Story perspectives

N.J. AG Probes GEO Detention Center in Newark After Death

8/8/2026

Summary

Davenport Launches Probe

New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport launched a civil-rights probe of the GEO Group-run Delaney Hall center in Newark.
The Division on Civil Rights issued subpoenas to probe medical-care violations after the Aug. 1, 2026 death of 41-year-old Salvadoran Edwin Lopez-Cornejo.
Governor Mikie Sherrill condemned GEO Group and ICE for blocking health inspections, urged the facility’s closure, and said the site has faced hunger strikes and protests over alleged spoiled food.

Summary

ICE Conceals Deaths

ICE’s policy, announced earlier this year, excludes deaths within 30 days of a discretionary release, so the July death at Delaney Hall was not reported to Congress.
ICE reports 55 deaths in 2025 and a record-high 22 deaths so far in 2026, the highest annual totals since the U.S. President Donald Trump administration began.
A DHS spokesperson said ICE provides comprehensive medical care from arrival and never denies emergency care.

History

Historical Context

In August 2016 Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates announced the Justice Department would end its Bureau of Prisons contracts with for-profit operators after a safety review deemed them less safe than federal facilities. That precedent underlies the 2023 New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport’s civil-rights probe of GEO Group’s Delaney Hall, a facility that reflects the roughly 8 % of U.S. inmates housed in private prisons.

1 of 3

Davenport Launches Probe

New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport launched a civil-rights probe of the GEO Group-run Delaney Hall center in Newark.
The Division on Civil Rights issued subpoenas to probe medical-care violations after the Aug. 1, 2026 death of 41-year-old Salvadoran Edwin Lopez-Cornejo.
Governor Mikie Sherrill condemned GEO Group and ICE for blocking health inspections, urged the facility’s closure, and said the site has faced hunger strikes and protests over alleged spoiled food.

1 / 3