Senator Booker Seeks Closure of ICE Facility After Third Death in Nine Months
U.S. Senator Cory Booker called for the immediate closure of Delaney Hall, an ICE detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, following the death of Edwin Lopez-Cornejo on Saturday, August 1. Lopez-Cornejo is the third person to die while detained at the facility in the past nine months.
Federal authorities told Lopez-Cornejo’s family that the 39-year-old died after being transported from the facility. Family members believe he had already died before arriving at the hospital.
U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez revealed a third death during an unannounced oversight visit earlier this week. That death occurred approximately two weeks ago when a detainee suffered a seizure during intake at Delaney Hall. ICE released the individual from custody on the spot and sent him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
“In their custody is a particular way of thinking that ICE has in terms of people that are in their custody, but they can release them on a discretionary basis,” Menendez said. “Once they do so, they’re no longer responsible for even reporting the death.”
Because the individual was released before dying, ICE considers the death to have occurred outside their custody and is not required to report it to Congress or the public.
On Thursday afternoon, emergency medical crews responded to two separate calls at Delaney Hall. One patient was transported at approximately 12:30 p.m., and another about an hour later. The medical conditions of the patients and whether they were detainees have not been disclosed.
Senator Booker sought unanimous consent on the Senate floor Thursday to pass the Delaney Hall Closure Act, which would close the facility within 90 days. “They’re out of excuses. We are out of time. How many more people should die,” Booker said.
Booker has conducted multiple oversight visits to Delaney Hall and witnessed what he describes as degrading conditions and insufficient medical care. At least 56 people have died in ICE custody during President Trump’s second term. More than 70 percent of people detained by ICE have never been convicted of a criminal offense.
The facility is privately operated by the GEO Group. Senator Andy Kim is cosponsoring the closure bill. “The treatment of those inside is unjust and cruel; I’m cosponsoring this bill because it’s time to shut down Delaney Hall for good before anyone else is harmed,” Kim said.
The Breakdown
- Edwin Lopez-Cornejo died Saturday, August 1, after being detained at Delaney Hall ICE facility in Newark, New Jersey—the third death connected to the facility in nine months.
- A third death occurred approximately two weeks ago when a detainee suffered a seizure during intake; ICE released him from custody before sending him to the hospital, where he died—because he was released first, ICE is not required to report the death to Congress or the public.
- Senator Cory Booker sought unanimous consent to pass the Delaney Hall Closure Act, which would close the privately operated facility within 90 days.
- At least 56 people have died in ICE custody during President Trump’s second term; more than 70 percent of ICE detainees have never been convicted of a criminal offense.
What This Means for You
Three people have died in connection with Delaney Hall in the past nine months. Senator Booker has described conditions and medical care at the facility as inadequate based on his oversight visits. The fact that ICE can release someone from custody moments before they die, avoiding the requirement to report the death to Congress or the public, means the reported count of ICE custody deaths may not capture the full picture of what happens at detention facilities.
What to Watch
Senator Booker’s bill requires unanimous consent to pass—meaning any single senator can block it. Whether the bill advances, or dies quietly in procedural silence, will show whether Congress is willing to act on documented failures at a facility where three people have now died, or whether those deaths will be absorbed as the cost of how the system currently runs.
The fact that ICE can release someone from custody on the spot—avoiding the reporting requirement triggered by an in-custody death—raises a real question about what other deaths may have occurred this way without public or congressional knowledge. If this pattern is broader than Delaney Hall, the public count of ICE custody deaths may be systematically undercounting the actual toll.
