Mexican Migrant Dies in Florida Jail: 46th ICE Death Under Trump Era

MIAMI (AP) — A 19-year-old Mexican migrant died Monday at the Glades County Detention Center in Florida, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Royer Perez-Jimenez, the youngest detainee to die in ICE custody since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, “died of a presumed suicide,” though the official cause of death remains under investigation.

The death of Perez-Jimenez is the 13th reported immigrant death in ICE custody this year and the 46th since the beginning of President Trump’s administration in January 2025, according to an Associated Press count. It comes just days after the death of an Afghan immigrant in a Texas hospital after being detained by immigration authorities, whose family stated he had been evacuated from Afghanistan after working with U.S. Forces.

ICE stated that a detention officer found Perez-Jimenez “unconscious and unresponsive” at approximately 2:34 a.m. Monday. Staff immediately initiated cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and medical personnel arrived minutes later, determining he was without a pulse. Moore Haven Fire Rescue EMS arrived shortly after and began life-sustaining interventions. Perez-Jimenez was pronounced dead at 2:51 a.m., seventeen minutes after he was discovered, according to ICE.

Perez-Jimenez was arrested on January 22 by the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office and charged with felony fraud for impersonation and misdemeanor resisting an officer, ICE reported. He was transferred to ICE custody a month later, on February 21, and subsequently moved to the Glades County Detention Center on February 26. At intake, medical staff evaluated Perez-Jimenez, who denied any behavioral health issues or concerns and answered “no” to all suicide screening questions.

However, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office informed the Associated Press that a search of its system did not yield any record of an arrest for Royer Perez-Jimenez on the date provided by ICE.

The Glades County Detention Center, located approximately 55 miles northeast of Fort Myers, was previously shut down by the Biden administration before being reopened under the Trump administration. The facility has faced scrutiny for its treatment of detainees.

The death has drawn condemnation from immigrant advocacy groups. “The 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.

The Office of The District 21 Medical Examiner did not respond to a request from the AP 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.

Perez-Jimenez initially entered the United States on February 19, 2022, and was encountered by U.S. Border Patrol, who granted him a voluntary return to Mexico the same day. He illegally reentered the United States at an unknown date, a federal felony.