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Anti-ICE protests continue in NYC after agents shoot man in car with child

NYPD release bodycam footage of first officers on scene after ICE-involved shooting

Outrage grows after ICE agents shoot man with child in car in N.Y.

A 28-year-old Dominican man who was in a car with a five-year-old child was shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent on Thursday. The shooting drew outrage from New Yorkers, including Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who called for the release of the wounded man and the end of all ICE enforcement in the city.

The shooting of a 28-year-old Dominican man in New York City by an immigration agent prompted a fresh wave of protests against Trump's wide-reaching immigration crackdown and calls for ICE to leave the city.

Oscar Belgal was in a car with his five-year-old son in the city's densely populated neighbourhood of Marble Hill when he was shot and wounded in the neck. One witness said the shooting unfolded near several high schools and middle schools.

Marcos Charles, a senior ICE official, said the shooting took place after Belgal "refused" arrest and "weaponised his vehicle."

While Charles said Belgal was struck "superficially" in the neck, Belgal's lawyers later said that the bullet was still in his body.

During a news conference last night, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said police cameras showed Belgal backing into a parking spot when a plainclothes federal officer approached the driver's side window "with his gun drawn," but didn't capture the shooting.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who called the shooting an "outrage," also questioned whether Belgal knew the officers were ICE agents.

Belgal's lawyers filed an emergency petition yesterday calling for his release. A judge later issued an order temporarily barring the U.S. government from removing Belgal from the country.

Following a hearing this afternoon, one of Belgal's lawyers, Harold Solis, said Belgal was arrested soon after he was taken to the hospital, and then taken to New Jersey.

Solis said he can't comment on whether he was fit to be discharged from the hospital, but said they are concerned about his condition.

Not much is known about Belgal at this point, but his family was at the hearing this afternoon to show their support.

Solis said they're still assessing what comes next, but are pushing for Belgal's immediate release and will be back in court on Tuesday.

A large crowd of protesters gathered for a second day, this time at Foley Square, near the courthouse where Belgal's lawyers appeared this afternoon. Many carried signs calling for ICE to get out of the city and for Belgal to be released.

Another protest began yesterday night near the scene of the shooting in the Marble Hill neighbourhood, the crowd chanting "ICE off our streets now!" as they marched to the hospital where the injured man was being treated.

A sizable crowd blocked an intersection at the hospital entry, and as police began to set barricades so that ambulances and other vehicles could pass, some protesters shoved at the barriers and hurled water bottles at officers.

- With files from The Associated Press

How ICE detention is forcing immigrants out of the U.S.

U.S. Immigration and Customs and Enforcement is holding about 60,000 people in detention centres, the vast majority without criminal convictions. For The National, CBC's Jonathan Montpetit goes to Texas where lawyers say ICE detention is used as a tool to bully people into leaving the country and hears about the conditions from former detainees — including a 16-year-old boy.

Immigration arrests in the U.S. have surged in recent months as current and former officials say officers are under growing pressure from the White House to hit a goal of 3,000 arrests per day.

The White House has denied this, however, telling Reuters there are no quotas for immigration arrests. However, the mass arrest campaign this summer did not lead to a commensurate increase in deportations, according to preliminary U.S. government data reviewed by Reuters.

Even as arrests jumped to nearly 51,000 in August, setting a record for a third straight month, deportation numbers held mostly steady, averaging around 1,200 per day, the preliminary government data showed.

About the same number of people were deported per day in May, for example, when there were around 19,000 fewer arrests, according to arrests data obtained by the Deportation Data Project through a public records request and analyzed by Reuters.

The disconnect is partly due to who is being targeted, five current and former officials said. The arrests include a growing number of people with no criminal conviction or charge and without deportation orders, according to the Deportation Data Project figures.

When Viely Herrera heard the gunshots ring out on Thursday, she says she dropped to the ground. A second later, she saw the car crash.

She says she watched a man, bleeding from the neck, open the car door and say that his kid was in the car with him, before dropping to the ground.

"I felt so sad and so angry at the moment because I knew I couldn't do much," Herrera, who works in New York's Marble Hill neighbourhood, told CBC Radio's As It Happens. "There was just a bunch of men holding guns."

Herrera says the whole thing unfolded near several high schools and middle schools.

"There was a lot of kids just watching," she said.

Later that same day, Herrera was back at the scene, this time for an anti-ICE protest. She accused immigration officers of "terrorizing" her neighbourhood, arriving masked and in unmarked vehicles to apprehend her neighbours who are just going about their lives.

"I'm feeling sad for my neighbourhood. This is some bullshit. This should not happen," she said. "Especially because this neighbourhood is built on migration. If they're going to take one person, they might as well take the whole neighbourhood."

Members of Belgal's family were also at the hearing this afternoon and attended the news conference afterward "because they want people to know that Oscar is not alone," said Natalia Aristizabal, one of the co-executive directors of Make the Road New York, a non-profit immigration advocacy group.

Aristizabal said the family did not want to be interviewed by the press.

Solis said he couldn't comment on allegations from White House officials that Belgal had a criminal history.

"All I can say at this point is that regardless of whether or not someone has a criminal history, it is not lawful and it's not okay to shoot a father in an afternoon with his son in the backseat," he said.

"That is not how we resolve legal disputes in this country."

Solis said Belgal's defence team had been under the impression he was still in New York City at the time they filed their petition, based on how quickly everything had unfolded.

They didn't find out that Belgal was already in New Jersey until afterward, he said, adding that the court now has to determine where the case will be heard.

"Make no mistake, this case will be heard. The question is which court."

Solis said they're still assessing their next steps but will be back in court on Tuesday.

"Our problem is we've had little contact with him," Solis said.

Shortly after he was shot, Belgal was taken to a hospital, but was then arrested soon after, taken out of the hospital and then taken to New Jersey.

"It was a matter of minutes, essentially," Solis said.

Solis said he can't comment on whether he was fit to be discharged from the hospital, but said they are concerned about his condition as Belgal shared that he still has a bullet in his body.

U.S. District Judge John Cronan had also asked for an update on where he is being held when he issued a temporary order barring Belgal's deportation.

Earlier Friday, senior ICE official Marcos Charles had a different characterization of Belgal's injury: he said the man was struck by "one of the bullets or fragments, superficially in the neck."

Lawyers representing Oscar Belgal just came out of a hearing challenging his detention. Harold Solis, one of the lawyers representing Belgal, spoke outside a New York courthouse this afternoon following the hearing.

He confirmed it was Belgal's son who was in the backseat of the vehicle with him during the shooting.

"I just know he was very afraid when it all happened."

Solis said this afternoon's hearing was "very preliminary" in nature but that they are arguing for his immediate release.