19-Year-Old Royer Perez-Jimenez Dies in ICE Jail Known for Abuse
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A teenager who was arrested in January after being stopped for a traffic violation in Florida is now believed to be the youngest person to have died in immigration detention under the second Trump administration, after US Immigration and Customs Enforcement notified Congress of the 19-year-old’s death this week.
Royer Perez-Jimenez was found unresponsive by a detention officer at Glades County Detention Center in Moore Haven, Florida at around 2:30 am Eastern on Monday. The center operates as an immigration detention facility under a contract with ICE.
Local emergency workers arrived and attempted lifesaving interventions, according to ICE’s statement, but Perez-Jimenez was pronounced dead soon after.
The agency said Perez-Jimenez “died of a presumed suicide,” but did not detail how that was determined and noted that the cause of death is still under investigation.
According to a tracker by The American Prospect, which has been monitoring deaths in ICE detention as well as deaths and injuries of people who have encountered federal immigration agents conducting enforcement operations, Perez-Jimenez is at least the 49th person who has died in detention since President Donald Trump took office for his second term in January 2025.
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