(Washington) A 19-year-old Mexican died on March 16 in an immigration police (ICE) detention center in Florida, an event described Friday as “deplorable” by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
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ICE said in a statement that “Royer Perez-Jimenez, 19, a criminal illegal immigrant from Mexico, arrested and charged with fraud for identity theft and resisting an officer, died March 16 at the Glades County Detention Center in Moore Haven.”
The United States immigration police call it “a suicide”, while specifying that “the official cause of death remains under investigation”.
On Thursday, the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced the “unacceptable” death of another of its nationals detained by immigration police in the United States, without specifying his identity.
This death comes after those of two other Mexican nationals this year, one in Georgia in January, the other in California in early March.
PHOTO PAOLA CHIOMANTE, REUTERS ARCHIVES
The President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum
“It is not possible for this to happen (…) it is deplorable”, reacted Friday morning Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, during her regular press conference.
The left-wing leader demanded a “thorough investigation” into what happened. “We will, by all means, express our protest,” she added.
Royer Perez-Jimenez was arrested on January 22 and had been detained in the ICE detention center in Florida since February 26. According to ICE, the young man entered the United States from Mexico in 2022 and was granted voluntary return.
On an unknown date, according to ICE, he re-entered the United States, which constitutes “a federal crime.”
This is number 44e person to die in an ICE detention center since the Trump administration took office, according to official data.
