Georgia authorities looking into immigration detainee death

ATLANTA – State and local investigators are looking into the death of a man who was held at a south Georgia immigration detention centre.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says 40-year-old Efrain De La Rosa was found unresponsive Tuesday in his cell at Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin. The agency says the preliminary cause of death is “self-inflicted strangulation.”

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Stewart County Sheriff’s Office are looking at the case to determine whether there was foul play.

His brother, Isai Romero, told the newspaper that De La Rosa was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

A group of immigrant rights organizations have called for an investigation of De La Rosa’s death. This is the third Stewart detainee to die since May 2017.