Royer Perez-Jimenez, 19, died from presumed suicide Monday at Florida’s Glades County Detention Center. File Photo courtesy U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
A Mexican teenager died earlier this week at Florida’s Glades County Detention Center, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said, becoming the youngest person to die in federal immigration custody amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
The teen, 19-year-old Royer Perez-Jimenez, was found unconscious and unresponsive in a facility dormitory by a detention officer at 2:34 a.m. EST Monday, ICE said in a Wednesday statement.
Medical staff performed CPR but were unable to resuscitate the teen, according to officials, who said he was pronounced dead at 2:51 a.m.
The cause of death is under investigation, but ICE said it believes he died by presumed suicide.
Perez-Jimenez fourth person to die in federal immigration custody this month, the 13th this year and the 44th since Trump returned to office in January 2025, according to ICE releases and statistics. At least two other immigrants have died during ICE or federal immigration enforcement actions.
At 19 years old, Perez-Jimenez is the youngest immigration detainee to die during President Donald Trump’s second term.
The number of immigration detainee deaths has surged amid the second Trump administration. There were 24 detainee deaths during all four years of the previous Biden administration.
The surge comes as the Trump administration has been conducting a large-scale anti-immigration crackdown in which tens of thousands of immigrants have been arrested and at least two U.S. citizens were fatally shot by federal immigration officers.
According to ICE, Perez-Jimenez entered the United States on Feb. 19, 2022, and was encountered by U.S. Boarder Patrol and granted voluntary return to Mexico, but re-entered the country at an unknown date.
Perez-Jimenez was arrested a second time on Jan. 22. According to ICE information, he was in east-central Florida when he was detained by Volusia County Sheriff’s deputies and charged with felony fraud for impersonation, a felony, and misdemeanor resisting an officer.
On Feb. 21, he was transferred to ICE custody and was moved to the Glades County facility on Feb. 26. ICE officials said he told immigration officers officers that he had no behavior health issues and answered “no” to all questions asked during the suicide screening.
