Two ICE Detainees Die a Day Apart; Agency's Own Records Show at Least 38 Custody Deaths Last Fiscal Year

Two men died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody a day apart last week, according to ICE news releases. The deaths come after a fiscal year in which ICE's own published records show at least 38 people died in its custody, more than in any year on the agency's public death list.

Roberto Jimenez Gutierrez, 43, of Guatemala, died Oct. 24 at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego, ICE said in a release Tuesday. Luis Sandoval, 48, of El Salvador, died Oct. 23 at the Folkston D. Ray ICE Processing Center in southeast Georgia, according to a release dated Oct. 24. ICE says both deaths are under investigation and autopsies will determine the official cause and manner of death.

What ICE Says Happened

According to ICE, staff at Otay Mesa found Jimenez unresponsive in his assigned safety cell at about 11:31 a.m. on Oct. 24. Medical staff began CPR at about 11:38 a.m., paramedics from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection arrived at about 11:52 a.m., and a paramedic pronounced him dead at about 12:23 p.m.

ICE says an immigration judge ordered Jimenez removed in 2006 and that he was removed to Mexico that year and twice more in 2008. In November 2016, U.S. Customs and Border Protection apprehended him at a port of entry in El Paso and released him pending review of an application, and he failed to appear, the release says. ICE arrested him again Oct. 9 in Escondido, California. ICE lists a July 2024 conviction for selling liquor to a minor and prior arrests, including for battery against a spouse and child abuse.

In Georgia, ICE says staff found Sandoval at about 1:46 a.m. on Oct. 23 "with a ligature around his neck." Staff and Charlton County emergency crews tried to save him, and he was pronounced dead at about 2:28 a.m. According to the release, ICE's Newark office arrested Sandoval on Oct. 2 and issued him a notice to appear before an immigration judge, and he arrived at Folkston on Oct. 8 to await his first removal hearing. ICE lists convictions for aggravated assault, making terroristic threats, receiving stolen property and theft.

In both cases, ICE says it notified the Department of Homeland Security, the ICE Office of Inspector General and the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility.

What ICE's Own Death List Shows

Both releases say information is available on ICE's Detainee Death Reporting page. As of Wednesday morning, The Digital Free Press found, that page listed 36 deaths for fiscal year 2026, which ran from Oct. 1, 2025, to Sept. 30, 2026. The most recent entry is dated Aug. 23.

The page does not include two later deaths in that fiscal year that ICE announced in its own news releases: Carlos Josue Marchena-Marchena, 36, of Costa Rica, who died Sept. 18 at Winn Correctional Center in Winnfield, Louisiana, and Julian Curo-Churata, 47, of Peru, who died Sept. 29 at a hospital in Monroe, Louisiana. Together, ICE's list and releases account for at least 38 deaths in fiscal 2026.

The page has no section yet for fiscal 2027, which began Oct. 1, so neither of last week's deaths appears there.

For comparison, the page lists 24 deaths in fiscal 2025, 12 in 2024, four in 2023, three in 2022, five in 2021, 21 in 2020, eight in 2019 and six in 2018, the first year it covers.

ICE's Statement on Detainee Care

ICE says in both releases that it is "committed to ensuring that all those in custody reside in safe, secure, and humane environments." It says detainees get medical, dental and mental health screenings within 12 hours of arrival, a full health assessment within 14 days and 24-hour emergency care, and that "at no time during detention is a detained alien denied emergency care."

The agency says it notifies Congress, nongovernmental groups and the media of in-custody deaths and posts releases on its website.

Sources: ICE news release on Roberto Jimenez Gutierrez (Oct. 27, 2026): https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/criminal-illegal-alien-guatemala-dies-ice-custody-california ; ICE news release on Luis Sandoval (Oct. 24, 2026): https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/criminal-alien-el-salvador-dies-ice-custody-georgia ; ICE Detainee Death Reporting page (read Oct. 28, 2026): https://www.ice.gov/detain/detainee-death-reporting ; ICE news release on Carlos Josue Marchena-Marchena (Sept. 21, 2026): https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/criminal-illegal-alien-ice-custody-passes-away-winnfield-correctional-center ; ICE news release on Julian Curo-Churata (Oct. 1, 2026): https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/illegal-alien-peru-passes-away-ice-custody-louisiana