Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador being held at Newark’s Delaney Hall Detention Facility, suffered a “medical emergency” while in ICE custody and died on Aug. 1, according to officials. The official cause of death remains pending further medical examination, ICE said.In a press release, ICE said that while in custody, Lopez-Cornejo was transferred to an area hospital, received “proper medical care,” and was seen by medical professionals. But his death has already stirred criticism from Democrats, including from Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), who renewed their calls for Delaney Hall’s closure, a move that was echoed by Newark Mayor Ras Baraka.
“When accountability is absent, tragedies become all too common,” Baraka said in a statement. “We cannot allow these disturbing failures to continue unchecked. We must speak out against these injustices, demand answers and continue to call for the closure of Delaney Hall.”Lopez-Cornejo was initially arrested for illegally entering the U.S. in 2006, according to the Trump administration, when an immigration judge ordered him removed to El Salvador. He illegally reentered the U.S. at a later unknown date, before ICE arrested him on June 18 in Plainfield and sent him to Delaney Hall “pending removal from the United States pursuant to a reinstatement of his prior removal order,” officials said.Lopez-Cornejo’s mother told the New Jersey Monitor that her son had held a job since 2022 and tried to show arresting officers his work permit.In a video posted to Facebook, Maria Cornejo said her son took medication to manage seizures, diabetes, and his blood pressure, according to ABC News. She said she last spoke with Lopez-Cornejo on Friday. At the time, he complained of numbness on the right side of his face and his right hand and was supposed to undergo some additional tests, she said.After visiting Delaney Hall to learn more about the death, Rep. Rob Menendez (D-NJ) said Lopez-Cornejo “complained of difficulties that he was having” on Saturday and “collapsed” at Delaney Hall. CPR was performed, and then he was transported to a hospital, Menendez said in a video posted to X. “We asked certain medical questions, which ICE couldn’t give us answers to,” Menendez said. “We have to request it, and his family has to request it, which we will.”The incident has stirred controversy as it comes on the heels of months of protests at Delaney Hall over accusations that detainees are being held in “deplorable” and inhumane conditions at the ICE facility. Some of those detained at Delaney Hall have alleged that the food, medical care, and other conditions inside are subpar, though the Department of Homeland Security has maintained that conditions inside go far beyond those of federal prisons.DELANEY HALL PROTESTS COORDINATED LARGELY BY REVOLUTIONARY-LEFT ORGANIZATIONSAt times, protests have turned violent, including in late May, when Sherrill issued a message calling for people to demonstrate peacefully.“We’ve seen increasing violence, arrests, and pepper spray at Delaney Hall as well as public threats from the Trump administration, and we’ve seen the risk to public safety rising outside Delaney Hall,” Sherrill said. “It has grown unsafe, and that is completely unacceptable.”
