The family of a 41-year-old Salvadoran man who died Saturday at an immigration detention center in New Jersey is claiming that medical negligence is to blame for his death.“It isn’t fair that he died this way,” Maria Cornejo, the mother of Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, said at a news conference held Tuesday by family members.Lopez-Cornejo, who was the father of a 12-year-old U.S.-citizen daughter, suffered from several underlying health conditions, including epilepsy, high blood pressure and diabetes, according to his family.
He was dependent on several medications to keep his conditions under control, the family said.Citing conversations they had with Lopez-Cornejo from detention before he died, the family said that staff at Delaney Hall, the immigration detention center in Newark where Lopez-Cornejo was being held, failed to adequately administer his medications and his condition.“He was treated horribly,” Ashley Lopez, Lopez-Cornejo’s daughter, said amid tears during the news conference.
“I’m going to grow up without a father — we had so many plans.” A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security and another for GEO Group, which operates Delaney Hall, referred NBC News to ICE’s previous statement when asked Tuesday about the allegations made by Lopez-Cornejo’s family about medical negligence.“While in custody, Lopez-Cornejo received proper medical care and was seen by medical professionals,” the statement reads.ICE officers arrested Lopez-Cornejo on June 18 in Plainfield, New Jersey, while he was on his way to work.Pro-immigrant activists gather outside Delaney Hall Detention Facility in Newark, N.J., on Monday following the death of Edwin Lopez-Cornejo.Selcuk Acar / Anadolu via Getty ImagesICE notified the public of Lopez-Cornejo’s death on Monday, as required per the agency’s policy.
In its statement, ICE said Lopez-Cornejo suffered “a medical emergency while in ICE custody.”ICE said personnel from GEO Group “responded i...