On December 12th, 2025 Jean Wilson Brutus, originally from Haiti, died from what U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials reported as “suspected natural causes.” This comes just one day after Brutus was captured and held captive at Delaney Hall in Newark, NJ. Weeks later, we are left with no clear answer from GEO Group, the Florida-based company that owns Delaney Hall, or ICE, about what happened to Brutus, and his family demands answers. Their lawyer stated that they are seeking
transparency, accountability, and the truth. That includes preservation of all evidence, a full and independent investigation into the cause and manner of death, and cooperation from all agencies and entities involved.
Community Movement Builders (CMB) Newark and the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) New York City / New Jersey Citywide Alliance extend our condolences to the family of Brutus and those who knew and loved him. Beyond condolences, we reinforce the demand for a thorough investigation into Brutus’ death by an independent party, and that all parties responsible for his untimely demise be held to account. In strong condemnation of Delaney Hall, we view its collapse as central to the defense of people(s)-centered human rights.
Even in death, ICE continued to violate Brutus’ dignity by repeatedly branding him as a “criminal illegal alien,” with emphasis on “multiple prior arrests for criminal trespassing” and “his arrest for criminal mischief.” The value of humanity is what fuels our work. All life has value and the ability to exist in a world free of oppression is a human right, a people(s)-centered human right. We choose to recognize Brutus’ humanity. Brutus leaves behind an 11-year-old son currently in Haiti. He was a devoted member of Tabernacle of God Church. We choose to remember him in the shadow of those who knew him. His loved ones speak of him being handy with home repairs, a lover of soccer, a jokester, and someone who tells great stories of his days in Haiti. Through targeted narrative revision, ICE officials seek to distance Brutus from his humanity. Just like the other 800+ captives held at Delaney Hall, Brutus is only being seen for the cash value in filling a bed. Our tax dollars are being sent directly to the capitalist shareholder pockets of companies such as GEO Group and CoreCivic—another large, for-profit prison company — both of which reported increases in profits in 2025. We reject violations of Brutus’ dignity by these ruling class, imperialist entities. We reject colonial domination that prioritizes profit over people's lives.
Brutus’ death reminds us of the inhumane conditions that captives are subject to at these detention facilities. Captives inside Delaney have spoken to government officials and noted that “Facility temperature is used as a weapon, illnesses going untreated for weeks, inadequate food portions, stolen commissary items, clothes taken and not returned, and phone calls blocked with no explanation”. To date, at least 30 captives in ICE detention centers have died over the last year, many of whom died under similar, ‘mysterious circumstances’. This is the highest number of deaths in ICE captivity since 2004, where 32 people died.
As we saw earlier this year from H.R. 1 or the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” $170 billion is being sent to “an immigration police force larger than most of the world’s militaries” while cuts are being made to critical health infrastructure such as Medicaid and other programs that provide material support every day. In Newark, we’ve seen pending cuts directly impact local food banks that feed hundreds of Newarkers like Treehouse Cares, and violence prevention programs like the Newark Community Street Team. The attacks on critical infrastructure are intentional and infringe upon Newarkers’ sovereignty and self-determination. Funds linked to the continued survival of Newarkers are being stolen! Money is being funneled to companies with no connection to the city—like GEO Group—without providing benefit to or requiring input from the local community in which their facility is located. No one in Newark—no matter how they get here—is disposable. Newark is not an imperialist dumping ground for Florida’s capitalist corporations to line their pockets while white supremacists in DC fulfill their fantasies of “ensuring safety.” CMB-Newark and BAP NYC/NJ understand self-determination as a key component of our people(s)-centered human rights. We define this as having the ability to govern our own destiny, control our communities, and create institutions that serve our people. Delaney Hall harms our people. It does not serve them.
Moreover, the tired, threadbare narrative of criminalization not only functions as a callous attempt to justify Brutus’s death in ICE custody, it also minimizes his life and obscures the imperial violence and violations of sovereignty that lie at the root of migration. Through the state's hyperfixation on alleged individual acts of criminal trespassing, the central role of the U.S. in invading, destabilizing, and occupying Jean Wilson Brutus’ homeland of Haiti is conveniently ignored. The presence and targeting of migrants in the U.S. is a direct result of the incessant imperialist trespassing of sovereign nations throughout Our Americas. We recognize and condemn this as a centuries old practice established by the Monroe Doctrine and now extended by the so-called “Trump Corollary.” As BAP National Co-Coordinator Erica Caines states, “the domestic police state and global imperialism are not separate entities but interconnected systems using the same logic of criminalization to manage populations and resources.”
We welcome the calls from various government officials such as Congresswoman LaMonica McIver and others to close Delaney Hall, but we demand more. There must be a tireless effort to shut down Delaney Hall immediately. Whether it is AIPAC-funded Senator Booker using the imperialist crisis in Haiti to evade a direct question about U.S. financing of the genocide in Gaza or it is Joe Biden siding with CoreCivic to pave the way for the reopening of Delaney Hall, the Democratic Party proves it cannot be trusted to protect anyone. They continue to show their hand as a clear enemy of our people(s)-centered human rights. As we stated before, this is
an opportunity to realize that organizers, community residents, and all concerned people should band together to build power that can only be obtained with organization. We must commit ourselves to creating a better community and a better world for all of the oppressed who live in it.
If we want to shut down Delaney Hall, and push ICE, GEO, and CoreCivic out of New Jersey, we must build collective and organized people power. We see these objectives as connected to a larger political vision of developing liberated zones where African / Black people can assert sovereignty, dignity, and their right to self-determination.
Forward ever, backward never!
No Compromise, No Retreat!
