Family says ICE withheld records after man dies at Newark detention center

Relatives of Edwin Lopez-Cornejo said federal officials overseeing Delaney Hall in Newark refused to provide his medical records after the 41-year-old died in ICE custody following a medical emergency. The family says those records are essential to determine what care he received during the six weeks he was held before his death.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Lopez-Cornejo was pronounced dead on Aug. 1 by medical personnel at University Hospital in Newark after he was transported from the detention center. Lopez-Cornejo was from El Salvador, and family members said he had been living with serious medical needs, including diabetes. Some reports also said he needed medication for high blood pressure and seizures, and one account said his medical history included epilepsy.

The family’s demand for records has sharpened the focus on Delaney Hall, where multiple reports said Lopez-Cornejo’s death was the second in eight months and the second since the facility reopened under Trump. Austin Kocher said Lopez-Cornejo was the 23rd person to die in ICE custody in 2026, underscoring how often detention deaths have forced families into a battle for basic information about treatment, monitoring and transfers.

Lopez-Cornejo’s mother said he died while in federal custody and called the death heartbreaking. Family members and immigrant advocates said the case was preventable and pressed for answers about whether he received medication for diabetes before the emergency that sent him to the hospital. The central question now is not only how he died, but why his family says they were left without the medical records that could show the last hours of his care.

The death drew protests outside Delaney Hall on Aug. 3, where vigil candles and demonstrators gathered as anger mounted over the facility’s oversight. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Sen. Andy Kim were among the local and federal officials reported to have sought answers after the death, adding to the pressure on ICE to explain what happened inside the Newark detention center and why the family says the paper trail has been withheld.