ICE detainee found dead at Miami Correctional Facility

Wednesday, February 18, 2026 at 5:47 PM

By Staff report

Officials have launched an investigation at the Miami Correctional Facility near Bunker Hill after an inmate died on Monday while in the custody of U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement.

According to a news release from Indiana House Democrats, facility staff from Miami Correctional Facility found Lorth Sim, 59, a native of Cambodia, unresponsive in his cell on Monday, Feb. 16 and was pronounced dead shortly after 7 a.m. The exact cause of death is still being investigated.

Sim first entered the U.S. in 1983 as a refugee and became a permanent resident in 1986. Officials say he had a criminal history of disorderly conduct in 1989, indecent exposure in 1996 and in 2005 he received a suspended sentence and probation for larceny. Despite Sim never receiving prison time, in 2006 an immigration judge ordered his removal to Cambodia. Sim's deportation was never followed through.

Ice officers in the ICE office lobby in Boston, Massachusetts encountered Sim on Dec. 30, 2025 and informed him he was under arrest and would be detained in ICE custody because of his warrant of removal. ICE Boston transferred Sim to ICE Chicago custody last month.

ICE claims they are committed to ensuring that all those in custody reside in a safe, secure and humane environment where comprehensive medical care is provided to all detained aliens and inmates are at no time denied emergency care during their detention. As required by agency policy, ICE notified The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General, ICE's Office of Professional Responsibility and the Cambodian consulate regarding Sim's death and the incident remains under investigation.