A Guatemalan immigrant, Jose Chajon-Raxon, died after experiencing a medical emergency while held at Delaney Hall, an ICE detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, according to the Department of Homeland Security. He is the third immigrant to die after being held at the facility since it reopened in May 2025.
Third immigrant dies after detention at Delaney Hall ICE facility in New Jersey
A Guatemalan immigrant, Jose Chajon-Raxon, died after experiencing a medical emergency while held at Delaney Hall, an ICE detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, according to the Department of Homeland Security. He is the third immigrant to die after being held at the facility since it reopened in May 2025.
ICE agents arrested Chajon-Raxon and brought him to Delaney Hall on July 18, according to the agency. A nurse responding to a medical emergency observed him experiencing 'seizure-like activity,' DHS said, after which medical personnel were called and he was transported to a hospital. ICE said he was 'released from ICE custody on July 22' but did not provide details about the circumstances of his release.
DHS did not state what occurred after Chajon-Raxon arrived at the hospital, whether he left the hospital before his death, or exactly when he died. His death did not become publicly known until US Representative Rob Menendez disclosed it following the death of another immigrant connected to the facility.
The case follows a policy change announced earlier in 2026 under which ICE stopped reporting deaths occurring within 30 days after a person is released from custody, reversing a policy put in place by the Biden administration in 2021. DHS stated: '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.'
Two other immigrants previously detained at Delaney Hall have also died. Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, a man from El Salvador, died earlier in August after a medical emergency while in ICE detention at the facility. Jean Wilson Brutus, a Haitian man who had also been held at Delaney Hall, died in December.
More than 50 people have died in ICE custody nationwide since Donald Trump took office, according to Human Rights Watch. Delaney Hall has faced additional scrutiny over allegations including physical abuse by guards and spoiled food. In late May, at least 300 detainees organized a hunger and labor strike, and weeks later women in a separate unit launched a hunger strike, demanding facility improvements and the release of women younger than 21, women with medical conditions, and mothers.
- The source does not state what occurred after Chajon-Raxon arrived at the hospital.
- The source does not state whether Chajon-Raxon left the hospital before his death.
- The source does not state the exact date of Chajon-Raxon's death.
- The source does not state the circumstances under which Chajon-Raxon was released from ICE custody on July 22.
- The source does not state the cause of Chajon-Raxon's seizure-like activity or his prior medical history.
- The source does not include a response from Delaney Hall's operator or management regarding Chajon-Raxon's case specifically.
Read the original at The Guardian US