Death of 2nd detainee at Delaney Hall is confirmed
Mom tells of being summoned to hospital to identify er son's body
By: Hannan Adely
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... A detainee at Delaney all in Newark died on Saturday, August 1, [2026] reported immigrant advocates and family members - marking he second death at the troubled immigration detention center since int opened in may of last year. [2025]
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Edwin Jeovanny Lopez Cornejo, 39, of Plainfield was taken by ambulance to a hospital on August 1 [2026] said his mother, Maria Cornejo, who spoke about her son in a video interview with Radio Cosecha.
..... Cornjo said she received a phone from the hospital saying he had been brought in and was deceased when he arrived, asking her to identify him.
..... In the interview, Cornejo described her son as a hardworking and devoted father of a 12-year-old girl. He had been in the country for 20 years before he was detained by mitigation authorities on June 18, [2026] she said.
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GEO Group, the private prison company hat operates the detention center, refereed questions to U.S. immediately respond to requests for comment about the reported death but later issued a statement confirming it.
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"I have lost him at the hands of immigration authorities," Cornejo said ion the tearful interview with the radio program, a project the immigrant advocacy group Cosecha New Jersey.
..... "I don't know how to heal this pain, because the loss of my son has left me with such deep sorrow," she said. "these people go around rounding up hardworking folks and - I don't know - my son flee into their hands. I don't' know how they treated him in there."
..... The family questioned whether Lopez Cornejo received proper medical care and his prescription medications.
..... Delaney Hall has been a flash point in the debate over President Donald Trump's escalation of immigration enforcement since he took office last year. [2025]
..... The 1,000-bed detention center has sparked complaints over living conditions, including alleged spoiled food, medical neglect and abuse. Dozens of detainees joined a labor and hunger strike in late may [2026] at Delaney Hall, which has drawn daily protests outside the facility.
..... The day before his death, Lopez Cornejo called his mother and said he was not feeling well and hat part of his face and right had had gone numb. He suffered form diabetes and epilepsy, said his mother, and took medication for diabetes, high blood pressure and seizures.
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"He said he had seen a doctor that day and that they were going to run some tests," she said, "but he didn't tell me when those tests would be done. He just told me he felt sick."
..... It was not immediately clear why ICE detained Lopez Cornejo, a native of El Salvador, or what his immigration status was. Since late June, [2026] ICE has sharply escalated arrests in New Jersey, part of a broader federal push for mass deportations. People arrested have included immigrates, not just those who are undocumented, but also men and women with open immigration cases such as for asylum and green cards.
..... In the Cosecha interview Lopez Cornejo's brother, Danilo Lopez, said Lopez Cornejo had a valued working permit and had been stopped on his way to work. In July, [2026]
he field a habeas petition challenging his detention in U.S. district Court for the District of New Jersey.
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"He was an excellent brother, an excellent son, and an excellent father," Lopez said. "He worked all the time, always trying to provide the best life for his daughter and for our family."
..... Cornejo told immigrant advocates that she wanted to speak out because she did not agree with the U.S. treatment of many immigrants today. [08/01/2026]
..... "The pain this has caused me is not something that has happened only to me," she said. "There are many people in this country who are suffering this same kind of pain. Sadly, I a the latest mother to lose her son. If justice is not done, they will continue dong this. And we don't know how many more people we will lose in this country."
Deaths in ICE custody this year [2026]
..... Across the United States, at least 22 people have died in UCE custody so far this year. [2026] Another 32 detainees died in 2025. they include Jean Wilson Brutus, a 41-eyar-old Haitian national who was detained at Delaney Hall and died on December 12 [2025] - one day after he was taken to the facility. ICE said he died of natural causes.
..... In June, [2026] New Jersey sued the center's operators, saying hey had barred health inspectors from critical areas of he facility, including the medical unit, bathrooms, showers, sleeping areas and he heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, which later malfunctioned during a heat wave.
.... GEO Group and ICE has disputed allegations o poor conditions. an ICE spokesperson previously said all detainees are provided with "proper meals, quality water, blankets, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers."
..... Democrats in Congress have denounced conditions at Delaney Hall and an immigration system hat is packing private prisons with people serving indefinite terms - including many without criminal convictions.
..... But some Republicans have argued that allegations about poor conditions are "false narratives," saying proper standards of care are being met."
NJ politicians call for closing
.... After news of Lopez Cornejo's death, Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman said she requested medial records from ICE about his medical care in detention, his access to medication and the events before his death.
..... She also asked whether family notification requirements were followed. Maria Cornejo said she heard only form the hospital, and hat no one from the detention center from ICE contacted her.
..... In her statement, Watson Coleman called Delaney Hall "a stain on our country."
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Its continued use." she said, "is a daily ermined of the cruelty of our immigration and criminal justice system. It should be shut down at once, and those responsible for its inhumane conditions should be investigated and tried."
..... Governor Mikie Sherrill agreed. "My administration's is working with our congressional delegation gather all the faces surrounding his death," she wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
..... At the same time, we continue to face obstruction in our efforts to conduct a full health inspection of the facility," Sherrill wrote. "Every effort to block oversight raises serious questions about what is happening inside Delaney Hall and what those operating the facility are trying to hide.
.... "This tragedy is another painful reminder of why Delaney Hall should be closed,: she wrote. "Corporations should not have the right to monetize imprisoning people while avoiding pubic accountability. this is why we are fighting OT close Delaney Hall."
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Amol Sinha, executive director of the ACLU of New Jersey, also raised concerns about conditions there.
..... "This tragedy is another devastating result of the rampant inhumane conditions at Delaney Hall and detention centers across the country, including, the routine denial of proper medical care, sanitary conditions and food," he said.
..... He added: "WE demand accountability form ICE, the immediate closure of Delaney Hall, and an end to immigration detention once and for all."