Days before Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, 39, died following a medical emergency at the Delaney Hall Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Newark, New Jersey, his attorney filed a habeas petition seeking to prevent his transfer and potentially secure his release. The court filing cited his documented medical conditions.
Lopez-Cornejo, a Salvadoran national, died on Saturday, August 1, 2026. His attorney, Ingrid Echeverria, filed the petition on July 24, asking a federal judge to order the Department of Homeland Security to provide reasons for his detention and to halt any transfer. The petition also requested advance written notice of any transfer, identification of the receiving facility, and assurance that his medications would accompany him and be administered without interruption.
Echeverria's filing detailed several medications Lopez-Cornejo was taking for conditions including epilepsy and high blood pressure, emphasizing the need for a strict regimen. However, the petition did not specify concerns that he was not receiving his medication while detained.
Following his death, family members have raised allegations of medical neglect, questioning the care he received at Delaney Hall. They noted that Lopez-Cornejo had complained of numbness in his face and arm the day before he died.
ICE stated that Lopez-Cornejo received appropriate medical care and that staff responded immediately to his medical emergency on Saturday, calling 911. He was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The agency has said the official cause of death is pending further medical examination. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told NewsNation on Tuesday that Lopez-Cornejo died of cardiac arrest.
Echeverría expressed questions about the timeline of his illness, asking ABC News, "What we want to know is what happened? When did he start feeling ill? Should they have called the ambulance sooner?"
Lopez-Cornejo was taken into custody on June 18 in Plainfield, New Jersey. ICE stated he was detained at Delaney Hall pending removal from the United States, under a reinstatement of a prior removal order. According to ICE records, he entered the U.S. illegally in August 2006 and was deported the following October. He re-entered the country in 2007 and later applied for asylum. Exhibits filed with the habeas petition indicated he possessed a work permit that expired in 2025 and had a pending renewal request as of June 2025.
Several friends and former employers submitted letters to the judge in support of his release, with one former employer describing Lopez-Cornejo as a hardworking individual whose good nature defined him as both a good employee and a good person. This letter was written exactly one month before his death.