A Mexican teen migrant dies in a Florida jail holding ICE detainees

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This article was published 19/03/2026 (198 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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.

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 Jan. 21 by police in Edgewater, a rural area located in east-central Florida and charged with misdemeanor crimes of providing a false name and resisting an officer, according to a police report. ICE said he was transferred to federal custody a month later.

Florida largely aligns 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.

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Associated Press writer Maria Verza in Mexico City contributed. ___

This story was first published on March 19, 2026. It was updated on March 20, 2026, to correct that The Associated Press, relying on information in a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement press release, erroneously reported the arresting agency, date of arrest and nature of charges against a Florida teen who died in ICE custody. The person was arrested by the Edgewater Police Department, not the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, on Jan. 21, not Jan. 22, and was charged with misdemeanor crimes, not felonies.