New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is demanding a full and independent investigation into the Immigration and Customs Enforcement shooting of a suspected illegal-migrant gang member in the Bronx, while also attacking Target for allegedly cooperating with federal agents.
As reported by The New York Post, the democratic socialist congresswoman escalated her long-running campaign against federal immigration enforcement after protesters flooded the streets in response to the Thursday afternoon shooting in Marble Hill, where ICE agents fired into a vehicle and struck a suspected Trinitarios gang member in the neck while a 5-year-old boy, believed to be his son, sat in the back seat. In a statement Thursday night, Ocasio-Cortez claimed, ICEs already unwelcome presence in our city has been growing more escalatory and dangerous by the day. Todays shooting is a grave development that requires a swift and immediate response to protect the safety of all New Yorkers.
She insisted that First, we must have a full and independent investigation of this incident, and demanded a full and immediate release of all body camera footage of the incident. Rather than acknowledge the public-safety concerns posed by violent transnational gangs, she intensified her rhetoric against the agency tasked with enforcing federal immigration law.
ICE is a rogue, lawless paramilitary and surveillance agency, the congresswoman raged. It does not belong in New York City and it should not exist in the United States of America. Abolish ICE. Her remarks underscore a broader push from the left to dismantle immigration enforcement altogether, even as President Trumps second administration has emphasized border security and the rule of law.
Ocasio-Cortez also turned her fire on Target, accusing the retailer of collaborating with ICE in the Bronx, a charge the company flatly rejects. In addition, the Target Corporation must stop offering their Bronx properties as private staging sites for ICE, in compliance with requests from New York officials, she said.
Target opening up large, active retail parking lots for paramilitary activity is unacceptable and places the entire community at risk. While there is a Target store roughly half a mile from the shooting scene, the lot is shared with other businesses, and the company pushed back strongly on her claims.
A Target representative stated, Target has no cooperative agreements with ICE or any other immigration enforcement agency. The clash highlights a familiar pattern in progressive politics: corporate America is publicly pressured to distance itself from law-enforcement operations, regardless of the underlying criminal allegations.
The 28-year-old migrant wounded in the incident was identified by the NYPD as Oscar Belgal, whom the Department of Homeland Security alleges has ties to the Trinitarios gang. He was shot around 4:20 p.m. on Marble Hill Avenue as federal agents moved in to take him into custody.
Belgal is expected to survive and was transported to NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital before being removed later Thursday night in an unmarked ICE vehicle, officials said. The young boy in the back seat, believed to be Belgals son, was unharmed.
According to DHS, Belgal has prior convictions for grand larceny and multiple previous arrests for assault, robbery, drug possession, and weapons possession. Federal authorities were also probing whether he is linked to the migrant moped gang that shot an off-duty border patrol agent at Fort Washington Park last year, sources said.
State Mayor Zohran Mamdani joined Ocasio-Cortez in attacking ICE and even claimed he sought direct intervention from President Trump on Belgals behalf. This is an unconscionable and incredibly serious situation. I have called the President; when we speak I will demand that he ends all ICE enforcement actions in our city. I will not stand by while ICE agents terrorize our communities, Hizzoner said.
While progressive officials portray ICE as a paramilitary force, conservatives argue that dismantling immigration enforcement in a city already grappling with gang violence and migrant crime would leave law-abiding residents even more vulnerable. The incident in Marble Hill, involving a suspect with a serious criminal history and alleged gang ties, underscores the core debate: whether New Yorks leaders will side with federal officers attempting to remove dangerous offenders, or with activists whose priority is to shield illegal migrants from the consequences of breaking U.S. law.
Login