The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) badge; Credit: REUTERS/Shelby Tauber

WASHINGTON/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - On Friday 20 March 2026, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement reported that a nineteen-year-old man died at a federal detention centre on Monday 16 March 2026, the youngest known person to die in federal immigration custody during the second Trump administration.

ICE identified the man as Royer Perez Jimenez, of Mexico, who was being held at the Glades County Detention Centre in Moore Haven, Florida. His death raised to at least thirteen the number of immigrants to die in federal immigration custody this year.

Perez Jimenez's death is a presumed suicide, ICE said, adding that the official cause of death is under investigation after he was found unresponsive in the early hours of the morning. 

The detention centre’s staff unsuccessfully tried to resuscitate him for nearly ten minutes after he was found, ICE said.

The Mexican foreign ministry said that it requested documents to clarify the circumstances of Perez Jimenez's death and urged the US government to address the conditions that made such incidents possible.

"The Government of Mexico reiterates that these deaths are unacceptable and once again calls on immigration authorities to carry out a prompt and thorough investigation to clarify the circumstances that led to this death, determine responsibility, and establish effective guarantees of non-repetition," the ministry said on Thursday 19 March.

ICE said Perez Jimenez was in custody after being arrested and charged with felony fraud for impersonating and resisting an officer.

He had initially entered the US in 2022, was returned home after an encounter with the US Border Patrol and later re-entered the US illegally on an unknown date, ICE said.

"ICE is committed to ensuring that all those in custody reside in safe, secure and humane environments. Comprehensive medical care is provided from the moment individuals arrive and throughout the entirety of their stay," the agency said in a statement on Wednesday 18 March.

ICE said 31 deaths - a two-decade high - were recorded among immigrants in federal custody all of last year, the first year of US President Donald Trump's second White House term.