The family of an immigrant from El Salvador who died in ICE custody in New Jersey on Tuesday outlined a list of demands for state and federal officials that they said would bring justice after his death.
Edwin Jeovanny López Cornejo, 41, whose family said he had been living in the U.S. for two decades, died in ICE custody on Saturday after having a medical episode at Delaney Hall in Newark. The privately run ICE facility has been the subject of complaints of poor conditions, ongoing protests, and the site of clashes between federal officials and elected Democrats.
“On the same day, we were both dead, the only difference was his heart stopped beating,” his 12-year-old daughter Ashley López said at a news conference held outside the Reformed Church of Highland Park on Tuesday streamed by Cosecha New Jersey, an immigrant-rights group. “I am going to grow up without a father. They did not even let me see him one last time before he died.”
“We had so many plans, we will never do them, because they are heartless monsters,” she added.
López Cornejo’s family members have accused ICE of neglecting to provide proper medical care to him, an accusation the federal agency denies. His mother María Cornejo questioned whether ICE gave her son his medicine for high blood pressure, diabetes, and seizures. He was detained in Plainfield in North Jersey on June 18.
ICE said Monday evening that López Cornejo’s cause of death was pending further medical review, but Sen. Andy Kim shared later that night that he died of a heart attack and cardiac arrest. Kim said López Cornejo already had a habeas corpus case calling for his release due to his medical issues.
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While speaking at the news conference, Danilo López, the brother of López Cornejo, called for an independent investigation of the incident by New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, a release of his brother’s medical records by the facility’s owner GEO Group and ICE, the closure of the detention center and the release of all those detained. He also asked Gov. Mikie Sherrill to open an investigation into health protocols at the center.
“I know that there’s nothing that will bring my brother back but if we feel our pain now maybe we can avoid other deaths,” Danilo López said in Spanish.
Davenport’s office said Tuesday it “can neither confirm or deny an investigation at this time.”
Sherrill has called for the shuttering of Delaney Hall amid a broader battle over President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. Her administration is in various court fights with Trump’s administration, including one attempting to gain access to Delaney Hall for a full state health inspection.
Activists have repeatedly called for Delaney Hall to shut its doors but the Trump administration has made clear it’s not closing the facility anytime soon as it holds a crucial role in the president’s mass deportation operation.
U.S. Rep. Analilia Mejia, a progressive Democrat who represents a North Jersey district, said at the news conference that she’s spoken to people inside Delaney Hall during oversight visits who say they’re being denied their medication and proper medical care.
“We must all use this moment to lift our voices and say not one more,” said Mejia, whose opposition to ICE was a key part of her platform to succeed Sherrill in Congress.
A spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, a Central Jersey Democrat, said her office gets calls from families saying their loved ones aren’t receiving their medication and are getting moldy food inside the facility.
Trump officials and allies have denied there are issues inside Delaney Hall, including U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a South Jersey Republican who, prior to this incident, visited the facility and called it clean and “well-run” with “medical care, recreation, and other basic services.”
ICE said it provides “comprehensive medical care” to people in the facility, including 24 hour emergency care.
“While in custody, Lopez-Cornejo received proper medical care and was seen by medical professionals,” the federal agency said in a statement.
Danilo López said that his brother had told him over the phone that he had to fill out a form to just get Tylenol at Delaney Hall and it could be days before he received it.
María Cornejo accused ICE of lying about giving her son proper medical attention.
“I just want justice for my son and for my granddaughter who is going to grow without a father,” she said in Spanish.
Danilo López said Tuesday he didn’t know why his brother was detained because he had a valid work permit, but ICE said López Cornejo was arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol “for illegally entering the United States without inspection” in August 2006 and was sent back to El Salvador that October before returning without permission.
López Cornejo’s daughter, Ashley, said Tuesday that “no one is illegal on stolen land,” a common refrain from immigrant rights activists.
Her mother, who was not named, called the incident the result of a systemic failure.
“From the bottom of my heart I feel the system failed Edwin,” she said in Spanish. “Failed my daughter, failed me as a mom, and failed all those other kids who are suffering like my daughter is.”
