Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, an El Salvadorian man detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, died Saturday in Delaney Hall. This New Jersey detainment center has faced broad criticism for inhumane conditions.
Lopez-Cornejo, 41, is the second reported death at the center since December when Jean Wilson Brutus, a 41-year-old man from Haiti died.
Lopez-Cornejo was arrested on June 18 and was being held at Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey, according to ICE.
While the details of Lopez-Carnejo’s death have yet to be announced, ICE claims that he was given proper medical care by medical professionals.
The Department of Homeland Security’s statement about Lopez-Cornejo strongly resembled the language used by the Minneapolis Police Department following the murder of George Floyd.
Both government agencies claimed “they experienced medical emergencies” and that proper resources and medical care were called to help the victims.
Video evidence and trial of Officer Derek Chauvin, who murdered George Floyd, proved that a medical emergency was not the reason for Floyd’s death.
Testimonies from those held at Delaney Hall are harrowing.
In a letter written and signed by 300 people detained in Delaney Hall entitled “S.O.S.,” those who have detained claim that people with “diagnoses of illnesses such as HIV. cancer, diabetes, heart problems, among others, … are not receiving proper medical attention for the aforementioned conditions.”
In their letter they write: “we are being tortured physically and psychologically due to the poor food resources provided in these detention centers.”
The Emancipator has reached out to ICE and the Department of Homeland Security for comment on the allegations of medical neglect and abuse at Delaney Hall. They have previously denied any abuse or mistreatment in detainment facilities.
This letter, written and released in May of this year, called for public help addressing the inhumane and unjust conditions inside Delaney Hall and other detainment centers across the nation.
The “S.O.S.” letter is one of the five letters written by immigrants in Delaney Hall. The Emancipator will publish the remaining letters as part of an ongoing series.
