A New Jersey mother said she learned her son, who was being held in ICE custody, was dead only after a Newark hospital called to identify his body.
Two Bronx representatives say they’re now working together to ensure that never happens to another family. On Thursday, Reps. Ritchie Torres and George Latimer plan to introduce the Families Deserve to Know Act.
The representatives drafted the legislation after New Jersey father Edwin Cornejo died on Aug. 1, approximately six weeks after he was taken into ICE custody. Prior to his detention at Newark’s Delaney Hall, Cornejo’s relatives said he had been living in the United States for two decades, where he worked multiple jobs to support his family.
His mother, María Cornejo, told Spectrum Noticias there is a “wound in [her] heart that will never heal.”
If passed, the Families Deserve to Know Act, first shared exclusively with Spectrum News, would require ICE to record detainees’ emergency contacts and notify them of deaths and serious illnesses within 12 hours.
“I think the rightness of it is so obvious it almost requires no explanation. Families have a right to know when their loved ones die, especially in the custody of the government,” said Torres.
A document obtained by Spectrum News shows current ICE policy is to notify relevant parties of deaths “to the extent possible.”
“It’s not a law. It’s simply a requirement that exists on paper, but not in practice. And we know from experience that ICE and the Trump administration at large has no regard for the rules,” said Torres.
Cornejo, 39, is one of three detainees to die in or after being held at Delaney Hall since it reopened last year. His family says he was a diabetic with high blood pressure and believe he was fatally deprived of appropriate medical care while in detention.
“There is only one doctor for nearly 900 detainees. The staffing shortage is so extreme that it effectively deprives the detainees of their right to health care,” stated Torres.
The 1,000-bed privately operated ICE contracted facility has been the site and subject of several demonstrations, including a Tuesday press conference where House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries promised detainees families’ that, “‘We will get this situation turned around, and we will make sure that there’s justice for your loved ones who have been killed or died in custody.”
ICE issued a statement on Aug. 3, two days after Cornejo’s death. The release stated that the agency notified his family and other appropriate parties of his death.
It also claimed that proper medical care was provided. Spectrum News contacted the agency for clarification, and as of Tuesday evening, ICE had not responded.