Second Immigrant Death in ICE Custody This Week Took Place at Florida Health Facility

ICE’s detained death toll reaches eight since the start of the year as agency ramps up mass detention with less oversight than ever.

Jairo Garcia-Hernandez, a Guatemalan national, is the eighth reported death in ICE custody since the start of 2026 and almost the 40th since the start of the Trump administration. Jairo appears to have died in a health facility, not in an ICE facility, but he was still in ICE custody. The most recent detention center where Jairo was held is not listed.

ICE’s press release is included below in its entirety.

Criminal illegal alien passes away at Florida’s Larkin Community Hospital

MIAMI — Jairo Garcia-Hernandez, a 27-year-old criminal illegal alien from Guatemala, convicted for criminal possession of a weapon, and impersonating an officer, died in ICE custody Feb. 16 at Larkin Community Hospital in Miami. He was pronounced dead at 2:01 a.m. after he collapsed unexpectedly and became unresponsive. Despite lifesaving efforts by facility staff, Garcia-Hernandez died. His cause of death is under investigation.

On Oct. 31, 2023, the Watkins Glen Police Department in New York arrested Garcia-Hernandez for trespassing, resisting arrest, obstruction of government administration, false impersonation, impersonating a law enforcement officer, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of firearm. On May 23, 2024, the Schuyler County Court convicted him of two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and sentenced him to time served, and county officials released him. On Jan. 21, 2025, New York’s Irondequoit Police Department encountered him and contacted U.S. Border Patrol for assistance. Border Patrol officials assumed custody and then transferred him into ICE custody. He was transferred to ICE in Miami in September 2025 for detention at the Larkin Community Hospital Behavioral Health Center in Hollywood, Florida, and the El Paso Behavioral Health System in El Paso, Texas. His first encounter with immigration officials was April 18, 2021, under the Biden administration, when the U.S. Border Patrol released him near Santa Teresa, New Mexico.

According to IHSC medical staff, 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, he was transferred to the Larkin Community Hospital Behavioral Health Center. On Jan. 26, 2026, that facility transferred him to the Larkin Community Hospital, where, as an immunocompromised individual, he was treated for fever. On Feb. 16, Garcia-Hernandez collapsed unexpectedly and became unresponsive at 1:06 a.m. Larkin Community Hospital medical staff immediately began cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but he was declared deceased at 2:01 a.m.

ICE notified the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General, ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility and the consulate about the death, as required by agency policy.

ICE makes official notifications to Congress, nongovernmental organization stakeholders and the media upon official reports of in-custody alien deaths and posts news releases with relevant details on ICE’s public website. You may access this information in ICE.gov’s Newsroom. Congressional requirements described in the DHS Appropriations Act of 2018 require ICE to publicize all reports regarding in-custody deaths within 90 days. You may access these reports on ICE.gov’s Detainee Death Reporting page.

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. All people in ICE custody receive medical, dental and mental health intake screenings within 12 hours of arriving at each detention facility; a full health assessment within 14 days of entering ICE custody or arrival at a facility; access to medical appointments; and 24-hour emergency care. At no time during detention is a detained alien denied emergency care.

Updated: 02/20/2026