WASHINGTON — A third detainee who was held at Delaney Hall has died after suffering a medical emergency, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security confirmed Wednesday.
Jose Chajon-Raxon, an immigrant from Guatemala arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement July 18 for being in the U.S. without legal status, had been treated for “seizure-like activity” a day later.
The agency said Chajon-Raxon received “proper medical care” at Delaney before being taken to the hospital. He was released from ICE custody July 22, DHS said. The statement did not say when he died.
The incident likely will serve to inflame tensions between ICE and New Jersey Democratic lawmakers, who have protested the conditions they say inmates are being held under and demanded that Delaney Hall be shut down.
“ICE is killing people on American streets and in detention centers across the country,” said Rep. Rob Menendez (D-Jersey City). “They can try to evade accountability, but the American people deserve answers and transparency, which is exactly what I intend to deliver alongside my House Democratic colleagues.”
Menendez joined Rep. Analilia Mejia (D-Glen Ridge) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) at a press conference Tuesday to talk about the treatment of detainees at Delaney Hall, which reopened in 2025 as President Donald Trump began fulfilling a campaign pledge to deport immigrants who were not authorized to live or work in the U.S.
The state’s attorney general, Jennifer Davenport, announced last week that she had begun a civil rights investigation of Delaney Hall.
DHS said it was not notified of his death until now.
“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,” DHS said in a statement. “This is common sense. ICE is not responsible when an individual passes away weeks after leaving their custody.”
Menendez said the incident showed that “ICE — consistent with the entire ethos of the Trump administration — is dead set on avoiding public scrutiny and taking any accountability for its failures.”
“ICE purposely reversed a Biden-era policy to create a loophole in which it can ‘release’ someone from ICE custody and then claim it has no responsibility to investigate their death or inform Congress and the public,” the lawmaker said.
DHS called on immigrants in the country illegally to take the government’s offer of $2,600 and a free flight if they voluntarily leave the U.S.
“Being in detention is a choice,” the agency said. “We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right legal way to live the American dream. If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return.”
