Salvadoran man dies in ICE custody at Georgia facility

ICE said Luis Sandoval, a 48-year-old Salvadoran man, died Oct. 23 at the Folkston D. Ray ICE Processing Center in Folkston, Georgia. The agency said staff found him at about 1:46 a.m. with a ligature around his neck, began life-saving measures and pronounced him dead about 42 minutes later.

ICE said the death remains under investigation and an autopsy is planned to determine the official cause and manner. Those findings have not been established.

Separately, Georgia’s U.S. senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff had requested an investigation into detention standards and reports of medical neglect and retaliation involving hunger strikers. The Current reported that their letter was dated Oct. 22, one day before Sandoval’s death; the request was not a response to his death.

WABE reported that family members and legal representatives estimated about 500 detainees took part in the hunger strike at its peak. That is an estimate, not an official count. The Current also reported a claim that at least 13 hunger strikers were placed in solitary confinement, but said it could not independently confirm the number.