Andrew J. Whelton
Dr. Whelton is nationally recognized environmental engineer. Dr. Whelton has applied his unique skill set for 20 years to uncover and address problems at the interface of infrastructure materials, the environment, and public health. Topics pertaining to disaster response and recovery as well as construction site safety are just two of many topics his research has impacted. Dr. Whelton team's discoveries have positively changed how government agencies (EPA, CDC, NRC, NIOSH, NIST, ARMY), water utilities, nonprofit organizations, health departments, state legislatures, and building owners approach their responsibilities. Before joining Purdue University, he served on the faculty at the University of South Alabama, and worked for the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) Building Fire Research Laboratory, Virginia Tech, U.S. Army, and private engineering consulting firms. A hallmark of his work is direct engagement with communities at risk. His teams have established technical support centers and websites (www.PlumbingSafety.org; www.CIPPSafety.org) to make discoveries accessible to the public and communities of interest. He earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering, M.S. in Environmental Engineering, and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech.
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Watch the two thinkers talk about Raboteau’s book, which discusses the work of religious figures such as Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton and Martin Luther King, Jr.
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We need a progressive politics that shows solidarity with all victims of military violence — while resisting the militarism of our own government.
“An ICE Murder”: Gabriela Soto Says She Miscarried While Husband Was Detained in Solitary
In the wake of a third ICE death at the Delaney Hall ICE jail in Newark, New Jersey, we speak with Gabriela Soto, whose husband Martín was one of the leaders of the May hunger strike at the immigration jail. Martín was transferred to Elizabeth Detention Center, New Jersey’s other ICE facility, during the hunger strike at Delaney. Gabriela is calling for the closure of both facilities.
“At first, I was fighting for my husband, but then I started to meet all of these people who are just innocent, and they are the people that make this country great,” says Soto, who blames her recent miscarriage on the stress of her husband being detained. “I am still grieving,” she says. “To me, this is an ICE murder, too.”
This comes as Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, a Salvadoran immigrant, died Saturday after being held for six weeks at Delaney Hall. He is the third immigrant to die at the ICE jail, which has been open since May 2025. Lopez-Cornejo’s mother, Maria Cornejo, says her son took medicine to manage diabetes, seizures and his blood pressure, but had not received his medications regularly since being detained. ICE said in a statement that Lopez-Conejo experienced a “medical emergency” on Saturday and was transported to University Hospital in Newark, but Maria Cornejo says her son died at Delaney Hall.
More than 70 people inside the ICE jail have filed lawsuits alleging medical neglect. That neglect was one of the factors that led to the hunger strike. “Individuals are not receiving the kind of healthcare that they in fact need, particularly for chronic health conditions, for pregnancies, for cancers,” says Analilia Mejía, Democratic congressmember from New Jersey. “Being undocumented should not be a death sentence.”
Dear Joe
The time has come for a coalition, and that means being open, and honest, and doing the best for the country. So do it.