A 41-year-old man from El Salvador died in federal immigration custody at a privately-operated detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, on Saturday, marking the second death at the facility in less than eight months and adding to mounting concerns about medical care and conditions in immigration detention centers nationwide.
Edwin Lopez-Cornejo experienced a medical emergency while detained at Delaney Hall Detention Facility on August 1, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Staff from GEO Group, the private contractor that operates the facility, along with medical personnel, responded and arranged for him to be transported to University Hospital in Newark, where he was pronounced dead. The official cause of death is pending further medical examination.
According to federal records, Lopez-Cornejo had first entered the United States without inspection in 2006 and was deported to El Salvador in October of that year. He illegally reentered the country at a later unknown date and was arrested in Plainfield, New Jersey on June 18, 2026. He had been detained at Delaney Hall for approximately six weeks pending removal proceedings.
The death drew immediate scrutiny from elected officials and immigrant advocates, who have long criticized conditions at the facility. His mother, Maria Cornejo, described in an interview conducted by immigrant rights advocacy groups that she had last spoken with her son on Friday, the day before his death. During that call, he told her he was not feeling well and that he had lost feeling in his face and his right hand. Advocates and his family have alleged that Lopez-Cornejo had a history of serious medical conditions including diabetes, high blood pressure, and seizures, and claim he had been denied his medication while in detention.
Rep. Rob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, said in a video statement that Lopez-Cornejo “complained of difficulties that he was having” on Saturday and “collapsed” at Delaney Hall. CPR was performed before he was transported to the hospital. Menendez said that when he asked ICE certain medical questions, the agency could not provide answers, though he planned to request additional information along with Lopez-Cornejo’s family.
New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill issued a statement saying she was “deeply disturbed” to hear of the death and that the tragedy was “another painful reminder of why Delaney Hall should be closed.” She said her administration was working with the state’s congressional delegation to gather facts surrounding the death. Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka said in a statement that “yet another family is forced to endure the unimaginable loss of a loved one while in custody at Delaney Hall,” calling the death “a heartbreaking reminder of the consequences of a facility that has operated for far too long without adequate oversight, accountability or transparency.”
This is the second documented death at Delaney Hall since it opened in May 2025 under a 15-year, $1 billion contract with ICE. In December 2025, Jean Wilson Brutus, a 41-year-old Haitian man, died at the facility just one day after his arrival. He also experienced a medical emergency at the facility and was transported to University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Delaney Hall has been the subject of sustained controversy since its reopening. In June, a congressional investigation by House members reported substandard conditions at the facility. Four detainees escaped from the facility the same month by breaking through an aluminum exterior wall. Detainees mounted a hunger and labor strike in late May that drew international attention, with numerous reports describing inadequate medical care, unsanitary conditions, inedible food, and broken air conditioning in extreme heat.
A Gothamist investigation in June found that more than 70 detainees have filed federal lawsuits alleging medical neglect and deficiencies at the facility, with more than 30 claiming they were denied proper medications. The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey alleged a widespread pattern of neglect, saying detainees lack access to medical care, live in unsanitary conditions, eat inedible food, and face broken air conditioning in 100-degree temperatures.
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman said Lopez-Cornejo’s detention alone was “an act of cruelty” and stated that if he was indeed denied his medication as his family reports, “the operators at Delaney Hall should be charged with homicide.” She noted that Lopez-Cornejo had spent more than 20 years in the United States before his detention.
Lopez-Cornejo was the father of a 12-year-old U.S. citizen daughter. According to immigration advocates and representatives, his mother said she had not been contacted directly by ICE about her son’s death, only learning of it through hospital staff.
The death comes amid a broader crisis in immigration detention. At least 23 people have died in ICE custody in 2026 as of late July, according to tracking by immigration researchers. In 2025, ICE reported 33 detainee deaths, the highest total in more than two decades. The surge in deaths has coincided with a dramatic expansion of immigration detention under the Trump administration, with the number of people held in ICE custody reaching record levels exceeding 70,000 earlier this year.
A House Republican representative recently conducted an oversight inspection of Delaney Hall and characterized it as a “billion-dollar boondoggle that has more to do with cruelty than with public safety,” noting that not a single immigrant detained at the facility has a history of serious or violent crime.
Human Rights Watch reported that the mortality rate in ICE custody is at its highest level in over a decade and has more than doubled since the Trump administration took office in January 2025. The organization noted that the surge in deaths is worse than what one would expect even considering the much higher number of people in detention.
ICE maintains that Lopez-Cornejo received proper medical care and was seen by medical professionals while in custody, though the agency acknowledged that the official cause of death remains pending.