Family of Salvadoran man who died in ICE custody alleges medical neglect, demands closure of Delaney Hall

Death in custody

Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, a 41-year-old Salvadoran man who had lived in the United States for nearly two decades, died on Saturday, August 1, after being transferred from the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark, New Jersey, to University Hospital. He had been detained by ICE on June 18 in Plainfield while walking to his construction job, and was held under a reinstated 2006 deportation order. His mother said he tried to show his work permit to officers but was ignored. ICE said he experienced a medical emergency and that staff responded immediately and called 911. However, Maria Cornejo, his mother, said a recording from the hospital indicated his heart had already stopped when he arrived. The official cause of death remains pending further medical examination.

Family's allegations

At a press conference on Tuesday, August 4, at a church in Highland Park, family members alleged that Lopez-Cornejo was denied medications for diabetes, high blood pressure, and epilepsy. His mother said she last spoke to him on Friday 31 July, when he told her that part of his face and his right hand had gone numb. He had seen a doctor at the facility earlier that day and was to have further tests, but no time was given for them. His lawyers had already filed a habeas petition on 24 July challenging his detention because of his chronic conditions, and Judge Brian R. Martinotti ordered ICE not to transfer him. He died eight days later.

My son needed medical attention, and he did not receive it.

His 12-year-old daughter, Ashley Lopez, a US citizen, told reporters in tears: "He was treated horribly. I'm going to grow up without a father, we had so many plans." The family said ICE refused to provide his medical records, and his mother, who is not a U.S. citizen, was unable to visit him in detention. She described her pain as "irreparable" and said, "I have never felt such deep pain. He was a good son."

Official response

ICE stated that Lopez-Cornejo "received proper medical care and was seen by medical professionals," and that the cause of death is pending further examination. The agency did not immediately respond to the family's demands for an independent investigation. GEO Group, the private contractor operating the 1,000-bed Delaney Hall facility, did not reply to inquiries.

Calls for closure

New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill said her administration faces obstruction in efforts to conduct a full health inspection of the facility and called the death "another painful reminder of why Delaney Hall should close." Newark Mayor Ras Baraka demanded closure, accusing GEO and ICE of "disregard for transparency, public oversight, and laws."

When there is no accountability, tragedies become too frequent.

Senator Cory Booker also called for the facility's immediate and permanent closure, saying, "This is not the first death of a detainee at Delaney Hall and, if decisive action is not taken, it will not be the last." More than 70 people held at Delaney Hall have filed federal suits alleging medical neglect, of whom more than 30 say they were refused prescribed medication for chronic conditions. Delaney Hall has been the site of protests and hunger strikes over alleged poor conditions, including a strike by at least 300 detainees in late May and a separate strike by women in a separate unit. A Haitian detainee, Jean Wilson Brutus, died there in December 2025.

Broader scrutiny

Lopez-Cornejo is the 23rd person to die in ICE custody in 2026. ICE recorded 33 detainee deaths in 2025, the highest annual total in more than two decades, according to the National Immigration Project, and more than 50 people have died in the agency's custody since President Trump took office in January 2025. Rights groups have repeatedly raised concerns about medical care and living conditions in immigration detention facilities, and the Delaney Hall death has intensified calls for oversight of private detention centers.