Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, a 41-year-old Salvadoran national, died on Saturday at a Newark hospital following a medical emergency while in custody at Delaney Hall, an immigration detention facility in New Jersey. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed the death on Monday. The facility is operated by GEO Group, a private contractor. Staff and medical personnel responded to the emergency and transported Lopez-Cornejo to the hospital, though officials have not yet established an official cause of death.
Lopez-Cornejo was initially detained and deported in 2006 after entering the country without authorization. He later returned and was apprehended by agents in Plainfield, New Jersey in mid-June of this year. He was subsequently held at Delaney Hall under an order to revisit his earlier deportation case. He is survived by a 12-year-old daughter.
According to immigration advocates and family members, Lopez-Cornejo suffered from diabetes, high blood pressure, and seizures. His mother reported in a video shared by advocacy organizations that he told her on Friday he was not feeling well and had experienced loss of sensation in his face and hand. Advocates allege he was denied access to his medications during detention. ICE stated that Lopez-Cornejo received appropriate care and that all detainees are screened for medical conditions within hours of arrival and again within two weeks, with round-the-clock emergency access available.
This death represents the second fatality at Delaney Hall in less than a year. Jean Wilson Brutus, also 41, died at the facility following a medical emergency eight months earlier. The deaths have drawn criticism from state and local officials. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill both commented on the incident, with the governor calling for the facility to be closed. New Jersey Representative Rob Menendez cited ongoing concerns about medical conditions and care quality at the detention center. Delaney Hall reopened last year as part of an expansion of immigration detention under the current administration.
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