A 27-year-old Guatemalan migrant died earlier this month after collapsing and becoming unresponsive while in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, officials said.
In a statement, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Jairo Garcia-Hernandez "collapsed unexpectedly” and was later pronounced dead on Feb. 16 at Larkin Community Hospital in Hollywood despite lifesaving efforts by staff.
Garcia-Hernandez would be the third ICE detainee this year to die in federal custody, according to an ICE database of deaths.
According to medical staff with the ICE Health Service Corps, Garcia-Hernandez had a long history of severe medical complications and was in poor health when he entered ICE custody. Officials said he was “immunocompromised.”
He was first detained by federal immigration authorities on April 18, 2021, when the U.S. Border Patrol released him near Santa Teresa, New Mexico.
On Oct. 31, 2023, he was arrested by the Watkins Glen Police Department in New York state. He was charged with trespassing, resisting arrest, impersonating a law enforcement officer and weapons possession. He was later convicted in a New York courtroom of two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and sentenced to time served. Law enforcement officials released him May 23, 2024.
On Jan. 21, 2025, the Irondequoit Police Department near Rochester, N.Y., encountered him and contacted U.S. Border Patrol, which took him into custody. He was transferred to ICE in Miami in September 2025 for detention at the Larkin Community Hospital Behavioral Health Center in Hollywood and the El Paso Behavioral Health System in Texas. It’s unclear when Garcia-Hernandez was detained at the facilities.
ICE officials said Garcia-Hernandez had “a long history of severe medical complications and was already in ill health when he was taken into ICE custody.”
In October 2025, ICE said the detainee was transferred to the Larkin Community Hospital Behavioral Health Center. A couple months later, on Jan. 26, 2026, he was transferred to the Larkin Community Hospital, “where, as an immunocompromised individual, he was treated for fever.”
He collapsed unexpectedly, according to ICE officials, who said the Larkin Community Hospital medical staff reported he died at 2:01 a.m.
ICE officials, in its statement, said all detainees receive medical, dental and mental health screenings within 12 hours of arrival at a facility, followed by a full health assessment within 14 days. The agency said detainees have access to routine medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care and are never denied emergency treatment while in custody.
"ICE is committed to ensuring that all those in custody reside in safe, secure and humane environments,” said ICE in its Feb. 20 statement reporting the detainee’s death. “Comprehensive medical care is provided from the moment individuals arrive and throughout the entirety of their stay."
In 2025, ICE set records for the most people to die in the agency’s custody. Thirty-two died that year. The number of deaths last year was nearly three times the number recorded in 2024 and the most since 2004, according to The Guardian, which tracks the number of ICE detainees who die in custody.
It’s still unclear what Garcia-Hernandez’s immigration status was and when he first entered the United States. ICE said the official cause of death is under investigation.
