while being transferred between two Georgia detention centers on Monday.

He is the third person to die in ICE custody in Georgia this year, and the 22nd person to die in ICE custody this year nationwide.

In a statement, his sister said ICE took him from his house last Thursday. His family requested that Arenas-Silva remain at home while awaiting an immigration hearing because he needed specific medication. Four days later, he died.

An ICE report stated he was found unresponsive on a bus while being taken from the Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla to the Folkston D. Ray ICE Processing Center in Folkston, an almost two-hour drive.

ICE stated the suspected cause of death was cardiac arrest, but an official cause is pending further medical investigation.

“There’s a lot of questions that need to be answered by ICE,” said Azadeh Shahshahani, legal and advocacy director for the nonprofit human rights organization Project South. “What we need is accountability.”

Arenas-Silva’s family demanded an independent investigation into the man’s death.

“A 45-year-old man dying, you know, even younger people have died while being detained in ICE custody,” Shahshahani said. “This shouldn’t be happening.”

Advocates will gather outside the Irwin Detention Center on Sunday at 1 p.m. to remember Arenas-Silva and protest his death.