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An ICE detainee has died while in custody at the Miami Correctional Facility north of Kokomo.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement records show Lorth Sim, a Cambodian national, was being held at Miami Correctional Facility.
Sim was found unresponsive in his cell and pronounced dead shortly after 7 a.m. Monday morning according to a Congressional notification shared by immigration researcher Austin Kocher. The cause of death is under investigation.
As of Wednesday late morning, the federal agency had not posted an announcement of Sim’s death to its website, where it tracks in-custody deaths. According to ICE, the agency first notifies next of kin and other stakeholders – including members of Congress – and then posts relevant details to its web page within two days.
The 59-year-old came to the U.S. as a refugee and became a lawful permanent resident in the 1980s. In 2006 an immigration judge ordered his removal from the country and back to Cambodia following several convictions.
Sim was put under arrest in Boston and detained last December.
His death marks the seventh this year and the first of an ICE detainee at Miami Correctional Facility.
The Indiana prison started holding detainees last October as part of an agreement between the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the State of Indiana.
IBJ news editor Holly Hays contributed.
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