Lawsuit launched against federal government after immigrant dies at Miami Correctional; accused of withholding medication

Monday, October 19, 2026 at 1:18 PM

By Staff report

The son of a man who died while in ICE custody earlier this year at Miami Correctional Facility has filed a lawsuit against Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security.

Court documents state Lorth Sim, a 59-year-old immigrant from Cambodia, died in February while being held in ICE custody. Sim's son said his father did not receive proper medical care while at Miami Correctional and was not given medication to treat Type II Diabetes, which contributed to Sim's death.

His son, Viccheat Sim, further claimed that ICE and DHS violated the Freedom of Information Act by broadly withholding documents, including medical records, he requested that are related to his father's death.

A press given by Immigration and Customs Enforcement earlier this year stated Sim said was found unresponsive in his cell on Feb. 16. Despite lifesaving efforts by facility staff and EMS, Sim was officially pronounced dead that morning.

The ICE press release further stated Lorth Sim first entered the United States legally in 1983 and became a lawful permanent resident in 1986. Sim was arrested for multiple crimes over the next decade, however, including disorderly conduct in 1989, indecent exposure in 1996 and larceny in 2005. Sim surrendered himself into ICE custody in Boston on December 30, 2025 after receiving a notice of revocation of release.

He was transferred from ICE Boston custody to ICE Chicago custody on Jan. 5, 2026. From there, he was directly transported from the ICE facility in Boston to the Miami Correctional Facility in Bunker Hill.

According to court documents, Sim informed medical staff at the facility of his diabetes diagnosis and the medication he had received for treatment. Court documents note that Sim did not receive any medication to treat his diabetes while in ICE custody.

A forensic pathologist who conducted the postmortem examination found that Sim's glucose levels had been elevated in the hours before his death and reported his cause of death as "atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease with other significant conditions of diabetes mellitus."

The lawsuit was first launched in August in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The judge gave the defendants until Oct. 22 to respond to the complaint.