Family demands answers following death of man in ICE custody at New Jersey facility
The family of a Salvadoran national who died while detained at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in New Jersey over the weekend is demanding answers on what happened prior to his death in federal custody.
Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, 39, who was detained at the Delaney Hall facility in Newark, died on Saturday following a "medical emergency," ICE said.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in an interview Tuesday with NewsNation that Lopez-Cornejo died of cardiac arrest and claimed he "had no medical records of cardiac problems."
Mullin said Lopez-Cornejo was on diet medication at the time of his death and that he was transported to the hospital soon after going into distress. "He died at the hospital, not in our custody,” Mullin said.
Lopez-Cornejo's family members are questioning his care while in the immigration facility, claiming during a press briefing Tuesday that he was not immediately transported to a hospital after reporting numbness in his face and arm a day before he died.
The family is also adamant that they were told by the hospital that by the time Lopez-Cornejo arrived there on Saturday, his heart was no longer beating.
"If he told the doctor he couldn't feel half of his face and his arm, why wouldn't the doctor order him to go to the hospital?" his mother, Maria Cornejo, said at a press event on Tuesday.
Lopez-Cornejo had high blood pressure and diabetes, his family said.
ICE said in a statement Monday that Lopez-Cornejo "received proper medical care and was seen by medical professionals" while in custody.
"We were both dead, but the only difference is that his heart stopped beating and I'm going to grow up without a father," Lopez-Cornejo's 12-year-old daughter, who did not wish to give her name, said during the press event.
The family is demanding accountability for Lopez-Cornejo's death, the release of all medical records from ICE and GEO Group, the private company contracted by ICE to run the Delaney Hall facility, and the closure of the detention center and the release of detainees.
ICE said Monday that the facility's staff and medical staff "responded immediately and called 911 for emergency medical services" when Lopez-Cornejo experienced a medical emergency. He was transported to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead Saturday, the agency said.
The official cause of death is pending, ICE said Monday.
"ICE is committed to ensuring that all those in custody reside in safe, secure and humane environments," ICE said in a statement on Lopez-Cornejo's death.
