Days before a Salvadoran national detained at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in New Jersey died, his attorney asked a federal judge to prevent his transfer to another facility and to possibly order his release, citing in part medical concerns, a court filing shows.
Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, 39, who was detained at the Delaney Hall facility in Newark, died on Saturday following a "medical emergency," ICE said.
A protester ties a ribbon with the name of detainees on a fence outside of Delaney Hall detention center, after a Salvadoran immigrant, Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, who was being held inside died on Saturday, in Newark, New Jersey, August 3, 2026.
Ryan Murphy/Reuters
In a habeas petition filed on his behalf on July 24, attorney Ingrid Echeverria asked a judge to order the Department of Homeland Security to provide information about why Lopez-Cornejo was detained and to also prevent his transfer to another facility.
"If not, he at least asks that Respondents be required to give advance written notice before any transfer, identify the receiving facility, and ensure that his medications accompany him and are administered without interruption," the petition stated.
Echeverria outlined in the habeas petition several medications Lopez-Cornejo was taking at the time of his death that required a strict regimen, including ones to treat epilepsy, high blood pressure and other conditions. The filing does not mention any concerns that Lopez-Cornejo was not receiving his medication.
Since his death, family members have alleged medical neglect and have questioned if he was receiving proper care at Delaney Hall, noting that he complained of numbness on his face and arm the day before he died.
In the notice to lawmakers, ICE said Lopez-Cornejo received proper medical care and that staff at Delaney Hall "responded immediately" and called 911 during his medical emergency on Saturday. He was transported to a hospital, where ICE said he was pronounced dead.
The official cause of death remains pending further medical examination, ICE said. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in an interview Tuesday with NewsNation that Lopez-Cornejo died of cardiac arrest.
Maria Cornejo, second right, mother of Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, reacts during a news conference in Highland Park, New Jersey, Aug. 4, 2026.
Yuki Iwamura/AP Photo
Echeverría told ABC News she has several questions about his condition before his death.
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"What we want to know is what happened? When did he start feeling ill?" Echeverría said. "Should they have called the ambulance sooner?"
Lopez-Cornejo was taken into custody on June 18 in Plainfield, New Jersey, and had been detained at Delaney Hall "pending removal from the United States pursuant to a reinstatement of his prior removal order," ICE said in a statement.
ICE said Lopez-Cornejo illegally entered the country in August 2006 and was deported back to El Salvador a couple of months later.
According to the habeas petition, he re-entered the United States in 2007 and later applied for asylum. Exhibits filed with his petition show he had a work permit that expired in 2025 and that he had a pending request for renewal as of June 2025.
Several friends and employers wrote to the judge asking for his release, records show, with one former employer describing Lopez-Cornejo as a hard worker.
"It was his good nature, altogether, that defined him as not just a good employee, but a good person, he was always kind, smiling, well mannered, and always in a good mood," the former employer said in a letter of support written exactly one month before Lopez-Cornejo died.
