Another detainee has died at the Delaney Hall immigration facility in Newark, according to News 12 New Jersey. The family of Edwin Giovanni says ICE failed to tell them that he had died, and that they learned of it only after getting a call from the hospital and from his cellmate.
A Plainfield family is mourning the loss of 39-year-old Edwin Giovanni, the station reported. He had lived in the United States for 20 years before being taken into custody six weeks ago.
His mother told the station that she, her husband and Edwin's brother are distraught. She said she last spoke with Edwin by phone on Friday, and, through a translator, said he told her that half of his face was numb and so was his arm.
Giovanni suffered from high blood pressure and diabetes, and his mother questions whether he was receiving his medication, according to News 12. She said that early in the morning he saw a nurse or doctor inside the detention center who said he would do some exams and get back to him.
The family says a cellmate later told them that Giovanni suffered a medical emergency on Saturday, became unresponsive and was taken to University Hospital, where he later died, the station reported.
Giovanni's mother said she did not learn her son had died until Saturday afternoon, when she got a call from University Hospital saying she needed to identify his remains, according to News 12. She said she never got a call from the operator of the facility or from ICE, which has not responded to the station's requests for comment.
The station reported this is the second time a detainee has died at Delaney Hall, after a man died in December of last year following a medical episode 24 hours after arriving. An advocate said that across the country there have been more than 22 deaths in ICE custody, and that concerns about medical care have fueled repeated protests outside the facility.