Jesus Manuel Arenas-Silva Dies in ICE Custody While Nation Continues to Grapple with ICE Killings in Maine and Texas
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 15, 2026
CONTACT:
Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta, media@advancingjustice-atlanta.org
Atlanta, GA – As the nation grapples with the horror of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) murders of Joan Sebastián Guerrero, 26, in Maine and Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, in Texas, the agency’s death toll within its custody continues to grow at a record-breaking pace. Jesus Manuel Arenas-Silva, 45, tragically died in ICE custody on July 13 while being transferred from the Irwin Detention Center to the Folkston Detention Center in Georgia.
His sister said, "Jesus Manuel Arenas Silva was a loving son and brother, a caring and hard-working man who came to this country to seek better opportunities. His tragic death has left our family with an immense void and deep sorrow."
Jesus Manuel was detained by ICE last Thursday. His apprehension by ICE at his house was traumatic for him and his family. Jesus required medications for a medical condition he was dealing with. His sister said, "We implored ICE not to take him due to his medical needs, but they didn't listen to our pleas. They also ignored our request to at least allow him to take the medication with him, allowing only one medication." Jesus Manual later confirmed during a phone call to his sister that ICE did not give him the medication he needed. He went without medication during his detention until he tragically died in ICE custody on Monday.
The family is demanding justice and an independent investigation into his death: "I am 100% certain that he did not receive proper care. I deeply mourn his passing in such a cruel manner; that is why I will seek justice for him and for everyone else who goes through this, so that other families do not have to endure what we are going through. No one deserves this," added his sister.
Fiscal year 2026 was the deadliest fiscal year in ICE’s history. There have now been 53 deaths in ICE custody since Trump was inaugurated, 33 deaths in fiscal year 2026 alone. Immigrant justice advocates have been ringing the alarm demanding members of Congress act now to zero out ICE funding in upcoming appropriations bills, revoke the billions of dollars they have already given the agency, get ICE out of communities nationwide, and shut down ICE detention centers, including Irwin, for good.
The Irwin Detention Center is one of ICE’s most notorious facilities. In 2021 ICE terminated its contract at Irwin after a shocking Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) complaint filed by Georgia-based groups revealed horrific accounts from detained immigrants and whistleblower nurse, Dawn Wooten, describing multiple levels of abuse, including ICE neglecting to follow COVID-19 safety protocols and a pattern of unnecessary and invasive gynecological procedures performed on women held at the facility without informed consent. The accounts of medical abuse garnered national headlines and prompted a Congressional inquiry into the facility. This complaint was far from the first - the facility had a documented record of abuse since opening its doors in 2010. After years of advocacy and the collective courage of the whistleblowing nurse and immigrant women who spoke out, ICE’s contract with Irwin was terminated in 2021. However, ICE resumed detaining migrants at Irwin with the return of the Trump administration in October 2025 as a part of his mass immigrant detention expansion plan.
Immigrants’ rights advocates in Georgia and across the country responded with the following statements:
Anjali Nair, Deputy Executive Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta, said: “As news of ICE’s fatal shootings draws national headlines, the death of Mr. Arenas-Silva is another tragic reminder of the extent to how fatal ICE’s existence truly is. The blood and tears shed across ICE facilities across Georgia, coupled with the aggressive push to use ’warehouses’ to further expand ICE's reach in Social Circle and Oakwood is a reminder that contemporary migration policies have a role in shaping our state’s history. Moving forward, we must act and keep in mind that every vote at the local, state, and federal level will be a reflection of the Georgia we want to build and believe in. A Georgia that protects all of its communities and rejects the cruelty of detention.”
Amílcar Valencia, Executive Director of El Refugio, said: “We mourn another tragic death in Georgia and send our deepest condolences to Jesus Manuel's family. We join their cries for justice. ICE endangers the lives of thousands of people every day, putting at risk immigrants who otherwise could be in their communities and with their loved ones, receiving the care they deserve. Under ICE custody, people are routinely tortured, abused, endure neglectful conditions, and ultimately lose their lives in a system that doesn't need to exist. The concrete walls become their tomb. We can not allow more human lives to be put at risk. ICE needs to be abolished, and funds need to be invested in our communities, not in cages.”
Setareh Ghandehari, Advocacy Director at Detention Watch Network, said: “We are deeply saddened and equally enraged by the loss of life at the hands of ICE. ICE kills people and threatens community safety across the country. No one is safe when ICE is present – whether on the streets or in one of the agency’s more than 200 abuse-ridden detention facilities. People are dying in ICE detention at a record-breaking rate, ICE agents are tearing families apart and shooting people on the streets, making people less safe, and causing chaos wherever they go — whether in Minneapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, Biddeford, or beyond. Make no mistake, we are witnessing a watershed moment. No more abuse and death at the hands of ICE and no more ICE funding while people lose health care, struggle to pay rent and kids go hungry. We demand an end to the ICE age.”
Priyanka Bhatt, Senior Staff Attorney with Project South, said: “It is appalling that ICE has caused the death of yet another community member, Mr. Jesus Manuel Arenas-Silva, in Georgia. This tragedy raises the death toll to 21 deaths in ICE custody in Georgia since 2005. This horrible news is received after reports of three ICE-related murders around the country. We send our deepest condolences to Mr. Arenas-Silva’s family and all the families who have suffered due to ICE’s brutality. ICE’s callous decision to once again detain immigrants at Irwin County Detention Center despite its track record of abuses and neglect is abhorrent and inhumane. It is clear that ICE and its private prison contractors are violent agents of the white supremacists currently in charge of the U.S. government and must be treated as such. We demand justice and accountability for all the atrocities they have committed both inside ICE prisons and within our neighborhoods.”
Li Ann Sanchez, CEO/ED Community EsTr(El/La) said: “I was detained by ICE for approximately 14 months, and I know the barriers and suffering we face as migrants in accessing medical care within these jails. Although ICE claims to provide adequate services, the reality is that many people wait weeks for care or essential medication, and such negligence can cost lives. The death of Jesús Manuel Arenas Silva must not be silenced; his life deserves justice, his family deserves answers, and our community deserves the truth. We will continue to speak out for those seeking safety, refuge, and a dignified life. No one should die in the custody of a system that ought to protect human rights. We demand transparency, an independent investigation, and profound change. We honor Jesús Manuel’s life by saying: not one more death.”
Adelina Nicholls, Executive Director of the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR), said: “Our condolences and prayers are with Jesus Manuel Arenas-Silvia’s family. We are mourning the life of a community member who was taken by a rogue agency that has no accountability for its actions. As a result of the state violence and dehumanization of immigrants that we are currently experiencing, we are now at 21 community members whose lives have been lost inside these inhumane detention centers in Georgia. We are living in a country where growing up has become an act of resilience. Jesus Manuel lost his life at Irwin Detention Center, which was previously closed due to the inhumane, invasive, and unconsented procedures that many women underwent while being deprived of their freedom.”
Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta (Advancing Justice-Atlanta) is the first nonprofit legal advocacy organization dedicated to protecting the civil rights of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) and Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian (AMEMSA) communities in Georgia and the Southeast.
