A Salvadoran man being held at a controversial immigration detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, has died, federal officials said Monday, marking the latest death of an immigrant in ICE custody.
Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, a 41-year-old migrant being held at the Delaney Hall detention center, was pronounced dead on Saturday by medical workers at University Hospital in Newark, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement Monday.
The privately owned facility was the focus of dayslong protests earlier this year over accusations of inhumane conditions for detainees inside, with clashes between law enforcement and protesters prompting the city’s mayor to enact a temporary curfew.
Lopez-Cornejo “experienced a medical emergency while in ICE custody,” and facility staff and medical staff “responded immediately and called 911 for emergency medical services,” ICE said in its statement.
The official cause of death remains pending further medical examination, it added.
