New Jersey launches Delaney Hall civil rights investigation

⚠️ New Jersey's Division on Civil Rights has issued subpoenas to investigate Delaney Hall.

➡️ The probe follows the death of Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, who had several chronic health conditions.

🔴 The state Department of Health is separately fighting for access to inspect the privately run facility.

The state Attorney General’s Office is launching a civil rights investigation into the privately run immigrant detainment facility in Newark, after the death of another detainee while in custody there.

Investigative subpoenas have been issued by the state Division on Civil Rights regarding Delaney Hall, owned and operated by The GEO Group.

Edwin Lopez-Cornejo was a 41-year-old native of El Salvador, who was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Plainfield on June 18.

He died last weekend, after collapsing at the detention center.

Lopez-Cornejo was a father of a 12-year-old U.S. citizen child, according to a legal filing first cited by City Reporter.

He also suffered multiple chronic health issues that included focal epilepsy, high blood pressure and high blood sugar.

Family raises money after detainee's death

As of late Friday, a GoFundMe campaign to cover Lopez-Cornejo’s funeral expenses and to help support his grieving New Jersey relatives had raised roguhly $15,000.

Lopez-Cornejo was remembered as "a loving father, a devoted son, and a hardworking member of his community,” in the campaign created by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network.

Twenty years ago, Lopez-Cornejo was arrested by U.S Border Patrol for illegally entering the country without inspection on or about Aug. 13, 2006.

Within two weeks, a federal immigration judge ordered him removed and Lopez-Cornejo was ultimately deported to El Salvador within two months,

"He illegally re-entered the U.S. at a later unknown date," ICE said in a Monday statement confirming his death. No other criminal history was cited.

"While in custody, Lopez-Cornejo received proper medical care and was seen by medical professionals," the ICE statement also said.

Protesters on June 1, 2026 outside Delaney Hall in Newark, NJ (Photo by Adam Gray/Getty Images)

NJ civil rights officials will examine medical care

The investigation announced by state officials will review the chain of proper medical care, including whether necessary medications were accessible and given.

“New Jersey has both a legal and a moral duty to stand up for the civil rights of people within our state,” Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said in a written statement on Friday.

“For people who are held involuntarily, including by a private corporation like GEO Group, those rights include the right to humane treatment and adequate medical care. We will take every action available under law to safeguard these core legal principles. We ask individuals to share their personal experiences with us so that we can take action to ensure that rights are protected.”

The investigation will focus on whether any action or inaction by GEO Group employees violated the civil rights of people detained at the facility, in the wake of reports of alarming conditions and recent deaths.

Individuals with information relevant to this civil rights investigation can email DCR’s Affirmative Enforcement Unit at AffirmativeEnforcement@njcivilrights.gov.

Congressional delegates McIver and Mejia, Newark Mayor Baraka and Rep. Menendez outside Delaney Hall on Memorial Day 2026 (Courtesy New Jersey Citizen Action)

NJ Department of Health also fighting for access

Meanwhile, the state Department of Health has been locked in a legal battle with GEO Group since June. The lawsuit seeks a court order, requiring GEO Group to grant the agency access to Delaney Hall to conduct health inspections.

Most of New Jersey’s congressional delegates have repeatedly called for better oversight and transparency at the operations at Delaney Hall.

“My colleagues and I warned Trump and DHS this would happen, and now a 39-year-old father has died because they refused to listen. There must be an immediate investigation. Inspectors from the New Jersey Department of Health must be allowed immediate and full access to Delaney Hall, detainees must be provided comprehensive medical care, and ultimately, this facility must close,” U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J. 6th District, said in a written release on Tuesday.

"The inhumane conditions and severe medical neglect inside Delaney Hall are unconscionable. Delaney Hall must be shut down, and every individual inside must be released," U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez, D-N.J. 8th District, also said in social media posts on Thursday.

PHOTOS: Clashes with police outside Delaney Hall after protest zone fails

In these photos from Friday night to Sunday morning, New Jersey state troopers were forced to clear out demonstrators in front of Delaney Hall, hours after Gov. Mikie Sherrill had set up a peaceful protest zone on Friday to turn down the heat between demonstrators and federal officers. By midnight after Sunday, Newark was forced to impose a curfew for the area.

Gallery Credit: The Associated Press

12 ways New Jersey is making it harder for ICE to operate

With 12,000 additional officers, Immigration and Customs Enforcement wants to ramp up detention efforts this year. In New Jersey, proposed measures have been rolled out at the local, county, state and federal levels. Here's a look at what supporters have proposed as safeguards against unconstitutional actions — and what critics call hindrances to immigration enforcement.

Gallery Credit: Erin Vogt

Report a correction 👈 | 👉 Contact our newsroom