Reps. Torres and Latimer Introduce Families Deserve to Know Act, Legislation to Require ICE to Notify Families of Deaths and Medical Emergencies in Custody

Resources / In the News Share on Reps. Torres and Latimer Introduce Families Deserve to Know Act, Legislation to Require ICE to Notify Families of Deaths and Medical Emergencies in Custody Aug 13, 2026 In the News Press Public Safety Today, Rep. Ritchie Torres (NY-15) and Rep. George Latimer (NY-16) introduced the Families Deserve to Know Act, legislation that would require U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to notify a detainee’s family when their loved one dies, is hospitalized, or suffers a medical emergency in custody. The bill would also require ICE to report every death in custody to Congress and the public. Reps. Torres and Latimer introduced the bill after an oversight visit to Delaney Hall, the ICE detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, where Edwin Lopez-Cornejo died in ICE custody. His mother said she never heard from ICE. She learned what happened when a hospital called her, not to inform her of her son’s death, but to ask her to come identify his body. Currently, no federal law requires ICE to notify families when a detainee dies, is hospitalized, or suffers a medical emergency. The agency operates under an internal policy that promises notification only “to the extent possible.” That policy carries no legal force. ICE can rewrite it or rescind it at any time, and families have no recourse when it fails. The Families Deserve to Know Act would replace that hedge with a legal obligation. Notification would be documented and audited, and ICE would no longer be able to walk it back through a policy change. Contractors that fail to notify a family would be penalized for every day of silence, with no cap and no authority for the Secretary to waive, reduce, or reimburse it, and stand to lose the contract and be barred from federal detention work. The bill also creates a private right of action on the part of the family, allowing them to sue in federal court over the failure to notify. It gives the agency no additional funding and no new authority. It requires ICE to do one thing: tell a family when their loved one is dying, hospitalized, or dead. “A family’s right to know shouldn’t depend on ICE’s good will or an internal memo the agency can rewrite whenever it wants,” said Rep. Torres.” But that’s exactly what Edwin Lopez-Cornejo’s mother was left to rely on. She found out her son was dead because a hospital called and asked her to identify his body. Nobody at Delaney Hall ever told her. It’s a failure ICE shouldn’t be allowed to repeat, and it’s why this bill puts notification into law instead of leaving it to an agency’s discretion.” “I recently experienced the dehumanizing conditions at Delaney Hall, where detainees are being warehoused without proper sanitation and medical care,” said Rep. Latimer. “These conditions are the reason that Edwin Lopez-Cornejo’s family is without a father and husband today. Edwin’s family should have learned the status of his health from ICE, not from the hospital staff once it was too late. That is why I am introducing the Families Deserve to Know Act with my colleague Congressman Ritchie Torres, because immigrant families deserve accountability and transparency about the condition of their relatives in DHS custody.” The full bill text is attached as a PDF . ### Los congresistas Ritchie Torres y George Latimer presentan legislación que exigiría a ICE notificar a las familias de personas bajo su custodia sobre emergencias médicas WASHINGTON, D.C. — Hoy, el representante Ritchie Torres (NY-15) y el representante George Latimer (NY-16) presentaron el proyecto de ley “Las Familias Merecen Saber” (Families Deserve to Know Act), que exigiría al Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas de Estados Unidos (ICE, por sus siglas en inglés) notificar a la familia de una persona detenida cuando su ser querido fallezca, sea hospitalizado o sufra una emergencia médica bajo custodia. El proyecto de ley también exigiría a ICE informar al Congreso y al público sobre cada muerte ocurrida bajo custodia. Los representantes Torres y Latimer presentaron el proyecto de ley después de realizar una visita de supervisión a Delaney Hall, el centro de detención de ICE en Newark, Nueva Jersey, donde Edwin Lopez-Cornejo murió bajo custodia de ICE. Su madre dijo que nunca recibió una llamada de ICE. Se enteró de lo ocurrido cuando un hospital la llamó, no para informarle sobre la muerte de su hijo, sino para pedirle que acudiera a identificar su cuerpo. Actualmente, ninguna ley federal exige a ICE notificar a las familias cuando una persona detenida fallece, es hospitalizada o sufre una emergencia médica. La agencia opera bajo una política interna que promete notificar a las familias únicamente “en la medida de lo posible”. Esa política no tiene fuerza de ley. ICE puede modificarla o rescindirla en cualquier momento, y las familias no cuentan con ningún recurso cuando la agencia no cumple con ella. El proyecto de ley “Las Familias Merecen Saber” reemplazaría esa ambigüedad con una