Miami — A 19-year-old Mexican immigrant has died in a county jail in Florida that held detained immigrants, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
According to ICE, Royer Perez Jimenez “died of presumed suicide,” although the official cause of death remains under investigation.
Perez Gimenez’s death Monday is the 46th death reported in ICE custody since the start of President Donald Trump’s administration in January 2025, according to an Associated Press tally.
Perez Jimenez is the second person to die in ICE custody this week, after Afghan immigrant – whose family said he was evacuated from his country after working for years with US forces – died in a hospital in Texas after being detained by immigration authorities.
Since the beginning of this year, 13 immigrants have died in ICE custody. Perez Jimenez is the youngest person to do so since the beginning of Trump’s second term.
The 21st District Medical Examiner’s Office did not respond to AP’s request for an autopsy report. The Florida Attorney General’s Office referred any requests for information to the US Department of Homeland Security and the US Attorney’s Office.
On Thursday, the Mexican government said in a statement that such deaths in immigration detention are “unacceptable” and called for a swift and thorough US investigation to prevent a repeat. Officials from the consulate in Miami visited the facility where Pérez Jiménez was being held and asked authorities to document the case.
Pérez Jimenez’s death sparked condemnation within the immigrant community.
“The immigration detention system deprives people of liberty, isolates them from their loved ones, and exposes them to miserable conditions,” said Carly Perez Fernandez, communications director for the Detention Watch Network, a national coalition that advocates for immigration detention.
ICE said an officer found Perez-Gimenez “unconscious and unresponsive” at 2:34 a.m. Monday at the Glades County Detention Center in Moore Haven, a facility closed by President Joe Biden’s administration and reopened by the Trump administration. Moore Haven is located about 55 miles (90 kilometers) northeast of Fort Myers.
ICE said the officers who found Perez-Jimenez “immediately” called a medical emergency at the dormitory, and staff began CPR. Two medical personnel arrived a few minutes later and confirmed that Perez-Jimenez had no pulse, before fire-rescue deputies arrived who “began life-sustaining interventions.”
Perez Jimenez was pronounced dead at 2:51 a.m., 17 minutes after he was found dead, ICE said.
The Mexican teen was arrested on Jan. 22 by police officers in Volusia County, a rural area in east-central Florida, and charged with felony impersonation and resisting an officer, ICE said. He was transferred to ICE custody a month later.
The AP requested Royer Perez Jimenez’s arrest report from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, providing the full name listed in the ICE news release and the date of the arrest. The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office responded that it had searched its system, and Perez-Jimenez did not appear in it.
Florida is one of the states that agrees most with the Trump administration on immigration matters and is home to some of the most famous immigration detention centers, such as the South Florida Detention Facility, also known as Alcatraz crocodileand Chrome Northern Service Processing Center. Some detainees reported worms in their food, broken toilets, and overflowing sewage.
Prolonged detention nationwide It has become more common during Trump’s current term. That’s partly due to a new policy that generally prohibits immigration judges from releasing detainees while their deportation cases make their way through overburdened courts.
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Associated Press writer Maria Verza in Mexico City contributed.