Edwin Jovanny Lopez Cornejo, a 41-year-old Salvadoran national, died in federal custody after a medical emergency at Delaney Hall Detention Facility in Newark, New Jersey, US. He was pronounced dead on Saturday after being transported to University Hospital, according to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Lopez-Cornejo had been apprehended by ICE on June 18 in Plainfield, New Jersey, and was held at Delaney Hall pending deportation or removal from the US. The official cause of death remains pending further examination.
ICE maintained that Lopez-Cornejo received proper medical care and that staff responded immediately during his medical crisis. The agency stated that it is committed to ensuring safe, secure, and humane environments for all those in custody.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka called for the immediate closure of Delaney Hall, describing the death as a "heartbreaking reminder" of a lack of oversight. He said, "We cannot allow these disturbing failures to continue unchecked," and stated that every person, regardless of immigration status, deserves to be treated with dignity, humanity, respect, and care.
This death marks the second fatality at Delaney Hall since its recent opening or reopening, with sources differing on whether it opened a year and a half ago or reopened last year. In May, detainees launched a hunger strike to protest inhumane living conditions at the facility.
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill said she was "deeply disturbed" by the death. Democratic Rep. Rob Menendez stated that Lopez-Cornejo complained of difficulties, collapsed at the facility, and received CPR. Menendez added, "We asked certain medical questions, which ICE couldn't give us answers to." According to Menendez, Lopez-Cornejo had been in the US for 20 years.
ICE stated that Lopez-Cornejo illegally entered the US on August 13, 2006, and was removed to El Salvador in October 2006. In December 2025, a 41-year-old man from Haiti named Jean Wilson Brutus died from suspected natural causes a day after entering ICE custody at Delaney Hall. At least 54 people have died in ICE custody since the start of the second Trump administration, according to an ABC News tally.
