MIAMI (AP) — A 19-year-old Mexican migrant died at a county jail in Florida housing immigrant detainees, confirmed the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The agency stated that Royer Perez-Jimenez ‘died of presumed suicide’ while the official cause of death is under investigation.
Perez-Jimenez’s death on Monday marks the second fatality in ICE custody this week, following the death of an Afghan immigrant who had worked with U.S. forces and was detained in Texas. Since the start of 2026, 13 immigrants have died in ICE custody and Perez-Jimenez is noted as the youngest detainee to die during Trump's second term.
This tragic incident has invoked strong backlash from immigrant rights advocates. Carly Pérez Fernández, communications director at Detention Watch Network, criticized the immigrant detention system for isolating detainees and exposing them to poor conditions, leading to such tragedies.
ICE stated that officers found Perez-Jimenez ‘unconscious and unresponsive’ at 2:34 a.m. at the Glades County Detention Center in Moore Haven, a facility reopened by the Trump administration after being shut down by President Biden’s administration. Emergency services were called but despite attempts at resuscitation, he was pronounced dead shortly after by medical personnel.
Perez-Jimenez had been arrest on January 22 by sheriff’s officers in Volusia County and charged with felony impersonation and resisting an officer. A search for his arrest records showed he does not appear in the county sheriff's system, raising questions about his detention circumstances.
The growing number of fatalities in ICE custody underscores the urgent need for reform within the system, especially given that detainees have reported unhygienic conditions, including food contamination and inadequate sanitation facilities. Prolonged detention has become more commonplace, attributed to policy changes that prohibit judges from releasing detainees during ongoing deportation proceedings.
Perez-Jimenez’s death on Monday marks the second fatality in ICE custody this week, following the death of an Afghan immigrant who had worked with U.S. forces and was detained in Texas. Since the start of 2026, 13 immigrants have died in ICE custody and Perez-Jimenez is noted as the youngest detainee to die during Trump's second term.
This tragic incident has invoked strong backlash from immigrant rights advocates. Carly Pérez Fernández, communications director at Detention Watch Network, criticized the immigrant detention system for isolating detainees and exposing them to poor conditions, leading to such tragedies.
ICE stated that officers found Perez-Jimenez ‘unconscious and unresponsive’ at 2:34 a.m. at the Glades County Detention Center in Moore Haven, a facility reopened by the Trump administration after being shut down by President Biden’s administration. Emergency services were called but despite attempts at resuscitation, he was pronounced dead shortly after by medical personnel.
Perez-Jimenez had been arrest on January 22 by sheriff’s officers in Volusia County and charged with felony impersonation and resisting an officer. A search for his arrest records showed he does not appear in the county sheriff's system, raising questions about his detention circumstances.
The growing number of fatalities in ICE custody underscores the urgent need for reform within the system, especially given that detainees have reported unhygienic conditions, including food contamination and inadequate sanitation facilities. Prolonged detention has become more commonplace, attributed to policy changes that prohibit judges from releasing detainees during ongoing deportation proceedings.
