In an interview Sunday, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani accused Immigration and Customs Enforcement of disregarding the law and called the agency “rogue.” He said ICE operations were making the city less safe and urged the agency to stop operating there.
The comments came days after a federal immigration officer fired seven shots during an attempted arrest in Manhattan’s Marble Hill neighborhood. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the shots struck 28-year-old Oscar Belgal in the neck below his left ear. Belgal’s 5-year-old son was in the vehicle and was not injured.
The Department of Homeland Security rejected Mamdani’s accusations, saying ICE enforces federal law. A DHS spokesperson criticized the mayor’s remarks and said assaults on ICE officers had risen. Those assertions were not independently verified in the source material.
DHS said Belgal, a Dominican national, had a prior grand larceny conviction and earlier arrests involving assault, robbery, drugs and weapons. Mamdani said he spoke with President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin after the shooting, seeking Belgal’s release, but was unsuccessful.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Paul Oetken temporarily blocked Belgal’s deportation while his challenge to federal detention proceeds. The order also limited transfers outside specified federal judicial districts without prior court approval.
The FBI and Homeland Security Investigations are investigating. The NYPD, which said it was not involved in the shooting, released body-camera footage showing officers arriving at the scene. Mullin separately criticized Mamdani’s statements, saying they could encourage hostility toward federal officers.
The source reports competing claims from city and federal officials; it does not provide the investigation’s findings.
