Plainfield man who died in ICE custody wasn’t getting medicine, mother says

✅ICE says a 41-year-old Plainfield man died after a medical emergency at Delaney Hall

✅His mother says he wasn't consistently given medicine

✅A GoFundMe campaign has been created to help Edwin Cornejo's family

NEWARK — The second man to die at the for-profit ICE detention facility since last year wasn't receiving his medication for high blood pressure and diabetes while in custody, his mother told a New Jersey media outlet.

The mother of the detainee who died while in custody at Delaney Hall told New Jersey Monitor that she is "destroyed" by her son's death.

Edwin Jovanny Lopez Cornejo, a 41-year-old native of El Salvador who lived in Plainfield experienced a "medical emergency" on Saturday and died at University Hospital, according to ICE. An official cause of death has not been determined pending further medical examination.

U.S.Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., said that Cornejo died from a heart attack.

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Mother: No word from ICE or GEO Group

Cornejo told New Jersey Monitor she has not heard from GEO Group, the operator of Delaney Hall, or ICE about her son's death. University Hospital notified Cornejo about his death.

“I never imagined this would happen. I don’t even have the words to string together to say how I feel. I’m so heartbroken. I’ve never felt pain this deep before. He was a good son,” Maria Cornejo told New Jersey Monitor. She last spoke to her son on Friday when he mentioned a numbness in his face and hand. Cornejo said that her son had not been given his medicine for diabetes and high blood pressure regularly.

Cornejo is the second detainee at Delaney Hall to die since December, when Jean Wilson Brutus, 41, a Haitian national, died 24 hours after being taken into custody. Emergency responders rushed him to University Hospital in Newark, where he was pronounced dead a day later. Authorities say the death is suspected to be from natural causes.

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Edwin Jovanny Lopez Cornejo

GoFundMe campaign describes Plainfield man as devoted father

A GoFundMe campaign created by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network described Cornejo as a "a loving father, a devoted son, and a hardworking member of his community."

"Today, Edwin's family is facing an unimaginable tragedy. Along with overwhelming grief, they must now carry the financial burden of funeral and burial expenses while trying to support one another through this painful loss," according to the campaign.

The Reformed Church of Highland Park will host a community gathering on Tuesday, according to Pastor Seth Kaper-Dale. Family members, faith leaders and immigration advocates will hold a press briefing to demand an investigation into medical care and conditions at Delaney Hall.

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