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A federal immigration officer shot and wounded a Dominican man while arresting him in New York City on Thursday, during what the Department of Homeland Security called a “targeted enforcement operation.”
Protesters and local officials decried it as an example of the dangers of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
The man survived and is being treated at a hospital, the agency said. It did not describe exactly what led to the shooting, saying only that “during the incident, an ICE officer discharged his weapon” and that the man was injured.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and New York Governor Kathy Hochul said they had received reports the agents fired at the man while he was inside a vehicle with a 5-year-old child, who was apparently unhurt.
Hochul said she had urged US President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin by phone to halt immigration enforcement actions in New York.
Mamdani said in a statement he also wanted ICE actions to stop in the city, calling the shooting “unconscionable and incredibly serious.”
The gunfire erupted around 4 pm local time in Marble Hill, a small part of Manhattan that is attached to the Bronx borough.
Pedro Almaraz, an employee at a nearby restaurant, said he heard about three or four gunshots and saw a man on the ground surrounded by several officers wearing face masks and vests with Department of Homeland Security branding. Witnesses, he said, were screaming.
Bystander videos and photos posted on social media showed a man sitting on the ground with his hands behind his back, in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. Another video shows New York City police officers picking up an apparently injured man and carrying him into a police vehicle.
Nearby, a damaged car sat blocking the roadway with small holes in two of its windows. The videos show agents wearing ICE badges on the scene, including one carrying a rifle.
Protesters at the scene chanted, “ICE off our streets now!” and then 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 past the barriers and hurled water bottles at officers.
DHS complained that its officers “are forced to make arrests at large in the community in unpredictable and dangerous environments” when “dangerous illegal aliens” get released.
The agency blamed “reckless sanctuary policies” in Democrat-led areas. There is no clear definition of sanctuary jurisdictions, but the term is generally applied to state and local governments that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
The agency said the man who was shot had a prior grand larceny conviction and a history of other arrests. New York police arrested him in December 2023, and he was released, DHS added.
ICE agents have fired their guns during more than a dozen vehicle stops since last year, killing at least four people and wounding others.
In late September, ICE ordered its officers not to engage in high-speed car chases and to make vehicle stops only if they have completed specific training.
Additional sources • AP