Household calls for solutions after ICE detainee’s loss of life – NBC New York

The household of the person who died earlier this month whereas in Immigrations and Customs Enforcement custody at Newark’s Delaney Corridor says it desires solutions about how he died sooner or later after he was taken into custody.

In an unique interview with NBC New York, Jean Wilson Brutus’ cousin says Brutus did not have any medical issues earlier than being taken into custody. “We haven’t had some form of closure surrounding his loss of life,” Evans Belony informed Information 4’s Axel Turcios. It is one thing Belony says he and his household are nonetheless attempting to course of. “He was like a beloved one, that all of us beloved, he was like a brother.”

ICE confirmed on Thursday day that the 41-year-old Haitian man died Dec. 12, after experiencing “a medical emergency.” “He didn’t have any medical circumstances beforehand and he entered into ICE custody wholesome,” mentioned Belony.

The Delaney Corridor immigration facility has already made headlines a number of instances this yr. In Could, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested there, accused of trespassing and launched shortly after. The mayor has mentioned he couldn’t discuss his case, citing a promise he made to legal professionals and the choose.

Baraka launched a press release saying Brutus’ passing was “distressing, and brings up a number of disturbing questions.”

On Saturday, advocates had been outdoors the detention middle, holding indicators calling for Delaney Corridor to be shut down. “We do need transparency, we do need accountability, we do need justice,” Belony mentioned.

In a press release, ICE mentioned partially “Whereas at Delaney Corridor Detention Facility, he skilled a medical emergency and native Emergency Medical Companies was known as. EMS carried out life-saving measures and transported Brutus to College Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, and later the hospital pronounced him deceased.” The assertion provides, “He had no indicators of misery throughout consumption nor a medical historical past of cardiovascular points.”

ICE says Brutus was apprehended after he was launched from the Union County jail in Elizabeth, New Jersey, following an arrest for legal mischief — injury to property. Federal officers additionally declare the person had a number of prior arrests for legal trespassing. “By way of the prior arrests, we didn’t know something,” Belony informed Information 4.

ICE additionally says Brutus entered the U.S. on June 20, 2023, and that he was paroled into the nation, pending immigration proceedings. “He got here into the nation looking for asylum,” mentioned Belony. “And he was underneath our care.”

Belony says his cousin was coping with the lack of his mom. “He grew to become very depressed and really unhappy.”

“The basic difficulty on this case is that Jean Wilson Brutus was taken into ICE custody alive and turned out lifeless,” mentioned household legal professional Joseph Makhandal Champagne. “Figuring out that he got here in alive, realizing that he got here in properly, with none indicators of medical misery or points.”

Champagne tells Information 4 that he and Brutus’ household are exploring all authorized avenues which might be applicable on this case.