A teenager held at a US immigration detention facility in Florida died this week, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said on Thursday, the youngest person to die in ICE custody since Donald Trump took office last year.
Royer Perez-Jimenez, 19, originally from Mexico, was found “unconscious and unresponsive” in his room on 16 March at the Glades county detention center in Moore Haven, Florida, according to the ICE press release.
“He died of a presumed suicide; however, the official cause of his death remains under investigation,” reads the notification.
Perez-Jimenez was arrested by authorities in Volusia county, Florida, on 22 January and was charged with felony fraud for impersonation and misdemeanor resisting an officer. He was placed under ICE custody on 21 February and moved to the detention center in Moore Haven five days later.
“At intake, Perez was evaluated by medical staff,” reads the press release by ICE. “He denied any behavioral health issues or concerns and answered ‘no’ to all suicide screening questions.”
At least 10 other people have died in ICE custody so far this year: Victor Manuel Díaz, 36; Heber Sanchez Domínguez, 34; Luis Beltrán Yanez–Cruz, 68; Luis Gustavo Núñez Caceres, 42; Jairo Garcia-Hernandez, 27; Lorth Sim, 59; Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal, 41; Emanuel Cleeford Damas, 56; Pejman Karshenas Najafabadi, 59; and Alberto Gutiérrez Reyes, 48.
Perez arrived in the United States on 19 February 2022, when he encountered the US border patrol and returned to Mexico to avoid an official removal. He later entered the US without formal approval.
A report released in January by several advocacy groups, including the ACLU of Florida and the Detention Watch Network, found troubling conditions at the Glades county detention center from 2008 to 2022.
“Extensive testimony documents that detained people were sprayed with antimicrobial sprays at toxic concentrations, exposed to a disabling carbon monoxide leak, and pepper-sprayed as punishment for asking for necessities like water and toilet paper,” said Emma Shaw Crane, lead author and assistant professor of anthropology at Stanford University. “These hazards made the air inside the jail unbreathable and collectively punished detained people who could not breathe freely inside this facility.
• In the US, you can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. In the UK, the youth suicide charity Papyrus can be contacted on 0800 068 4141 or email pat@papyrus-uk.org, and in the UK and Ireland Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
