SAN DIEGO, CMC – The California-based Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) is demanding “justice, transparency, and systemic change” following the death of Haitian national Jean Wilson Brutus in the custody of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.
ICE said late last week that Brutus, a 41-year-old “criminal illegal national from Haiti, who was detained at Delaney Hall Detention Facility in Newark, New Jersey, passed away on December 12 from “suspected natural causes.”
The immigration enforcement agency 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.”
But HBA Executive Director, Guerline Jozef, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) on Friday that her organisation “stands in solidarity with the family, loved ones, and community” of Brutus, who died just one day after entering ICE custody.
“According to family members, Brutus was healthy upon intake and had no known severe medical conditions before his detention; yet, he did not leave alive.
“This horrific death is not an aberration; it is yet another tragic reminder of the state-sanctioned violence inflicted upon immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers by the cruel immigration enforcement system,” she added.
Jozef said that far too many immigrants have died while in ICE custody, thanking Congressional Representatives LaMonica Mclver, Yvette D. Clarke, and Rob Menendez for conducting an oversight visit at Delaney Hall Detention Facility on Tuesday.
Jozef said HBA demands “a fully independent, impartial investigation into the circumstances of Jean Wilson Brutus’s death and all practices at Delaney Hall; immediate accountability for ICE, GEO Group, and any agents or contractors whose negligence or indifference may have contributed to this tragedy; (and) an end to the detention of asylum seekers and the abolition of punitive immigration enforcement structures that disproportionately harm Black migrants.”
In addition, she said HBA is demanding legislative action “to ensure humane treatment, oversight, and protections for all people seeking refuge in the United States.
“What happened to Mr. Jean Wilson Brutus is not just a medical failure — it is the predictable outcome of a carceral immigration system designed to warehouse Black and Brown bodies out of sight. Detention is not about safety; it is about control, profit, and racialized exclusion.
“When the state cages people for seeking protection, death becomes policy. We owe Jean’s family more than condolences. We owe them the truth, justice, and the dismantling of a system that keeps killing people,” Jozef added.
Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, who represents the 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn, New York, confirmed that she toured the Delaney Hall Detention Facility, saying 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 CMC afterwards, “No human being deserves to suffer the conditions we witnessed behind the veil of Donald Trump’s deportation machine, today.
“But while the state of this facility was shocking, it was not at all unexpected,” she added.
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.
On November 19, 2025, it said EPD arrested Brutus for the fourth time on criminal trespassing charges. This charge is currently pending. On the same day, ICE said its Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in Newark “encountered him while detained at the Union County Jail (NUCJ) in Elizabeth, New Jersey and lodged an immigration detainer.”
ICE said NUCJ subsequently released him without notifying it.
On November 28, 2025, ICE said EPD arrested Brutus for two counts of criminal mischief – damage property. Despite an immigration detainer, he was rereleased to the community, ICE said.
It said it arrested Brutus on December 11, 2025. When he entered its custody on that day, “he had no signs of distress during intake nor a medical history of cardiovascular issues.”
ICE said it notified the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General, ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility, and the Haitian consulate of Brutus’ death, as required by agency policy.
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