Mourners in the mountainous town of San Juan Chamula, Chiapas, gathered on April 4 to bury 19-year-old Royer Perez-Jimenez. The teenager died on March 16 while in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the Glades County Detention Center in Florida.
Footage from the ceremony showed the Indigenous Tzotzil Maya community honoring Perez-Jimenez with traditional music and ancestral rituals. Family members carried a wooden coffin adorned with gold through the local cemetery.
"We feel very sad," the teenager's uncle told Noticias Telemundo. "He went to work to achieve his dream, to build his house, to get ahead with his family because of the poverty that exists here in Mexico."
ICE officials stated that Perez-Jimenez died of a "presumed suicide." However, his family has publicly challenged that account. His father, Manuel Perez Ruiz, told Agence France-Presse that the family does not believe the teenager took his own life and is calling for a thorough investigation into a possible homicide.
A history of detention concerns
Perez-Jimenez, the oldest of five siblings, first arrived in the United States at age 15. Records show he was granted a voluntary return to Mexico that same day in 2022 but later reentered the country. He was working at a restaurant near Daytona Beach before his arrest by Volusia County Sheriff’s deputies on January 22.
Following his arrest on misdemeanor charges of impersonation and resisting an officer, ICE placed an immigration detainer on him. He was transferred to the Glades County facility on February 26. The detention center has faced long-standing allegations of abuse and poor conditions.
The teenager’s death has prompted a diplomatic response from the Mexican government. President Claudia Sheinbaum called for a full investigation, stating that the death of Perez-Jimenez and other Mexican nationals in ICE custody is unacceptable.
Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the Mexican Consulate General in Miami visited the detention center following the death. The ministry stated it will pursue all available legal avenues to ensure the family receives support and to urge the U.S. government to address the conditions leading to such incidents.
Perez-Jimenez is the youngest person to die in ICE custody since the current presidential administration took office in January 2025. According to data from the New York Times, at least 46 people have died while in ICE custody since that date. The official cause of death for Perez-Jimenez remains under investigation.
