An immigrant detained at a sprawling detention center complex in Georgia died on Friday, local and federal officials confirmed, after the facility has already faced national scrutiny for its response to an ongoing hunger strike inside.
asserted
facility → detain → strike
The death inside the D Ray James facility in Folkston, Georgia, comes as federal immigration officials and private contractors are allegedly threatening hunger strikers there with force-feeding, a detained hunger striker, his wife, attorneys and advocates all said this week.
uncertain
striker → come → feeding
Detainees are refusing food to protest prolonged captivity and bad conditions.
asserted
Detainees → refuse → captivity
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Saturday confirmed the death inside the facility, which is adjacent to the Folkston ICE processing center.
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which → confirm → center
Together, both facilities make up a large detention complex.
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facilities → make → complex
GEO Group, the private prison company that runs the facilities under contract for the federal government, referred all questions to ICE.
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that → run → ICE
The Georgia bureau of investigation (GBI), a state law enforcement agency, confirmed in an email that the local sheriff’s office requested the GBI conduct an “in-custody death investigation” at the D Ray facility, the Guardian can reveal.
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Guardian → confirm → facility
ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), its umbrella agency, did not respond to requests for comment about the death or the hunger strike.
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ICE → respond → death
“This was a preventable tragedy,” said Azadeh Shahshahani, the legal and advocacy director for Project South, a social justice organization based in Georgia.
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Shahshahani → say → Georgia
“We hold ICE and the private prison corporation fully responsible for any harm that migrants suffer at Folkston.
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migrants → hold → Folkston
We call for an immediate independent investigation into this tragic death and for accountability.
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We → call → accountability
Folkston must be shut down immediately.”
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Folkston → shut → ?
The man, Luis Sandoval, was 48 and from El Salvador, ICE said in its statement, adding that at about 1.46am on Friday, facility staff found Sandoval with a ligature around his neck.
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staff → say → neck
He was pronounced dead less than an hour later.
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He → pronounce → ?
Sandoval was arrested by ICE officials earlier this month, and transferred to the Folkston facility on 8 October.
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Sandoval → arrest → October
In its press release, the agency said Sandoval had prior convictions for aggravated assault and other crimes, and that his death was under investigation.
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death → say → investigation
It was unknown on Saturday whether Sandoval had participated in the hunger strike.
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Sandoval → participate → strike
The GBI said it could not share more details because of its active investigation.
uncertain
it → say → investigation
Sandoval is the 60th person to die in ICE custody since the start of the second Trump administration, as ICE continues with its aggressive anti-immigrant crackdown.
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ICE → die → crackdown
Austin Kocher, president of Relevant Research, which studies the immigration enforcement system, and who is a research fellow at American University, said that this year, there have been an average of one death every 10 days in the custody of ICE.
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who → study → ICE
That figure includes people dying in detention centers or in nearby hospitals while still in the custody of ICE.
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figure → include → ICE
“Even in the past, there has not been such an overt dehumanization and overt view that migrants’ lives are expendable,” Kocher added.
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Kocher → add → past
“I worry that that tone [from the Trump administration] has a tendency towards neglect and viewing migrants as disposable.”
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tone → worry → migrants
Tens of thousands of people have been arrested and detained by ICE, leading to prolonged detention, as immigrants and asylum seekers fight their cases, and the agency has been stepping up its offensive in recent months despite a less showy presence on the streets.
One man currently in the Georgia detention center is Andrei Gerdiukov, a Russian asylum seeker who is participating in the hunger strike.
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who → arrest → strike
Nearly three weeks ago, Gerdiukov and dozens of others launched a hunger strike to demand their legal cases be processed more quickly through the US immigration system and to protest the conditions of their confinement.
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cases → launch → confinement
The hunger strikers were placed in solitary confinement, according to Gerdiukov and attorneys.
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strikers → place → Gerdiukov
“I feel tired, I feel dizzy.
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I → feel → ?
Every move, it is hard,” Gerdiukov said in an interview by phone on Saturday from detention.
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Gerdiukov → say → detention
“They threatened us that they were going to force-feed us.”
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they → threaten → us
He had heard about the death but did not know Sandoval.
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He → hear → Sandoval
Gerdiukov and his wife, Polina Chertushkina, came to the US from Russia to seek asylum after they faced persecution for their opposition to the war in Ukraine, Chertushkina said.
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Chertushkina → come → Ukraine
Their cases are ongoing, but as the couple were driving through Florida this February, they were pulled over and detained by immigration officials.
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they → drive → officials
Chertushkina was released, but Gerdiukov was taken to Folkston eight months ago.
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Gerdiukov → release → Folkston
“I am so worried about him, I don’t know what to do,” Chertushkina said about the force-feeding threats, speaking on Saturday by phone.
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Chertushkina → know → phone
Chertushkina is asking lawmakers to assist her husband.
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Chertushkina → ask → husband
At least 12 hunger strikers are still participating, despite the threats of force-feeding, Gerdiukov said, adding that several had been fainting.
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several → participate → feeding
On Friday, the hunger strikers were moved to a nearby unit, where medical officials “wearing combat boots” took their vital signs, raising fears of imminent force-feeding, Gerdiukov said.
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Gerdiukov → move → feeding
It was not clear on Saturday whether or when the authorities intended to use force-feeding.
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authorities → intend → feeding
The process to force-feed hunger strikers is secretive, with court records often sealed.
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records → feed → strikers
A judge has to approve the procedure, and then detention guards restrain a hunger striker while medical staff push tubing up the nose and down the throat to pump nutritional liquid into the stomach.
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staff → have → stomach
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
