The Youngest Person to Die in ICE Custody Under Trump 2.0 and Why I Report on ICE at Jails

Recently, there has been more presence of ICE agents at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles. The community response has been strong, and I’ve had the privilege of meeting watchers who spend hours patrolling the area and alerting the community about ICE’s presence as well as notifying people about their rights if they were to be profiled and stopped. 

I’ve spent over a year tracking the raids and posting alerts on my own page to notify communities when there are confirmed ICE, ERO, HSI, or Border Patrol agents in a neighborhood. Naturally, I continue to do so when they’re seen at city jails. This has sparked quite a few questions and comments asking me why I’ve been focused on these sightings. 

The people who ask me this almost always ask the same thing: “Isn’t it okay that ICE is grabbing criminals?”

This question always sends a shiver down my spine and reminds me of the stark difference between different political identities on the left. It serves as a reminder that there are people who know very little about the prison industrial complex. So many questions always fill my head when they ask me that question. . . 

What constitutes someone as a criminal? How did they end up in this situation? Were they only charged, not convicted? Did they serve time for their conviction? What led to their original arrest? 

Realistically, you can’t explain to someone in a single conversation about the intricacies of the prison system, it expands from the U.S. government redlining neighborhoods to explaining what indentured servitude is, it’s a long historical lesson people must catch up on.

One question I do ask is this: Do you know who the youngest person to die under ICE custody during the second Trump administration is?

Almost always they say no. 

Royer Perez-Jimenez, 19, was found unresponsive in his cell at the Glades County Detention Center in Moore Haven, Florida on March 16. His death struck me in the heart and changed my life forever. 

I spent months at my former newsroom working on a death tracker meant to humanize each ICE and Border Patrol-related death under Trump 2.0., and Royer’s story is one that kept me up for weeks. 

The Department of Homeland Security called this teenager a “criminal illegal alien,” but who really is he?

Royer Perez-Jimenez is an indigenous Mayan teen from Chiapas, Mexico. A native of the Rancho Narvaez community. According to ICE’s press release, Royer first attempted to come into the United States in 2022, where he was encountered by U.S. Border Patrol and given a “voluntary return” back to Mexico the same day. He later entered the United States on an unknown date.

An uncle of Royer says he immigrated at 15 to "triumph and help his family." Like many migrants, he wanted to experience more than the life he grew up in. I saw myself in Royer throughout researching his story, and I’m sure many others do. He embarked on this journey alone, in search of a different life. 

And that’s what he found. Royer Perez-Jimenez made it to the United States and called Florida home, but everything changed on January 22, 2026.

The Volusia County Police Department arrested Perez-Jimenez and one of his friends and he was later charged for alleged “felony fraud for impersonation and resisting an officer.” 

He barely spoke English and could not understand the officers when they stopped him, but they maintain that he provided a false name and date of birth. Florida is one of the top states to lead in the number of active 287(g) agreements, a program that establishes a partnership between local law enforcement and ICE. 

He was found guilty on two misdemeanor counts: giving a false name upon being arrested/detained and resisting an officer without violence. He served his 30 days, but was transferred into ICE custody on February 22 and processed into the Glades County Detention Center on February 26. 

What was his original “crime?”

Driving a scooter across multiple lanes of traffic without using a crosswalk and riding the scooter on a sidewalk at night.

He was in ICE’s custody for less than three weeks before his passing.

His death is still under investigation. ICE says it was a presumed suicide. 

When I walk around the Twin Towers Correctional Facility and watch as legal observers patrol the premises with tired eyes and megaphones, I can’t help but wonder how many lives like Royer’s they helped save. I wonder how many men with simple misdemeanors were able to make it home to their family and escape the confines of a modern day concentration camp. I wonder how alone it must have felt to serve time for nonviolent misdemeanors and be handed over to masked men, not knowing you won’t be alive in the coming month. 

The reality is it shouldn't even take death to focus on these sightings. Royer's death was completely preventable.

My objective will always remain the same. Report on ALL ICE and Border Patrol sightings.