A 19-year-old Mexican national has died at a Florida immigration detention center, becoming the youngest person to lose their life in ICE custody since President Donald Trump launched his sweeping immigration enforcement campaign.
Royer Perez-Jimenez was discovered unresponsive in his cell at the Glades County Detention Center at 2:34 a.m. on March 16.
Detention staff responded immediately and attempted to revive him, but he did not survive.
ICE said the preliminary cause of death is a suspected suicide, though an official determination is still pending investigation.
Authorities say Perez-Jimenez was arrested in January and faced charges of fraud by impersonation and misdemeanor resisting an officer.
He had entered the United States illegally, though ICE has not identified when that occurred.
At intake, staff conducted a standard mental health screening, and Perez-Jimenez indicated he had no behavioral health concerns and answered no to every question related to suicide risk.
The Mexican government condemned his death and demanded a full accounting from US immigration authorities.
Mexico’s foreign ministry issued a statement calling such deaths “unacceptable” and pressing US officials to investigate thoroughly, assign responsibility, and put in place measures to prevent future deaths.
Advocacy group Detention Watch Network, which opposes the practice of immigrant detention, says more than 42 migrants have died in ICE custody since Trump took office in January 2025.
Immigration enforcement operations have also resulted in fatalities beyond detention facilities, including two US citizens shot and killed by agents during raids in Minnesota.
During the entirety of Joe Biden’s four-year presidency, ICE recorded just 24 in-custody deaths, according to the agency’s own data.
