A 75-year-old Cuban national has died while in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at Miami’s Krome Detention Center, raising renewed concerns about conditions inside one of the agency’s most scrutinized detention sites. The death marks the third fatality reported at Krome since the start of 2025.
According to an ICE press release, Isidro Perez, a longtime Miami resident, died on June 26 at a local hospital after being transferred from the detention center. His official cause of death has not yet been determined and remains under investigation.
Perez first arrived in the United States in 1966 under the Cuban Adjustment Act, a decades-old policy allowing eligible Cuban nationals to obtain permanent residency. ICE records indicate Perez was convicted of possession of a controlled substance in South Florida during the 1980s.
His recent detention came amid escalating federal immigration crackdowns. On June 5—just days after the U.S. Supreme Court approved the Trump administration’s request to revoke humanitarian parole for more than 530,000 immigrant from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela—Perez was arrested in Key Largo during what ICE described as a “law enforcement action.” He was charged with being “inadmissible” under immigration law, meaning he was not legally permitted to remain in the country.
Perez was transferred to Krome on June 6 and was reportedly diagnosed with multiple medical issues during intake, according to ICE.
Advocacy groups and community leaders have long criticized the treatment of medically vulnerable detainees at Krome, citing chronic understaffing, lack of adequate healthcare, and repeated failures to provide timely medical intervention. Perez’s death adds to growing scrutiny of the facility as immigration enforcement ramps up nationwide.
Krome’s conditions have been under the microscope for years, but the recent policy shifts and increased detentions under the Trump administration have intensified concerns among immigrant rights organizations, especially for aging individuals and those with long-term ties to the U.S. who are being swept into deportation proceedings.
This is the third recorded death at Krome in the first half of 2025, heightening calls for independent investigations and improved oversight of the facility’s medical practices.
