NEW YORK, CMC – Democratic Congresswoman, Yvette D. Clarke, has condemned the death of a Haitian national in the custody of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.
Last week, ICE said Jean Wilson Brutus, a 41-year-old “criminal illegal national from Haiti”, who was detained at its Delaney Hall Detention Facility in Newark, New Jersey, died on December 12 from “suspected natural causes”.
ICE said Brutus entered its custody on December 11 after he was released from Union County Jail in Elizabeth, New Jersey, following his arrest for “criminal mischief, property damage.”
Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants who represents the 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn, New York, toured the Delaney Hall Detention Facility with her Congressional colleagues, Rob Menendez and LaMonica McIver.
“Congressional oversight is essential to preventing and ending the abuses at Delaney Hall and within other detention facilities nationwide,” Clarke, who also chairs the Congressional Black Caucus, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) afterwards.
“No human being deserves to suffer the conditions we witnessed behind the veil of Donald Trump’s deportation machine, today. While the state of this facility was shocking, it was not unexpected.
“This administration and its ICE enforcers have demonstrated nothing but cruelty through their xenophobic and inhumane immigration policies that disproportionately target blue states and have swept up immigrants and US citizens alike, often without due process, before they are funneled into detention facilities designed to strip them of their dignity and expose them to serious harm.”
She said Jean Wilson Brutus should still be alive today and that this administration’s “despicable response to this tragedy and their total lack of transparency speaks volumes and tells us everything we need to know about how ICE views the human beings in its care.
“Let me be clear: Any death in the custody of the United States federal government is the responsibility of our government and the administration that leads it. With four reported deaths in ICE custody in recent weeks and a record number since this administration took power, it is an insult to call this incident isolated.”
The US legislator said that “being undocumented should not be a death sentence.
“I will continue to demand accountability and closely monitor the situation as we learn more. Seeing so many faces that look just like my own and those of my constituents was heartbreaking and will stay with me for all time.
“Every day, this administration’s actions are rotting the soul of America. It is time to remember that we are better than these horrors. Our nation reaches its most incredible heights when guided by our hearts, compassion, and a moral obligation to our neighbors in need.
“That is why my home of New York City will remain a sanctuary city to the oppressed and powerless. Our doors will always be open to those seeking refuge and safety, and they will always be closed to Donald Trump and his agents of hatred,” Clarke said.
ICE claimed that Brutus also had multiple prior arrests for criminal trespassing.
“While at Delaney Hall Detention Facility, he experienced a medical emergency, and local Emergency Medical Services was called,” it said. “EMS (Emergency Medical Services) performed life-saving measures and transported Brutus to University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, and later the hospital pronounced him deceased on December 12.”
ICE said Brutus entered the United States illegally on June 20, 2023, at the Hidalgo Port of Entry in Hidalgo, Texas.
He was then paroled into the United States, pending immigration proceedings, ICE said.
Between July 2024 and October 2024, ICE said the Elizabeth Police Department (EPD) in Elizabeth, Newark, arrested Brutus for criminal trespassing three times.
ICE said EPD released him into the community all three times, and on November 19, he was arrested for criminal trespassing. This charge is currently pending.
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