ICE reports that the 48-year-old man died on October 23 in Folkston and that an autopsy will be performed. The death reported in San Diego does not yet have official confirmation.
A 48-year-old Salvadoran man died on October 23, 2026 in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the Folkston D. Ray ICE Processing Center in Folkston, Georgia, according to a ICE statement dated October 24. Media outlets also report the death of another person detained at a facility in San Diego, California, but ICE has not published information about that case on the pages reviewed.
What ICE says about the Georgia case
According to the statement, at 1:46 a.m. staff found the man with a ligature around his neck. Employees began resuscitation efforts, and Charlton County emergency services continued care. He was pronounced dead at 2:28 a.m.
ICE says agents from its Newark office arrested him on October 2, 2026 and served him a notice to appear before an immigration judge. He arrived in Folkston on October 8, awaiting his first removal hearing. The agency states that he entered the U.S. without being admitted, inspected, or authorized, and that the date and place of entry are unknown.
The statement says the death is under investigation and that an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause and the official manner of death. So far, the official cause has not been released.
The San Diego case
Press reports say another immigrant died in ICE custody at a detention center in San Diego. The headlines do not specify the cause or the person's identity. The Telemundo News account on X published the news on October 27. ICE's page on in-custody death reports was last updated on September 23, 2026, so it does not include later cases. As of the publication of this article, there was no official ICE confirmation of the San Diego case in the sources reviewed.
How ICE reports deaths
According to its detainee death reports page, ICE aims to publish a statement within two business days, although it describes this as a goal rather than a firm deadline. The same page indicates that the field office director must report each death to ICE's internal offices within 12 hours, and that in-custody death reports must be made public within 90 days, under requirements from Congress.
The fiscal year 2026 list that ICE shows on that page has 36 entries, between October 4, 2025 and August 23, 2026. In the case of Georgia, ICE says it completed notifications to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to ICE's Office of the Inspector General, and to its Office of Professional Responsibility.
What does it mean to you?
- If you have a family member detained by ICE, you can search for them in ICE's online Detainee Locator, using their alien registration number (A-number) and their country of origin.
- Each country's consulate offers assistance to its citizens who are detained; a family member can contact the corresponding consulate.
- To find out whether a death has been officially reported, check ICE statements and the in-custody death reports page, and treat figures from the media as approximate until ICE publishes them.
Legal notice: This information is general and does not replace the advice of a licensed immigration attorney or a representative accredited by the Department of Justice.
Editor's note: Some information in this article could not be confirmed with official sources at the time of publication; it comes from reports by other media outlets or from the individuals quoted. We will update the article if the information changes.
