Nineteen-year-old Mexican man dies in ICE custody, agency says

By Jasper Ward

WASHINGTON, March 19 (Reuters) – A 19-year-old man died at a federal detention center on Monday, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the youngest known person to die in federal immigration custody during the second Trump administration.

ICE identified the man as Royer Perez Jimenez, of Mexico, who was being held at the Glades County Detention Center in Moore Haven, Florida.

Perez Jimenez’s death is a presumed suicide, ICE said, adding that the official cause of death is under investigation after he was found unresponsive in the early hours of the morning. The detention center’s staff unsuccessfully tried to resuscitate him for nearly 10 minutes after he was found, according to ICE.

The agency said Perez Jimenez was in custody after he was arrested and charged with felony fraud for impersonating and resisting an officer.

He had initially entered the U.S. in 2022, was returned home after an encounter with U.S. Border Patrol, and later reentered the U.S. illegally on an unknown date, ICE said.

At least 12 immigrants, including Perez Jimenez, have died in federal immigration custody so far this year. Thirty-one deaths – a two-decade high – were recorded last year, according to ICE.

“ICE is committed to ensuring that all those in custody reside in safe, secure and humane environments. Comprehensive medical care is provided from the moment individuals arrive and throughout the entirety of their stay,” the agency said in a statement on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Jasper Ward in Washington, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)