88 House Democrats Demand Answers on 50+ Deaths in ICE Custody, Medical Neglect Allegations

Rep. Frank Pallone and 87 other House Democrats sent a letter Aug. 25 to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and acting ICE Director David Venturella demanding a facility-by-facility accounting of deaths, medical emergencies, and alleged care failures across the nation’s immigration detention system. The lawmakers cite more than 50 deaths in ICE custody since Jan. 20, 2025, plus additional deaths shortly after release, and more than 300 allegations of medical neglect across at least 33 states.

The letter follows the August death of Edwin Jovanny Lopez Cornejo at Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey — one of at least three deaths tied to that facility. Lopez Cornejo’s family has blamed GEO Group, the private contractor running the site under a 15-year, $1 billion contract, for failing to provide necessary medication for diabetes, high blood pressure, and seizures. Both GEO Group and ICE have denied negligence or wrongdoing.

“Detention should never be a death sentence,” the lawmakers wrote. They describe detainees going without medication for chronic conditions — high blood pressure, diabetes, epilepsy, Parkinson’s, HIV — while requests for medical attention went unanswered for weeks as conditions deteriorated.

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The letter names two major private contractors — GEO Group and CoreCivic — and documents alleged failures at facilities they operate nationwide. At GEO’s Adelanto facility in California, a federal court recently ordered significant changes and independent monitoring of medical care. At CoreCivic’s California City Detention Facility, a court-appointed medical monitor documented delays in treatment, missed medications, and inadequate follow-up, concluding the facility lacked a reliable system for providing adequate health care. A California DOJ inspection found the facility had one physician for nearly 1,000 detainees.

At Winn Correctional Center in Louisiana, two detainees died in less than two months; federal inspectors identified deficiencies in medical care and recordkeeping. At Buffalo Federal Detention Facility in New York, staffing shortages resulted in waits as long as five months for dental care, per a 2025 DHS Inspector General inspection. At Imperial Regional Detention Facility in California, two detainees died over the past year.

The lawmakers point to ICE’s decision to stop requiring public reporting and congressional notification of deaths occurring within 30 days of a detainee’s release, calling it harder to determine whether inadequate medical care in custody contributed to those deaths.

An unidentified DHS spokesperson disputed the allegations in an email, stating that “as of May 29, death rates in custody under the Trump administration are 0.008% of the detained population.” The statement added: “As bed space has rapidly expanded, we have maintained a higher standard of care than most prisons that hold U.S. citizens — including providing access to proper medical care. For many illegal aliens this is the best healthcare they have received their entire lives.”

The lawmakers are demanding 13 categories of information by Sept. 1, including facility-by-facility accounting of deaths, serious medical emergencies, delays in treatment, prescription-medication interruptions, medical and mental-health staffing levels, and which private companies provide medical care at each facility. They also want ICE to disclose how many medical-care violations have resulted in corrective actions, financial penalties, contract modifications, or termination.

“If they cannot be operated in compliance with federal law and the Constitution, GEO Group, CoreCivic, and any other private contractors should not continue to profit from taxpayer dollars, and the detention centers must be closed,” the lawmakers wrote.

The Breakdown

• 88 House Democrats sent a letter Aug. 25 demanding answers from DHS and ICE on deaths and alleged medical neglect in immigration detention facilities.
• The letter cites more than 50 deaths in ICE custody since Jan. 20, 2025, additional deaths shortly after release, and more than 300 allegations of medical neglect across at least 33 states in federal court filings.
• Allegations include delayed or denied medical treatment, failure to provide necessary medications, inadequate treatment of chronic illnesses, insufficient mental health services, and dangerous delays in emergency care.
• The letter names GEO Group and CoreCivic as contractors operating facilities where serious deficiencies have been documented, including court-ordered monitoring at GEO’s Adelanto facility and a court-appointed monitor finding inadequate care at CoreCivic’s California City facility.
• Lawmakers are demanding facility-by-facility data on deaths, medical emergencies, staffing, and contractor accountability by Sept. 1.

What This Means for You

If you’re weighing how an administration uses its enforcement authority, what standard of care it requires in facilities it funds, and whether it holds contractors accountable when people in federal custody die or allege neglect, this letter documents what 88 members of Congress say is happening on the ground.

What to Watch

The letter’s core claim is that more than 50 people have died in ICE custody since Jan. 20, 2025, with additional deaths shortly after release, and that more than 300 allegations of medical neglect have been filed in federal court across at least 33 states. DHS has responded by citing a death rate of 0.008% as of late May and asserting that “for many illegal aliens this is the best healthcare they have received their entire lives.” The Sept. 1 deadline gives the administration one week to produce the facility-by-facility data lawmakers are demanding or to decline. The letter also raises the accountability question: ICE is paying private contractors — GEO Group’s Delaney Hall contract alone is $1 billion over 15 years — to operate these facilities. If court monitors and federal inspectors are documenting the failures the letter describes, the lawmakers are demanding to know how many medical-care violations have resulted in corrective actions, financial penalties, contract modifications, or termination. Watch for whether the administration’s response actually addresses the documented deficiencies named in the letter or continues to frame the issue as a political attack rather than a contract-performance and constitutional-compliance matter.