Questions grow after ICE reporting rule may have kept Delaney Hall death secret

✅ ICE confirmed one Delaney Hall detainee died on Saturday

✅ A congressman says another death went unreported.

✅ A recent policy change no longer requires ICE to review deaths after detainees are released.

Two deaths connected to New Jersey's largest immigration detention center are raising new questions about whether changes to ICE reporting rules are making it harder for the public — and Congress — to know when detainees die after leaving federal custody.

ICE confirmed that Edwin Jovanny Lopez Cornejo died Saturday after suffering what the agency described as a medical emergency. But U.S. Rep. Bob Menendez, D-N.J. 8th District, says another detainee also died after being released to a hospital, a death that he argues no longer triggers public reporting because of a recent ICE policy change. ICE has not publicly confirmed that second death.

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Edwin Jovanny Lopez Cornejo

ICE reporting rule change comes under scrutiny

ICE said Lopez Cornejo died Saturday at University Hospital in Newark after receiving what the agency described as "proper medical care" from medical professionals.

After touring Delaney Hall on Monday, Menendez said another detainee had suffered a seizure while being processed at the facility. According to Menendez, ICE granted the detainee a discretionary release after he was transported to a hospital, where he later lost consciousness and died.

Because the detainee had been released from ICE custody, Menendez said the death was not publicly reported.

"He was released to University Hospital, so he was no longer in ICE custody," Menendez said in a video posted to his X account. "This is being done to keep the number of deaths that are being reported as low a number as possible."

The congressman's allegation comes after ICE rescinded a 2021 Biden administration policy requiring the agency to notify Congress and investigate detainee deaths occurring within 30 days of release from custody.

The earlier policy was intended to prevent ICE from avoiding scrutiny by releasing critically ill detainees shortly before they died. Homeland Security defended reversing the policy, calling the change "common sense."

"Under this updated policy, when an individual is no longer in ICE custody then ICE will no longer be responsible for monitoring or reviewing deaths that may occur," the department said.

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Edwin Jovanny Lopez Cornejo

Medical care at Delaney Hall becomes a focus

The policy debate comes as Lopez Cornejo's death has intensified questions about medical care inside Delaney Hall.

ICE maintains that detainees receive appropriate medical treatment. Lopez Cornejo's family disputes that account.

Speaking during a community gathering Tuesday in Plainfield, his mother, Maria Lopez Cornejo, accused personnel at Delaney Hall of failing to provide needed treatment before her son's condition worsened.

"It is not fair he had to die because of medical negligence," she said, according to NJ.com. "He needed medical attention and they refused to give it to him."

His 12-year-old daughter, Ashley, called ICE "heartless monsters" and accused the agency of trying to hide responsibility for her father's death.

Immigrant advocate Sally Pillay also told NorthJersey.com that she has heard of another detainee dying at the facility on Aug. 3, though New Jersey 101.5 has not independently confirmed that report.

At least 18 people have died in ICE custody nationwide since Jan. 1, putting 2026 on pace to exceed last year's total, which was the highest in two decades. Medical care at Delaney Hall has become a focal point for New Jersey Democrats, including Gov. Mikie Sherrill, who have called for the facility to close. Homeland Security has repeatedly defended conditions at the Newark detention center and says detainees receive quality medical care.

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