A Guatemalan immigrant, José Chajón-Raxón, has died after suffering a medical emergency while detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey, according to the Trump administration. This makes him the third immigrant to die after being held at the ICE detention centre, which reopened in May 2025 amidst the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated that a nurse responded to Chajón-Raxón experiencing “seizure-like activity” and that he was transported to a hospital. ICE agents had arrested him on July 18, and he was “released from ICE custody on July 22,” the agency said. The DHS account did not provide further details on the circumstances of his release, what happened after he arrived at the hospital, or the exact time of his death.
ICE policy dictates that the agency is no longer responsible for monitoring or reviewing deaths once an individual is no longer in custody. This follows a policy shift earlier this year where the agency stopped reporting deaths occurring within 30 days of release, reversing a 2021 Biden administration policy. US representative Rob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, has criticised this change, stating it creates a “loophole” allowing the agency to avoid investigating deaths or informing Congress and the public.
Chajón-Raxón’s death became public after Menendez disclosed it last week. Delaney Hall has faced scrutiny over two other deaths: Edwin López-Cornejo, who died earlier this month, and Jean Wilson Brutus, who died in December. Rights groups have raised concerns about medical care and conditions in detention facilities, with over 50 deaths in ICE custody nationwide since Donald Trump took office.