NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — U.S. immigration officials said Wednesday that they didn’t publicly disclose the death of a Guatemalan man who had a seizure at a New Jersey detention center because they weren’t notified that he died after they sent him to the hospital.
Jose Chajon-Raxon had the seizure July 19, a day after being processed into Delaney Hall, a privately run immigration jail in Newark, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. DHS officials said Chajon-Raxon was “taken to the hospital and released from ICE custody on July 22.”
The department didn’t say what happened after he went to the hospital, when he died, or whether he was released from the hospital before his death.
“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. This is common sense," the DHS statement said.
This is part of a policy change announced earlier this year in which the agency no longer reports deaths that occur within 30 days of someone’s release from custody. The move rescinds a 2021 policy implemented by the Biden administration.
U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat who has routinely visited Delaney Hall, said the policy change creates a “loophole” where the agency can release someone from its custody and then “claim it has no responsibility to investigate their death or inform Congress and the public.”
“ICE — consistent with the entire ethos of the Trump Administration — is dead set on avoiding public scrutiny and taking any accountability for its failures," he said.
DHS said in the statement that ICE “remains committed to transparency regarding detainee deaths.”
Chajon-Raxon's death first became publicly known when it was disclosed by Menendez last week following the death of another detainee in early August.
He told reporters that ICE granted the person a “discretionary release” from custody after they were taken to a hospital and lost consciousness, and the person died shortly afterward. At the time, he did not identify the person.
In recent months, Delaney Hall has been the site of fierce protests by immigration advocates, with demonstrators at times attempting to block vehicles from entering or leaving the facility. Earlier this year, some people held at the jail launched a hunger strike over the conditions, according to Cosecha, an immigrant advocacy group.
The facility is owned by Geo Group, a private prison contractor that operates multiple detention centers across the country. The contractor didn't not immediately respond to email from The Associated Press requesting comment.
FILE - Law enforcement officers kettle protesters outside Delaney Hall detention center Sunday, May 31, 2026, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Gray, File)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — First responders rescued more people from floodwaters Wednesday as utility crews cleared trees and wires downed by severe storms in the Midwest that unleashed tornadoes, heavy rains and flash flooding, leaving hundreds of thousands of customers without electricity.
A 4-year-old boy was killed when a tree fell on a home in Geneva, Indiana, during Tuesday's storms, the Jennings County Sheriff's Office said. In Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine said a resident of Roseville died during a health emergency when first responders, faced with flooded roads, couldn’t reach them. Officials in Portage, Indiana, were investigating whether the severe weather played a role in a reported house explosion that killed a person.
Lightning struck a prison complex southwest of Cleveland on Tuesday, injuring 16 incarcerated people who were hospitalized, according to the Ohio Department of Corrections. DeWine said four remained hospitalized as of Wednesday, including one with severe injuries.
Storm damage was reported from the Chicago area all the way to western Pennsylvania. Three tornadoes in counties south of Chicago were confirmed by the National Weather Service.
Flood warnings on Wednesday stretched from northern Illinois to eastern Indiana, and there were flash flood watches from Indiana to parts of Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee, the weather service said.
“Severe thunderstorm and heavy rainfall threats continue across the Plains, Midwest, Ohio Valley, and central Appalachians the next couple of days,” it said.
Authorities in Ohio and western Pennsylvania reported numerous water rescues. DeWine sent 40 Ohio Army National Guard members to help in two counties east of Columbus and he said dozens of local departments also responded to help, including from West Virginia.
Floodwaters barged into Kaitlyn Rodgers’ home in Crooksville, Ohio, early Tuesday morning, reaching knee deep as it stranded her and her husband and four children. With the currents too strong to make it out themselves, they were rescued by firefighters in a boat in the predawn darkness.
“Water just started pouring into the house,” she said. “Because of my house being very old, when the water was coming up I was very worried about the electric outlets that were on the floor, because there was water literally coming out of them, so I was afraid that my children were going to get shocked.”
In Athens County, Ohio, nearly 300 people called 911 for help on Tuesday, including 42 involving vehicles stuck in floods, with more calls Wednesday as high waters flowed toward the Ohio River, said the emergency management director, Teresa Fouts-Imler.
DeWine surveyed the hardest hit areas by helicopter on Wednesday and called the extent of the flooding “stunning.”
“These communities have been hit exceedingly hard in a historic way,” DeWine said during an afternoon news conference from Perry County. “They’ve been hit before with water challenges, but this is certainly the worst.”
More than 650,000 customers were without power Wednesday afternoon in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia, according to poweroutage.us.
Columbus, Ohio-based American Electric Power was still surveying the damage but had already identified more than 100 broken poles, some 650 downed wire spans and another 85 entangled with trees. About 76,000 of its customers remained without power, even after crews had restored electricity for 135,000, it said Wednesday.
To give Ohio's capital city time to grapple with power outages and cleanup, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther declared an emergency Wednesday.
Photos posted on social media from the Chicago area and across the state line in Indiana showed flooded roads, trees tangled in power lines and homes with gashes in their roofs.
“No power. It was very scary. We were down in the basement,” said Javid Jenkins of Homewood, a Chicago suburb. “We’re built for snow. We’re built for cold. We’re not built for this.”
Jenkins, 54, was driving around for gas to fire up a generator to preserve food in his refrigerator.
Forecasters said a wind gust of 99 mph (159 kph) was recorded in Gary, Indiana. Elsewhere there were numerous reports of gusts of 80 mph (128 kph) or more at personal weather stations.
Preliminary information indicated that the intense system that swept from Iowa into Indiana over several hours qualified as a derecho, the weather service's Storm Prediction Center said Tuesday evening. Derechos are prolonged straight-line windstorms that unleash heavy rainfall and travel far. The damage they cause is sometimes comparable to the destructive forces of tornadoes or hurricanes.
“Total devastation. No roof,” said Kerry Hourigan, standing outside her home of 25 years in Tinley Park, another Chicago suburb. “Stupid thing, but my focus was I just bought a new barbecue grill, and I have no idea where that is. It’s disappeared.”
Dayton, Ohio, set a daily rainfall record with 2.07 inches (5.25 cm), shattering a mark set in 1915, the weather service said.
Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut. Associated Press writers Sudhin Thanawala in Atlanta and John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia, contributed.
A car is destroyed and homes damaged by part of an oak tree downed by severe storms Tuesday, is seen in Cincinnati on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Flood waters cover several yards in Crooksville, Ohio, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Remaining floodwater covers a portion of Roseville, Ohio, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Jim Koehler works with a chain saw to remove an oak tree damaged by severe storms on Tuesday, in his daughter's front yard in Cincinnati on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Crews work along Race Road among trees and power lines downed by severe storms on Tuesday, to restore power in Cincinnati on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Trees downed by severe storms from Tuesday, block access to a home and close parts of Main Street of Newtown Village in Cincinnati on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
A person inspects damage to homes from trees downed by severe storms on Tuesday, in Cincinnati on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
In this image made from video, damage caused by a strong storm is seen a home in Tinley Park, Ill., Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Laura Bargfeld)
A home is damaged after a storm in Tinley Park, Ill., Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Laura Bargfeld)
In this image made from video, a roof is damaged after a strong storm in Tinley Park, Ill., Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Laura Bargfeld)
Storm clouds move in over Paycor Stadium and practice fields during the Cincinnati Bengals' NFL football practice in Cincinnati, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Kerry Hourigan speaks on the phone after reviewing damage a storm caused to her home in Tinley Park, Ill., Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Laura Bargfeld)
