August 3rd, 2026 NEWARK, New Jersey - Protesters gathered outside the Delaney Hall Detention Facility Monday night for a vigil following news that a second detainee has died in ICE custody at the facility.
According to a statement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the man was identified as Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, 41, who was pronounced deceased on August 1st by medical personnel at University Hospital in Newark. Per the ICE statement via NewsNation, GEO Group facility staff and medical staff responded to a medical emergency and called 911. The official cause of death remains pending further examination.
This is the second known death at Delaney Hall since it opened, following the December 2025 death of Jean Wilson Brutus, a 41-year-old Haitian national. Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka issued a statement August 3rd calling the death "a heartbreaking reminder" of what he described as a facility that has "operated for far too long without adequate oversight, accountability or transparency," and renewed his call for the facility's closure.
