New Jersey religious activists call for investigation after ICE detainee’s death

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Citing a Freedom of Information Act request by Scripps News, the advocate statement said there were 12 emergency calls to Delaney Hall between Sept. 1 and Nov. 17, and argued that ICE’s decision to post public notice of Brutus’ death a week after it occurred underscores ongoing concerns about oversight and accountability.

Kathy O’Leary, a leader of Pax Christi New Jersey, a Catholic peace organization, said she is typically present outside Delaney Hall three to four days a week and was there the night of Dec. 11, but left before the incident unfolded.

“When I was there, there were people coming up to us, people who had some kind of connection to inside the building, who were really concerned about a man who, several nights before, had a seizure and had to have an emergency tracheotomy performed on him,” O’Leary said. “This is also not the first time that we’ve heard of seizures inside the building.”

O’Leary said a network of volunteers documented facility events in real time through photos, videos and a group chat. Advocates said they first became aware of ICE’s public notice of the death on Dec. 19, and released their statement the same day.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Religious leaders said the death raises serious moral questions about responsibility and how human life is valued inside detention. Sister Susan Francois, a Catholic sister who regularly volunteers outside Delaney Hall and documents her witness on TikTok, said Brutus’ death “was inevitable.” 

“I’ve heard from the visiting family members that many regular medical conditions are not treated promptly and not treated well,” she said. “So, I think it was going to be inevitable.”

“I think that we need to raise the moral outrage,” Francois added. “The fact that they waited — he died a week ago. They waited until a holiday weekend to release the news with this very un-Christian, un-human demonizing of this gentleman.”

The Rev. Shannon Smythe, a Presbyterian minister who volunteers outside Delaney Hall, said she hopes Brutus’ death forces political leaders to intervene. “I hope it’s a turning point, but we need people with power who can stop this and say, get GEO out of our state. Get it out of Newark,” she said. “We need those people with power to speak up, as activists and clergy and people with basic moral consciences have been.”

O’Leary said that honoring Brutus’ dignity means refusing to let him become anonymous. “I think it’s important that we use his name and not talk about him only as ‘the man who died,’” O’Leary said. “We need to recognize his humanity … we need to remember he was a person.”

Delaney Hall reopened earlier this year under a long-term federal contract and has been the subject of protests, legal disputes and repeated allegations from advocates about dangerous and dehumanizing conditions. 

Francois said witnessing families suffer outside the facility has heightened her concern and faithful devotion. Of visitors who wait in a shed-like structure at the facility to visit inmates, she said, “I cannot help but think about how there was no room at the inn for Jesus.”