‘ICE out!’: New Yorkers protest shooting of a migrant in the city

A man was shot and wounded during an arrest operation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in New York on Thursday. The shooting occurred in the Marble Hill neighborhood of the Bronx at about 4.00 p.m. local time, the police said. Besides the wounded man, there was a five-year-old child inside the vehicle who was reportedly unharmed.

This is the first time that such an incident has taken place in New York City, and it has led to indignation among citizens and public officials alike. A few hours after the shooting, demonstrators gathered at the spot to protest ICE’s violent tactics and the Trump administration’s immigration policy. Both the city and the state of New York are sanctuary jurisdictions that do not cooperate with federal authorities on immigration.

Many people expressed anger, concern and fear. Some wanted to know what had happened. There were young people, mothers with their kids, and older adults. Yells of “Chinga la migra” (Fuck immigration police) and “ICE Out!” could be heard.

“They [ICE agents] are acting illegally. They have not been properly trained. They do not take the precautions that the police do. They shoot first and ask later,” said Julie Zuckerman, the former principal of a nearby school who came to protest.

According to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) release, the man is an undocumented migrant from the Dominican Republic who had been previously convicted of grand larceny; he had also been arrested multiple times for assault, theft, drug possession and arms possession. The department did not provide any information as to why one or more ICE agents opened fire during the arrest operation.

The city’s police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, said at least one ICE agent had fired his weapon seven times. The 28-year-old migrant was hit in the neck, under his left ear, and was taken, still conscious, to the hospital, according to Congressman Adriano Espaillat, a representative for the Bronx.

Mayor Mamdani at the scene

Mayor Zohran Mamdani showed up in Marble Hill with Police Commissioner Tisch, and some of the demonstrators yelled at the mayor, accusing him of being an accomplice to ICE. Mamdani said he had spoken with President Trump and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin to try to get the man released, unsuccessfully. “A few moments ago, ICE placed him inside an unmarked vehicle and he was whisked away,” he said.

Earlier, a few protesters had confronted the police, throwing bottles and moving the police barricades. One of the protesters was Darializa Avila Chevalier, a candidate to the House of Representatives who was shoved by police officers.

The street where the shooting took place is very near a subway high line. Nearby there is an avenue lined on one side with mom-and-pop stores such as a deli, a hair salon and other family businesses. The other side is covered by a metal fence that conceals what’s behind.

Valeria P., a local resident, was in the area with her children when she saw it happen: ”I saw the guy bleeding,“ she said, adding that she felt scared because after the gunshots, people started running in every direction. She herself took shelter with her two kids inside a nearby store.

A growing list of shootings

Federal immigration agents have been involved in at least two dozen shootings since Trump returned to power in January 2025 with a pledge to carry out the largest deportation in history.

At least six people have died as a result, and two of those were U.S. citizens, according to a count by The New York Times. The killing of the poet and mother Renee Good and the nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis led to massive demonstrations against the federal government’s immigration policies.

In July, two migrants died from shots fired by immigration agents: the Mexican national Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Texas on July 7, and the Colombian Johan Sebastian Durán Guerrero in Maine six days later. Last month, on September 20, an ICE agent shot the Venezuelan Wilber Garcés Pérez, who subsequently spent 11 days with the bullet lodged in his back.

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