A 19-year-old Mexican migrant died earlier this week in federal immigration detention, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said.
Royer Perez-Jimenez died on Monday at the Glades County Detention Center in southern Florida, where he had been held since Feb. 26.
He was the youngest person to have died in ICE custody since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, during which the president has made an aggressive mass deportation program central to his agenda. Perez-Jimenez was the fourth person to die in federal immigration custody this month.
According to a statement from ICE, a detention officer found Perez-Jimenez “unconscious and unresponsive” at around 2:34 a.m ET. He was pronounced dead 17 minutes later.
ICE said he died of a presumed suicide, but his cause of death is under investigation.
Perez-Jimenez was arrested by the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office on Jan. 22 and charged with felony fraud for impersonation and resisting an officer. He was transferred to ICE custody on Feb. 21 and moved to Glades County Detention Center five days later.
“At intake, Perez was evaluated by medical staff. He denied any behavioral health issues or concerns and answered ‘no’ to all suicide screening questions,” ICE said.
At least 13 people have died in ICE detention this year alone, according to MS NOW’s review of the agency’s records.
One of those deaths, that of Geraldo Lunas Campos, was ruled a homicide by the El Paso County Medical Examiner’s Office after ICE initially characterized his death as a suicide attempt. Since the start of Trump’s second term in January 2025, 44 people have died in ICE detention, including 31 in the 2025 calendar year — more than the previous four years combined, records show. Four of the deaths in ICE custody occurred this month, according to the agency: Pejman Karshenas Najafabadi, a 59-year-old Iranian man who died on March 1 in Mississippi; Emmanuel Cleeford Damas, a Haitian man who died on March 2 in Arizona; Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal, a 41-year-old Afghan man who died on March 14 in Texas; and Perez-Jimenez. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or chat live at 988lifeline.org. You can also visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional support.
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.
Rosa Flores is a national correspondent for MS NOW.
Sara Weisfeldt is a field producer for MS NOW. Recommended
