Edwin López Cornejo’s death came on the same day he was hospitalized after a medical emergency at Delaney Hall in Newark. ICE said he was taken to the hospital on Saturday and died that day, after being held at the facility since his arrest on June 18.
His family said the case began earlier, when María Cornejo said he called her the day before his death and told her he had spoken with a doctor early on Friday. She said he had lost feeling in the middle of his face and arm, and the family said he had complained about not having regular access to medications for diabetes, high blood pressure and seizures.
María Cornejo’s account
María Cornejo told the press conference on Tuesday, “Mi hijo necesitaba atención médica y no la recibió.” Ashley López, his 12-year-old daughter, said, “Todos estábamos preocupados por él.” The family’s account puts the timeline in sharp relief: a Friday call about numbness, a Saturday hospitalization, and death the same day.
The family also said López Cornejo was 39 years old. ICE said he was 41 years old and said he had received appropriate care while in custody. ICE’s statement said he was treated by health professionals, using the phrase “received the atención médica adecuada y fue atendido por profesionales de la salud.”
ICE and Delaney Hall
Delaney Hall has a capacity of 1,000 beds and has been the site of protests by immigrant advocates. At least 56 people have died in ICE custody during Donald Trump’s second term, and this death adds to the scrutiny already focused on detention medical care in New Jersey. The case also recalls December, when Jean Wilson Brutus died after collapsing in the jail; a medical examiner later determined that Brutus died from a blood clot that blocked an artery.
Cory Booker responded after López Cornejo’s death with two statements that linked this case to the wider pattern at the facility: “Esta no es la primera muerte de un detenido en Delaney Hall y, si no hay una acción decisiva, no será la última” and “Delaney Hall debe cerrarse de inmediato y de forma permanente.” Those remarks sharpen the dispute over whether the care he received met the standard ICE described or the needs his family says he was denied.
What follows in New Jersey
The official cause of death will come after an additional medical examination, which is the document that should answer whether the death is tied to a specific medical condition or another failure in care. For families inside Delaney Hall, the immediate practical issue is more basic: whether symptoms reported to staff are treated as urgent before a detainee is moved out of the facility and into a hospital.
That next finding will also determine how López Cornejo’s case is counted alongside the other deaths in ICE custody during Donald Trump’s second term, and whether Delaney Hall’s medical response becomes part of a broader review of detention conditions in Newark.
