Immigrant Dies After Medical Emergency at NJ ICE Facility

A Guatemalan immigrant detained at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Newark, New Jersey, died in late July following a medical emergency, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The death was not publicly disclosed by ICE and only came to light when Rep. Rob Menendez (D-NJ) revealed it during an August 3 oversight visit to the facility, as NBC News reported.

Jose Chajon-Raxon was processed into the Delaney Hall detention facility on July 18, 2026, shortly after his arrest. The next day, a nurse witnessed him experiencing “seizure-like activity,” according to DHS. Emergency medical services were called immediately, and Chajon-Raxon was taken to University Hospital in Newark. He was “released from ICE custody on July 22” and died at the hospital in late July, though the exact date has not been disclosed.

Policy Change Creates Reporting Loophole

ICE was not notified of Chajon-Raxon’s death because he was no longer in agency custody when he died. The agency cited a policy change announced earlier in 2026 that rescinded a Biden-era requirement for ICE to report and investigate deaths of former detainees that occurred within 30 days of release. As Newsweek reported, the shift means ICE no longer reports deaths that occur after someone leaves custody, even if the death is directly related to their time in detention.

“Per ICE policy, when an individual is no longer in ICE custody then ICE will no longer be responsible for monitoring or reviewing deaths that may occur,” a DHS spokesperson said. “This is common sense. ICE is not responsible when an individual passes away weeks after leaving their custody.”

Critics argue the policy change creates a loophole that allows ICE to avoid accountability. Rep. Menendez, who has conducted multiple oversight visits to Delaney Hall, accused the agency of deliberately evading transparency. “ICE — consistent with the entire ethos of the Trump Administration — is dead set on avoiding public scrutiny and taking any accountability for its failures,” he said. “ICE purposely reversed a Biden-era policy to create a loophole in which it can ‘release’ someone from ICE custody and then claim it has no responsibility to investigate their death or inform Congress and the public.”

Third Death Connected to Delaney Hall

Chajon-Raxon’s death is the third connected to Delaney Hall since the facility reopened in May 2025 under a 15-year, $1 billion contract between ICE and GEO Group, the private prison company that operates the facility. In December 2025, Jean Wilson Brutus, a 41-year-old Haitian national, died one day after arriving at the facility. On August 1, 2026, Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, a 39-year-old Salvadoran immigrant from Plainfield, New Jersey, died after suffering a medical emergency at the facility. His family has alleged medical negligence, saying he was denied prescribed medications for diabetes, epilepsy, and high blood pressure, as NorthJersey.com reported.

Lopez-Cornejo’s mother, Maria Cornejo, told immigrant advocates that her son’s death was caused by negligence. “That is one of the reasons that I believe caused the death of my son, the negligence — that he wasn’t given his medication that he had to take,” she said.

Investigation and Calls for Closure

The deaths have intensified scrutiny of conditions at Delaney Hall, which has been the site of hunger strikes, protests, and allegations of spoiled food, medical neglect, and abuse. On August 7, New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport announced a civil rights investigation into the facility, issuing investigative subpoenas to GEO Group, as NJ Herald reported.

“New Jersey has both a legal and a moral duty to stand up for the civil rights of people within our state,” Davenport said. “For people who are held involuntarily, including by a private corporation like GEO Group, those rights include the right to humane treatment and adequate medical care.”

Gov. Mikie Sherrill has called for the facility to be closed, saying corporations “should not have the right to monetize imprisoning people while avoiding public accountability.” All nine Democratic members of New Jersey’s House delegation wrote to DHS and ICE demanding information about conditions at the facility, stating: “Three deaths, repeated allegations of medical neglect, restricted oversight, and less public transparency are a terrible track record of care for individuals in your custody.”

Broader Crisis in ICE Detention

Chajon-Raxon’s death comes amid a broader crisis in immigration detention. According to Common Dreams, more than 50 people have died in ICE custody since President Trump took office in January 2025. Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights reported 52 deaths between January 20, 2025, and June 4, 2026, describing the mortality rate as the highest seen in more than a decade.

The ACLU of New Jersey has called for the immediate closure of Delaney Hall and an end to immigration detention. “This tragedy is another devastating result of the rampant inhumane conditions at Delaney Hall and detention centers across the country, including the routine denial of proper medical care, sanitary conditions and food,” said Amol Sinha, executive director of the ACLU of New Jersey.

ICE maintains that detainees receive proper care. “All detainees are provided with proper meals certified by dieticians, as well as quality water, blankets, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers,” a spokesperson said. “In fact, ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens.”

What’s Next

The New Jersey Attorney General’s civil rights investigation into Delaney Hall is ongoing, and members of Congress continue to demand transparency from ICE and GEO Group. The question of whether the agency’s policy change on reporting deaths of released detainees will be reversed remains open, as does the broader debate over conditions in immigration detention facilities nationwide.