WASHINGTON — An immigrant detainee died Saturday morning at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego, marking the 61st such death under the Trump administration.
The death of Roberto Jimenez Gutierrez, 43, from Guatemala is under investigation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed Tuesday. The cause was not immediately clear.
In a news release, ICE wrote that facility staff found Jimenez Gutierrez unresponsive at around 11:31 a.m. in his assigned safety cell — a segregation cell typically used for people who are suicidal or under psychological observation. The staffers attempted to wake him, contacted medical personnel, declared an emergency and called 911.
Medical personnel began CPR about seven minutes later, the news release states. After paramedics arrived, they continued lifesaving measures but pronounced Jimenez Gutierrez dead at about 12:23 p.m.
ICE wrote that San Diego agents arrested Jimenez Gutierrez on Oct. 9 during an enforcement operation in Escondido, reinstated a prior final removal order and transferred him to the Otay Mesa facility pending his removal to Mexico. The agency did not immediately explain why he would be sent to Mexico despite being a Guatemalan citizen.
Jimenez Gutierrez was convicted in 2024 of selling liquor to a minor, ICE said.
In an emailed statement, an unnamed spokesperson with CoreCivic, the Tennessee-based private prison company that operates the facility, confirmed the death.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of anyone in our care,” the spokesperson wrote, adding that Immigration and Customs Enforcement was immediately notified.
The death was first reported by Daylight San Diego.
ICE said it had notified Jimenez Gutierrez’s family and the Consulate of Guatemala. The agency added that it provides comprehensive medical care and is committed to ensuring safe, secure and human environments for those in its custody.
Terra Lawson-Remer, chair of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, said the county medical examiner was notified on Saturday, conducted an autopsy Monday and is still working to establish what happened.
“We do not yet know what caused his death, but we know a family has lost someone they love,” she said during a news conference. “They deserve answers.”
Lawson-Remer said she and Supervisor Paloma Aguirre sent a letter Tuesday to the Trump administration and CoreCivic demanding their cooperation with an independent examination and investigation. She said CoreCivic has refused to sign an agreement that would allow public health inspections inside the Otay Mesa facility despite a 2025 state law that allows local public health authorities to inspect ICE facilities.
Aguirre said she asked the county public health officer to determine what kind of follow-up is possible under that state law. She added that county leaders are also asking ICE and CoreCivic to preserve records tied to Jimenez Gutierrez’s detention, care and death, including requests for medical help.
Jimenez Gutierrez is the seventh person to die while in ICE custody in California under this administration, and the first to die at the Otay Mesa facility since 2023.
Deaths have increased as the Trump administration detained record numbers of people, with the population at one point ballooning past 70,000 nationwide.
The most recent death reported by ICE was that of Luis Sandoval, 48, a Salvadoran immigrant who died of apparent suicide Friday. Staff at the Folkston D. Ray ICE Processing Center in Georgia found Sandoval with a ligature around his neck, according to an ICE news release.
ICE policy is to notify the public and Congress within two business days of a detainee’s death. More extensive reports about each death, which were typically three pages, must be released within 90 days, though those have been reduced to several paragraphs.
