NEWARK, N.J. / NEW YORK CITY — Protesters gathered Saturday in both Newark and Times Square to demand answers and accountability following the death of Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, a 41-year-old Salvadoran man who died after suffering a medical emergency while detained at Delaney Hall, the privately operated immigration detention facility in Newark.
Outside Delaney Hall, a coalition of activists from New Jersey and New York gathered as part of a National Day of Action, calling attention to Lopez-Cornejo’s death and conditions inside the detention facility. The demonstration became tense when a security guard used a chemical spray in the direction of protesters after demonstrators repeatedly prevented the facility’s front gate from closing as vehicles entered and exited. Additional security personnel were called to the gate following the confrontation.
In New York City, demonstrators gathered in Times Square in solidarity with Lopez-Cornejo and others who have died in immigration detention. Members of the ICE Out of NY coalition and other activists demanded an independent investigation into his death, accountability for anyone found responsible, the complete closure of Delaney Hall and broader changes to federal immigration detention and enforcement policies.
Lopez-Cornejo’s Death Intensifies Scrutiny
Lopez-Cornejo died on August 1 after suffering a medical emergency while detained at Delaney Hall. He was transported to University Hospital in Newark, where he was pronounced dead. His official cause of death remained pending.
His family has alleged that he did not receive consistent access to medication for chronic medical conditions, including diabetes, high blood pressure and seizures. His mother, Maria Cornejo, said her son told her the day before his death that he had lost feeling on one side of his face and in one of his hands. The family has called for an independent investigation.
ICE has disputed allegations that Lopez-Cornejo was denied adequate medical treatment. The agency said he received appropriate medical care while in custody, was seen by medical professionals and that staff responded when the medical emergency occurred.
Another Delaney Hall Detainee Hospitalized
The protests came as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security confirmed that another Delaney Hall detainee had been hospitalized following a separate medical emergency.
A DHS spokesperson said the detainee reported a medical emergency Friday and was transported to a hospital “out of an abundance of caution.” The individual remained hospitalized Saturday afternoon. ICE said the detainee would be returned to Delaney Hall after being released from the hospital.
Authorities have not publicly identified the detainee or disclosed the nature of the medical emergency, what treatment or evaluation the person received, or why hospitalization continued into Saturday.
The new hospitalization comes only one week after Lopez-Cornejo’s death and amid mounting questions about medical care and conditions at the facility.
Questions Surround a Third Death
Scrutiny intensified further after U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez said he learned during an unannounced oversight visit earlier this week about a third death connected to Delaney Hall.
According to Menendez, the unidentified man suffered a seizure while being processed during intake at Delaney Hall approximately two weeks earlier. ICE then granted him what Menendez described as a “discretionary release,” and the man was transported to a hospital, where he later died.
The circumstances have raised questions about how deaths connected to immigration detention are reported. ICE is required to notify Congress and the public when someone dies in its custody. Because the man had been released from ICE custody before his death at the hospital, ICE considers the death to have technically occurred outside its custody.
Menendez said it took approximately two weeks for the death to be confirmed and that he learned about it only during his unannounced visit to Delaney Hall. All nine Democratic members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation subsequently sent a letter to DHS and ICE seeking an accounting of the three deaths.
Another previously confirmed death occurred in December 2025, when Jean Wilson Brutus, a 41-year-old Haitian man, suffered a medical emergency shortly after entering ICE custody at Delaney Hall and later died at University Hospital.
New Jersey Launches Civil Rights Investigation
The developments come as the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office has opened a civil rights investigation into Delaney Hall.
Attorney General Jennifer Davenport announced Friday that the state’s Division on Civil Rights had issued investigative subpoenas. The investigation will examine whether actions or inaction by employees of GEO Group, the private company operating Delaney Hall under contract with ICE, violated the civil rights of detainees.
The investigation follows complaints about conditions inside the approximately 1,000-bed facility, including allegations involving spoiled food, unsanitary bathrooms, inadequate ventilation and insufficient medical care.
Governor Mikie Sherrill has backed the investigation, describing it as the right and necessary course of action, and has renewed her position that Delaney Hall should be closed.
The state has separately been fighting for greater access to the facility for health inspections, while officials have accused ICE and GEO Group of obstructing oversight efforts.
Pressure to Close Delaney Hall Grows
The calls for closure have also reached Congress.
U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim have pushed legislation that would require ICE to permanently close Delaney Hall. Booker also sought unanimous consent in the Senate for the Delaney Hall Closure Act, which would require the facility to close within 90 days.
The combination of multiple deaths connected to the facility, another detainee’s hospitalization, the newly launched state civil rights investigation and demonstrations in both New Jersey and New York has placed Delaney Hall under growing scrutiny.
Saturday’s protests show that the controversy is also spreading beyond New Jersey. Demonstrators in both Newark and Times Square are demanding answers about Lopez-Cornejo’s death while calling for broader accountability over conditions within the federal immigration detention system.
Sources: ABC7 New York; Reuters; Associated Press; The People’s Forum (X); Insider NJ; U.S. Department of Homeland Security; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.