A Mexican teen migrant dies in a Florida jail holding ICE detainees
[March 20, 2026]
By GISELA SALOMON
MIAMI (AP) — A 19-year-old Mexican migrant died at a county jail in
Florida that has been holding immigrant detainees, according to U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
According to ICE, Royer Perez-Jimenez “died of presumed suicide,”
although an official cause of death remains under investigation.
The death of Perez-Jimenez on Monday is the 46th reported under
Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody since the start of President
Donald Trump's administration in January 2025, according to a count by
The Associated Press.
Perez-Jimenez is the second person to die in ICE custody this week,
after an Afghan immigrant — whose family said he had been evacuated from
his country after working for years with U.S. forces — died in a Texas
hospital after being detained by immigration authorities.
Since the beginning of this year, 13 immigrants have died in ICE
custody. Perez-Jimenez is the youngest to do so since the beginning of
Trump’s second term.
The Office of The District 21 Medical Examiner did not respond to an AP
request for the autopsy report. The Florida prosecutor’s office referred
any requests for information to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
and the U.S. Attorney General’s Office.
The Mexican government said Thursday in a statement that such
immigration detention deaths are “unacceptable” and called for a prompt
and thorough U.S. investigation to prevent a recurrence. Officials from
the Consulate in Miami visited the facility where Perez-Jimenez was held
and asked authorities for documentation about the case.
Perez-Jimenez's death sparked condemnation within the immigrant
community.
“Immigration detention system deprives people of freedom, isolates
people away from loved ones, and subjects people to abysmal conditions,”
said Carly Pérez Fernández, communications director at Detention Watch
Network, a national coalition advocating against immigrant detention.
ICE said an officer found Perez-Jimenez “unconscious and unresponsive”
at 2:34 a.m. on Monday at Glades County Detention Center in Moore Haven,
a facility that President Joe Biden's administration shut down and the
Trump administration reopened. Moore Haven is about 55 miles (90
kilometers) northeast of Fort Myers.
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The officers who found Perez-Jimenez “immediately” called a medical
emergency in the dormitory, and staff started cardiopulmonary
resuscitation, said ICE. Two medical personnel arrived a few minutes
later and determined Perez-Jimenez to be without pulse, before the
arrival of fire rescue deputies who “initiated life-sustaining
interventions."
Perez-Jimenez was pronounced dead at 2:51 a.m., 17 minutes after he
was found dead, ICE said.
The Mexican teenager was arrested on Jan. 22 by sheriff's officers
in Volusia County, a rural area located in east-central Florida and
charged with a felony for impersonation and resisting an officer,
according to ICE. He was transferred to ICE custody a month later.
The AP requested the arrest report for Royer Perez-Jimenez from the
Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, providing the full name listed in
the ICE press release and the date of the arrest. The Volusia County
Sheriff’s Office responded that it searched its system, and
Perez-Jimenez does not appear in it.
Florida is one of the states that aligns most with the Trump
administration on immigration matters and houses some of the most
well-known immigrant detention centers, such as the South Florida
Detention Facility, also known as Alligator Alcatraz, and Krome
North Service Processing Center. Some detainees have reported
finding worms in their food, nonfunctioning toilets and overflowing
sewage.
Prolonged detention nationwide has become more common during Trump’s
current term. This is partly due to a new policy that generally
prohibits immigration judges from releasing detainees while their
deportation cases make their way through overburdened courts.
___
Associated Press writer Maria Verza in Mexico City contributed.
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