Anger as Mexican teen dies in Florida jail holding ICE detainees

A 19-year-old Mexican migrant has died in a Florida county jail used for immigrant detention, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has confirmed.

Royer Perez-Jimenez’s death on Monday is under investigation, though ICE stated he “died of presumed suicide”. This marks the second death in ICE custody this week.

His death brings the total number of reported fatalities in ICE custody to 46 since Donald Trump’s administration began, according to an Associated Press count. Mr Perez-Jimenez is also the youngest detainee to die in ICE custody during that period.

Earlier this week, an Afghan immigrant, whose family said he was evacuated after assisting US forces, also died in a Texas hospital after detention. Requests for Mr Perez-Jimenez’s autopsy report from The Office of The District 21 Medical Examiner remain unanswered. The Florida prosecutor’s office referred inquiries to the US Department of Homeland Security and the US attorney general’s office.

Mr Perez-Jimenez’s death has 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 (88.5 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 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, non-functioning 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.