Overview:
A 41-year-old Haitian man detained at Delaney Corridor in Newark died at some point after getting into ICE custody. The dying of Jean Wilson Brutus has prompted renewed calls from immigrant advocates and lawmakers for transparency and accountability on the privately-run detention middle.
A 41-year-old Haitian man who was detained at an immigration jail in Newark died at some point after he was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to the agency. The Dec. 12 dying of Jean Wilson Brutus from “pure causes,” ICE stated in a information assertion, is the second reported fatality of a Haitian citizen within the company’s custody this 12 months and raises questions from advocates.
Whereas at Delaney Corridor in Newark, he skilled a “medical emergency,” the company stated in a press release. Emergency companies have been known as, and Brutus was transported to College Hospital in Newark, the place he was pronounced useless on Dec. 12, in accordance with ICE.
“There’s quite a lot of questions that we’d like solutions to,” Kathy O’Leary, an activist who usually holds vigils outdoors the detention middle, instructed an area information outlet, the New Jersey Monitor.
“Was he on medicine that he wasn’t getting? Was he not given the proper medicine? That’s one thing we regularly hear,” O’Leary stated. “It’s fairly uncommon to have a pure dying at 41, so there’s quite a lot of questions on what occurred and the way he acquired there.”
Earlier arrests, then a remaining detention
ICE stated Brutus entered the U.S. by way of Texas in 2023. He was then paroled into the US, pending immigration proceedings.
In accordance with their account relayed within the Monitor report, the Elizabeth Police Division arrested and launched Brutus 4 occasions between July 2024 and November 2025 for felony trespassing. Immigration officers lodged a detainer and notified native police that they supposed to take Brutus into federal custody, the company stated. Brutus was later launched from the Union County jail with out ICE being notified, in accordance with the assertion.
ICE stated Brutus was arrested once more on Nov. 28 on two counts of felony mischief and launched regardless of the detainer, they stated.
It’s unclear whether or not he was convicted of any of the fees.
Immigration authorities arrested Brutus a remaining time on Dec. 11 and transferred him to Delaney Corridor. Whereas there, he skilled a medical emergency and native Emergency Medical Companies was known as.
The company stated Brutus had proven no indicators of misery throughout consumption and had no documented medical historical past of cardiovascular points. They attributed the dying to “pure causes.”
O’Leary instructed The Monitor she was current when an ambulance arrived on the facility the week of Brutus’ dying. She stated she heard guards discussing a medical emergency over their walkie-talkies. The ambulance was delayed leaving the property as a result of a van was dropping off new detainees, she stated. Nevertheless, she stated, she didn’t be taught of Brutus’ dying till ICE launched its assertion. Thus, her questions.
Amy Torres, govt director of the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, criticized ICE for utilizing its announcement of Brutus’ dying to focus largely on the crimes he was accused of committing.
“Nothing that’s listed in that press launch quantities to one thing that ought to turn out to be a dying sentence. And but, that’s what occurred to him as quickly as he was in ICE custody,” Torres instructed the Monitor.
Jail identified for troubles since opening
The dying marks the primary reported fatality of a detainee at Delaney Corridor because it opened earlier this 12 months. One of many largest immigration detention facilities within the nation, it has made many headlines this 12 months.
The primary new immigrant jail introduced through the second Trump administration, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested there in Might on a trespassing cost that was later dropped. Rep. LaMonica McIver is going through expenses associated to an alleged assault on federal brokers throughout Baraka’s arrest.
Final week, Sen. Cory Booker stated in a press release that he’s “deeply involved” about Brutus’ dying and reiterated his opposition to non-public detention facilities.
“There have to be a transparent accounting of what occurred on this tragedy, and Delaney Corridor have to be closed in order that this stain might be faraway from our neighborhood of Newark,” Booker stated.
McIver known as Brutus’ dying an “outrage” and echoed requires extra transparency about his detention and medical care. She additionally stated the power must be shut down.
“This tragedy isn’t an remoted incident, and now we have seen neglect, abuse and cruelty from this administration as they strip folks of the rights this nation affords everybody, together with these in detention,” McIver stated. “This incident calls for quick solutions.”
Haitian girl died earlier whereas in ICE detention this 12 months
The dying can be the second identified fatality of a Haitian nationwide in ICE custody that the company has reported this 12 months, in accordance with its Detainee Death Reporting page. On the location itemizing the names of immigrants who don’t go away federal detention alive, the company lists Marie Ange Blaise, 44.
Her time in federal immigration custody started on Feb. 12, when Customs and Border Safety (CBP) detained her within the U.S. Virgin Islands whereas she was attempting to board a flight to Charlotte, North Carolina. CBP charged her with “removability,” and took Blaise to an area hospital for elevated blood strain.
Over the next two months, Blaise was transferred to 4 different detention services—the ICE Enforcement and Elimination Operations (ERO) facility in San Juan, Puerto Rico, one other in Miami, the Richwood Correctional Middle (RCC) in Oakdale, Los Angeles, and a fourth, the Broward Transitional Middle (BTC), in Pompano Seashore by April.
Blaise fell additional into sickness throughout that point. In accordance with the ICE report of her demise, she refused to adjust to orders to take medicine whilst her circumstances worsened and to eat. She died April 25.
Immigration advocates, together with the Haitian Bridge Alliance, known as for solutions in her dying.