Third Death of Detained Immigrant Reported at ICE Center in New Jersey

The New York Immigration Coalition denounced on Wednesday the third death of an immigrant detained at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in New Jersey, Delaney Hall, which occurred in July, prior to the death of Salvadoran national Edwin López Cornejo.

"A third person has now died in detention at Delaney Hall. This person's death occurred in late July 2026 and was not disclosed until a congressional oversight visit to the facility earlier this week," the group stated in a press release.

Although the identity of the deceased is not known, this marks the third death of an immigrant at Delaney Hall, following that of López Cornejo on August 1 and that of Haitian national Jean Wilson Brutus in mid-December 2025, with all three cases apparently involving medical emergencies.

The Coalition echoed statements made by Congressman Rob Menendez, who posted on his X account following an unannounced visit to the facility this past Monday, prompted by López Cornejo's death.

"Another death occurred a few weeks ago at Delaney Hall. A person who had just been transferred there suffered what ICE and the facility's operator, the company GEO, believe was a seizure," Menendez said.

"But we didn't hear about it because they took him to University Hospital, so he was no longer in ICE custody. Why did they do that? Recently, ICE changed its policies, so they no longer report deaths that occur more than 30 days after someone leaves ICE custody," he explained.

The local outlet City Reporter reports that ICE and GEO confirmed the details of this third death to the congressman after his office received information about it on July 24.

"The third reported death at Delaney Hall is a devastating tragedy that should have been prevented. Unfortunately, this death is not an isolated incident at this facility, but part of a pattern of abuse both here and at detention centers across the country," said Murad Awahdeh, president of the Coalition.