DOWNLOAD: edwin-jovanny-lopez-cornejo.pdf

Name: Edwin Lopez Cornejo

Age: 39

Date: August 1, 2026

Location: Newark, New Jersey

Agents: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Cause of Death: Medical Abuse, Detention

In Newark, New Jersey, a 39 year old man from El Salvador, who was detained for 6 weeks at the Delaney Hall detention facility, died in ICE custody after experiencing a medical emergency.

According to ICE, Edwin Jovanny Lopez Cornejo was first arrested by Border Patrol agents in August 2006 for illegally entering the United States. He was removed to El Salvador that October, but later re-entered the US without authorization. On the morning of June 18, 2026, he was arrested by ICE near his home in Plainfield, NJ. For the following 6 weeks, he was held at Delaney Hall awaiting deportation, confined in unsafe conditions that progressively worsened his health. He had diabetes, epilepsy, and high blood pressure, but was not given proper medication by staff at the facility. In a recent interview, his mother, Maria Cornejo, claimed that in her last phone call with her son, he complained of numbness in his face and hand. On August 1, she received a phone call from University Hospital in Newark informing her that her son arrived at the hospital without a heartbeat and asking her to identify his body. Jovanny Lopez Cornejo leaves behind his 12 year old daughter, his mother, and other extended family members, none of whom were allowed to visit him during his detention.

Delaney Hall is a 1,000 bed private immigration detention facility in Newark, NJ, managed by The GEO Group under a federal contract with ICE. The facility emerged as a flashpoint for controversy when detainees staged a hunger and labor strike to protest inhumane conditions within, setting off clashes between law enforcement officers and demonstrators gathered outside. The city has spent the past year in litigation with GEO Group over its violations of city code ordinances and its denial of building inspection access to city officials. Detainees inside the facility have accused the detention center of inhumane conditions, including worms in their food, psychological abuse, denied medical care, among other complaints. In December 2025, Jean Wilson Brutus, a 41 year old Haitian immigrant, died less than 24 hours after arriving at the facility.

To call these facilities "detention centers" sanitizes the reality, these are concentration camps where human beings are warehoused and neglected. GEO Group and ICE have consistently shown a disregard for transparency, public oversight, and the laws meant to safeguard the health, safety, and dignity of those in their custody. Delaney Hall symbolizes ICE brutality contained in a building. Demand accountability from ICE and GEO Group for Edwin’s death! Demand an independent investigation into conditions and medical care at Delaney Hall! Demand the closure of Delaney Hall and all immigration detention facilities!

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