Judge blocks deportation after New York ICE shooting

A federal judge has barred Immigration and Customs Enforcement from deporting Oscar Belgal after he was shot and arrested during an enforcement operation in Marble Hill, New York City, on October 8. Belgal, a 28-year-old Dominican national, remained in custody after being transferred to Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, while the Bronx district attorney investigated the shooting.²⁴

Shooting and arrest

Immigration enforcement agents attempted to arrest Belgal at about 4pm near 225th Street and Marble Hill Avenue, according to SBS News. Agents surrounded a vehicle carrying Belgal and a five-year-old child before firing multiple rounds. SBS reported that seven shots were fired towards the vehicle and that Belgal suffered a neck wound below his ear before being taken to hospital. The child was reported unharmed.¹²

The Guardian reported that an ICE officer shot Belgal in the neck and that he was arrested afterward. Federal officers said they had not known a child was in the vehicle when they fired. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said that “the man attempted to flee from enforcement despite knowing the child was on board”.¹²

A witness told SBS that the vehicle hit a concrete barrier and that its driver emerged holding his neck. The report said the child was crying after the shots. BBC footage examined the aftermath, including tense scenes as police arrived, according to the broadcaster.²³

Detention and court order

The Guardian and EFE reported that Belgal first spent time at a privately operated ICE site in New Jersey, then was processed into Brooklyn's federal Metropolitan Detention Center. At a federal court hearing, his attorneys said a bullet remained in his body.¹⁴

On October 10, a federal judge prohibited ICE from deporting Belgal while considering his lawyers’ emergency motion for release, EFE reported. The order further required his detention to take place in either New York or New Jersey. According to EFE, prosecutors in the Bronx were examining the shooting.⁴

Political response and local reaction

The incident prompted protests in Marble Hill, including at the scene and a nearby hospital, according to the reports. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani denounced ICE and urged that the agency be dismantled. New York Governor Kathy Hochul protested the incident and sought release of body-camera footage, SBS reported.¹²

Residents described hearing gunfire and said ICE officers and vehicles had been stationed in a nearby Target parking lot, according to The Guardian. Orlando Perez, a Marble Hill resident, said officers “had to see that the kid was inside”. Separate reports said federal and local authorities cited Belgal's previous convictions and stated that he was serving felony probation, while the Trump administration alleged he had gang connections.¹²