ICE Enforcement Tied to Three Deaths in Three States in a Day

Three men died in three states within a 24-hour span in July, according to reporting by José Olivares of The Guardian published Sept. 29. The deaths, in Maine, Georgia and Florida, occurred amid Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations and custody transfers, the Guardian reported. The men had no connection to one another before the span in which they died.

What happened in Maine, Georgia and Florida?

At roughly 7 a.m. on July 13, in Biddeford, Maine, Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero left the apartment he shared with his partner and daughter and drove off in his white car, the Guardian reported. Minutes later, neighbors heard three loud pops. Durán Guerrero was found dead.

More than 1,200 miles away in Ocilla, Georgia, Jesús Manuel Arenas-Silva was placed on a bus that day as private-sector guards and ICE officials began transferring him and other immigrants between detention centers roughly two hours apart, according to the Guardian. Ten minutes into the ride, he became unconscious. Doctors at a nearby hospital pronounced him dead.

Less than 24 hours after the Maine incident, Juan Jairo Coronilla Durán pulled into a gas station near a highway in St. Augustine, Florida, as the sun rose, the Guardian reported. He was struck and killed by a semitruck on the nearby road while running from immigration officers.

How many people have died in ICE custody this year?

The Guardian's reporting places the three deaths inside a broader pattern: 2025 was ICE's deadliest year in two decades, with 32 people dying in the agency's custody, according to the outlet's earlier tracking, referenced in the Sept. 29 story. The July cluster — three deaths in three states inside one day — represents a compressed version of that yearlong toll, the Guardian reported.

What are advocates saying about the pattern?

"Three people dying in one day is an amplification of what we've already seen," Andrew Free, a former immigration attorney and investigative journalist, told the Guardian.

The Guardian's reporting frames the three deaths as connected only by timing and by their place inside what the outlet describes as an expanded enforcement effort under the Trump administration. The piece is part of an ongoing Guardian series, "ICE 2.0," examining the agency's operations.

What is not yet known?

The Guardian's account does not specify a cause of death for Durán Guerrero beyond the sounds neighbors reported hearing before he was found dead. The outlet's reporting does not include a statement from ICE addressing any of the three incidents in the excerpted material reviewed for this story. HTT News could not independently verify additional details beyond what the Guardian reported and has not confirmed whether investigations by state or federal authorities are underway in any of the three cases.

By the numbers

• 3 — men who died in Maine, Georgia and Florida within a 24-hour window beginning July 13, per the Guardian.
• 32 — people who died in ICE custody during 2025, described by the Guardian as the agency's deadliest year in two decades.
• 1,200+ — miles separating the Biddeford, Maine, and Ocilla, Georgia, incidents, per the Guardian's reporting.

What to watch

• Whether ICE or the Department of Homeland Security issues public statements or incident reports on the three deaths.
• Whether local authorities in Maine, Georgia or Florida open independent investigations into the deaths.
• Whether the Guardian's "ICE 2.0" series produces further case-by-case documentation of 2026 custody and enforcement-related deaths.
• Whether advocacy groups or family members, as in the GoFundMe campaign referenced in the Guardian's reporting, pursue legal action.

Glossary

• ICE custody — Detention or supervision of an individual by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including during transport between facilities.
• Custody transfer — The movement of a detained individual from one detention facility to another, sometimes involving private contractors alongside federal officers.
• Enforcement operation — Field activity by ICE officers to locate, arrest or process individuals for immigration violations, distinct from custodial detention.

The Guardian's story is the sole source of the case details reported here; HTT News has not independently interviewed the families involved or obtained law enforcement records beyond what the Guardian published.