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Salvadoran man dies in ICE custody at New Jersey detention centre

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Salvadoran man dies in ICE custody at New Jersey detention centre
Image · Al Jazeera

What the report says

A Salvadoran detainee has died at Delaney Hall, a New Jersey immigration detention centre run by private contractor GEO Group and used by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to Al Jazeera. The agency said Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, 41, was taken to a Newark hospital after a medical emergency on Saturday and died there. The death is the second at the facility in less than a year, renewing scrutiny of conditions at the site.

Al Jazeera reported that Lopez-Cornejo had been detained in mid-June after being picked up in Plainfield, New Jersey, under an earlier deportation case. ICE records cited in the report say he had previously been deported after entering the US without authorization in 2006 and later returned. His family said he leaves behind a 12-year-old daughter. Immigration advocates said he had ongoing health problems, including diabetes, high blood pressure and seizures, and alleged he was denied medication while in custody; ICE said he received proper care and that staff and medical personnel responded when he became ill.

The death has prompted protests and renewed calls to shut Delaney Hall. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill both criticized the facility and said the state was seeking more information. Representative Rob Menendez also cited concerns about medical care and accountability. For context, the facility reopened last year as part of a broader expansion of immigration detention under President Donald Trump.

Read the full report at Al Jazeera →

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