A third detainee died after being held at Delaney Hall, according to Rep. Rob Menendez (D-NJ), who said the death wasn’t disclosed to the public by Immigration and Customs Enforcement because the agency recently changed how it reports deaths of detainees.
Menendez described the reported death, which took place in late July, on a phone call with journalists and in an Instagram video Monday, after ICE and GEO Group confirmed details to him during an unannounced oversight visit on Monday. That same day, news broke about a second death at the facility, that of Edwin Cornejo Lopez, which took place over the weekend.
In total, three detainees are known to have died at the facility, including Jean Wilson Brutus, a 41-year-old Haitian immigrant, who passed away last December.
Menendez said his office initially heard about this third death on July 24, but hadn’t been able to confirm additional details until Monday. ICE did not return a request for comment on Menendez’ account, and his office was not able to confirm the person’s name or any other details right away.
In late July, a detainee who had recently arrived at Delaney Hall started experiencing what medical staff thought was a seizure, ICE and GEO Group officials told Menendez, according to the representative’s account. Emergency services were called, and the person was taken to University Hospital.
“The ICE field office in Newark makes a determination to provide a discretionary release in which the individual is released to University Hospital. Because of the release, they were technically no longer in ICE custody, which is why there’s no notification,” Menendez said. An ambulance came after about 30 minutes and the person passed away shortly after arriving at University Hospital, he added.
Menendez pointed to a June Washington Post story noting that ICE would stop reporting deaths within 30 days of a detainees release from custody, undoing the new method of counting deaths in ICE custody that took effect in 2021.
University Hospital, a state-funded teaching hospital, declined to comment on Lopez Cornejo’s death citing patient privacy and didn’t return a request right away for additional comment on the second death or on ambulance response times.
Delaney Hall, the largest ICE detention facility in the New York-metro area, is run by the private prison contractor GEO Group. A strike by detainees over conditions there kicked off in late May and sparked days of protests outside, which ICE agents greeted with pepper spray and batons.
The City Reporter previously reported on dozens of federal lawsuits in which detainees described difficulty accessing medical care at the facility.
Menendez offered additional details about Lopez Cornejo’s death on the call with reporters Monday, saying staff at Delaney Hall told him Lopez Cornejo was having lunch in the cafeteria Saturday when he complained to guards he was feeling tired and dizzy. He walked to the medical unit where he collapsed.
“He coded. He was given CPR. 911 was called. EMS arrived at Delaney Hall 37 minutes later,” Menendez said.
Cornejo Lopez made it to the hospital by 2:40 p.m. and was pronounced dead by hospital staff at 3:24 p.m, Menendez said.
Cornejo Lopez called his family Friday saying he didn’t feel well and that his hand and part of his face were numb, according to an interview with his mother which was released on Facebook by several New Jersey based immigrants rights groups on Monday. His mother then said she got a call Saturday evening from the hospital asking her to identify her son’s body.
A federal lawsuit seeking his release reviewed by The City Reporter detailed his complex regime of daily medications to treat epilepsy, high blood pressure and high blood sugar. But attorneys did not allege he had been denied medication while being held at Delaney Hall, and his mother said she wasn’t sure if her son had lacked access to his medication.
While details are still emerging in Lopez Cornejo’s case, difficulty accessing lifesaving medication with regularity was a common complaint for detainees held at Delaney Hall, The City Reporter’s investigation found.
At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Lopez Cornejo’s 12-year-old daughter spoke to the crowd.
“I will not let his story be unheard, I want his voice to be heard loud and clear,” his daughter told reporters. “He’s still here with us in spirit.”
“There should be justice for all,” she added. “No one here is illegal.”
Mourners planned a vigil outside Delaney Hall for Tuesday night.
The number of deaths in ICE custody have surged to historic levels nationwide, with at least 34 deaths this year, as the number of people held in custody as part of Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign was more than 65,000 in July.
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