Booker Seeks Delaney Hall Closure Within 90 Days After 3 Detainee Deaths
Updated
Updated · WPVI-TV · Aug 7
Booker Seeks Delaney Hall Closure Within 90 Days After 3 Detainee Deaths
3 articles · Updated · WPVI-TV · Aug 7
Summary
Cory Booker asked the Senate to pass a Delaney Hall Closure Act that would shut the Newark immigration detention center within 90 days.
A third detainee death drove the demand: Rep. Rob Menendez said the man suffered a seizure after arriving at Delaney Hall, received a discretionary ICE release, and later died in a hospital.
Menendez said it took 2 weeks to confirm that death and that he learned of it only during an unannounced oversight visit after another detainee, Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, died.
All 9 New Jersey Democratic members of Congress have asked DHS and ICE to account for the 3 deaths, while DHS has not publicly addressed Menendez's report.
The dispute also turns on custody rules: ICE must disclose deaths in its custody, but the agency can argue the third death fell outside that requirement because it occurred after release.