Venezuelan man died in ICE custody; sister alleges medical neglect

Sonimar Arenas is demanding justice and a thorough investigation into the death of her 63-year-old brother, Jesús Manuel Arenas, who died in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody on July 13. She claims the agency denied him essential medical care and medications for his chronic conditions.

Arenas stated that ICE arrested her brother at his Georgia home on July 9 due to a deportation order. Despite warnings about his health, immigration authorities restricted his access to prescribed treatments. "I begged ICE not to take him because of his medical condition, but it was not heard. They also ignored my request to let him take all his medications and only left him one of the four he needed," she recounted.

Jesús Manuel, who suffered from hypertension, chronic anxiety, and depression, contacted his family on the day of his arrest to report that custodians had not even provided him with the single authorized medication. Four days later, on July 13, agents found him unconscious during his transfer between detention centers. Medical personnel took him to a hospital, but doctors pronounced him dead an hour later from a presumed cardiac arrest.

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I begged ICE not to take him because of his medical condition, but it was not heard. They also ignored my request to let him take all his medications and only left him one of the four he needed.

"We demand justice for his memory and an investigation to clarify the real causes of his death. I am absolutely sure that he did not receive the medical attention he required," Arenas asserted.

To fulfill her brother's last wish to be buried in his homeland, Arenas launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise $7,500 for the repatriation of his remains to Venezuela. The case has intensified political criticism against the immigration service's custody protocols. Democratic lawmakers have called for the dismantling of ICE, citing the recent deaths of other individuals in its custody. Representative Delia Ramírez urged Congress to pass the Melt ICE Act, which aims to defund and permanently close the agency's detention centers.

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We demand justice for his memory and an investigation to clarify the real causes of his death. I am absolutely sure that he did not receive the medical attention he required.