Another ICE detainee dies in custody at notorious Delaney Hall, raising 2026 death toll to 22

Another detainee has died in custody at Delaney Hall, the notorious Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) center in Newark, raising the death toll to 22 this year, prompting protesters to demand the closure of the deadly immigration facility.

ICE announced in a statement cited by media on Monday that 41-year-old Salvadoran immigrant Edwin Lopez-Cornejo had died last week due to health complications.

Lopez-Cornejo, who had been detained at the Delaney Hall Detention Facility, “was pronounced deceased on August 1 by medical personnel at University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey,” ICE stated.

It added that after Lopez-Cornejo “experienced a medical emergency while in ICE custody,” staff immediately contacted 911 for help, but the detainee passed away.

It further said that the official cause of death remains pending further medical examination.

Lopez-Cornejo is the 22nd person to die in ICE custody this year, according to agency data. Originally from El Salvador, he first came to the US in 2006, was arrested by ICE agents in Plainfield, New Jersey, on June 18, and sent to Delaney Hall detention facility to await deportation.

Following Lopez-Cornejo’s death, protesters gathered in a peaceful rally in front of the notorious ICE detention center, once more demanding improved conditions for inmates and the closure of the ICE detention center.

Protesters said ICE enjoyed impunity during the presidency of Donald Trump, demanding the closure of the facility, accountability, and justice for the multitude of deceased immigrants who died in suspicious circumstances while in custody.

They held banners demanding Delaney Hall be shut down. They also called for the abolishment of ICE.

Organizers of the event said the family of Lopez-Cornejo will be speaking about his death on Tuesday at noon in Highland Park, New York.

Last year, tensions peaked as protesters and police clashed outside of Delaney Hall for weeks over the inhumane conditions that the detainees suffered inside the facility.

Another US government shutdown looms as ICE furor grows

Six weeks of protests over President Trump’s immigration policies leads Democrats to withhold funding for the Department of Homeland Security and ICE, risking a shutdown of the third-largest cabinet department.

In the meantime, Newark’s Democratic Mayor, Ras Baraka, condemned the untimely death in custody of the inmate, demanding accountability at the ICE facility.

Baraka said in a statement on Monday that “yet another family is forced to endure the unimaginable loss of a loved one while in custody at Delaney Hall.”

“The death of Edwin Jovanny Lopez Cornejo is a heartbreaking reminder of the consequences of a facility that has operated for far too long without adequate oversight, accountability or transparency,” Baraka added in the statement, which was posted on the social platform X.

New Jersey’s Democratic Governor, Mikie Sherrill, also condemned the death, saying she was “deeply disturbed to hear” about it.

“My heart is with the individual’s loved ones, who deserve answers about what happened. My administration is working with our Congressional delegation to gather all the facts surrounding this death,” she said in a post on Monday night on X.

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