NEWARK, NJ — Edwin Jovanny Lopez-Cornejo (41), a Salvadoran national from Plainfield, died on August 1, 2026, after suffering a medical emergency at the Delaney Hall immigration detention center in Newark. He was transported to University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
This is the second confirmed death at the facility since it reopened in May 2025, after ICE signed a 15-year, $1 billion contract with GEO Group to operate the center. The first death occurred in December 2025, when 41-year-old Jean Wilson Brutus, a Haitian national, died on the same day he was taken into ICE custody. ICE said that case was due to natural causes.
What happened
According to an official ICE statement, when Lopez-Cornejo experienced a medical emergency, GEO staff and on-site medical personnel responded immediately and called emergency services. The official cause of death has not yet been determined and remains pending further medical examination.
Lopez-Cornejo had been in ICE custody since June 18 after being arrested in Plainfield while retrieving his car from a towing company. According to his federal habeas petition, he was first deported in 2006 after entering the United States unlawfully at the age of 18 and later returned to the U.S. on an unknown date.
Family’s claims
His mother, Maria Cornejo, told New Jersey Monitor that she was “devastated” and never imagined this would happen. According to the family, Lopez-Cornejo suffered from diabetes, high blood pressure and epilepsy, and they claim he did not consistently receive his prescribed medication during the six weeks he spent in detention. His mother said she last spoke with him on Friday, when he complained that one side of his face had gone numb.
According to reports, a federal habeas corpus petition — which had already secured a court order preventing his transfer — was still active before Judge Brian R. Martinotti at the time of his death, just eight days after his attorneys filed the petition.
He is survived by his 12-year-old daughter, a U.S. citizen, and had lived in the United States for nearly 20 years.
Reactions
Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ-12) said that “his detention itself was an act of cruelty” and requested documentation from ICE related to his death. She added that if the family’s allegations that he was denied necessary medication are true, those responsible for operating Delaney Hall “should face murder charges.”
GEO Group, the private company operating the facility, declined to comment and referred all questions to the federal government.
According to data cited by Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights, the death rate in ICE detention has more than doubled since the beginning of President Trump’s second term, exceeding even the level recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Community gatherings
A vigil was held outside Delaney Hall on the evening of August 3, where protesters and family members gathered. A community gathering and press conference is scheduled for today (August 4) at 12:00 p.m. at the Reformed Church of Highland Park, with members of the family expected to attend.
Sources: ICE (official statement); New Jersey Monitor; Jersey Vindicator; The City Reporter; TechTimes.
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