A federal judge has temporarily blocked the deportation of an undocumented immigrant who was shot Thursday during a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in New York City.
In a two-page order, U.S. District Judge Paul Oetken, an Obama appointee, ruled that the man—identified by police as Oscar Belgal and named Oscar Bergal in a court document—cannot be removed from the United States without a court order while his petition challenging his detention is pending.
Oetken also prohibited federal authorities from transferring him to a facility outside New York’s Southern or Eastern Districts, or the District of New Jersey, without first obtaining court approval.
Law enforcement personnel tend to the suspect after he was shot by federal immigration officers on Thursday in New York. A 5-year-old boy was inside the car. On Friday, a judge blocked his deportation. (New York City Police Department via AP)
At a Friday court hearing, a judge dismissed the defense’s application for a temporary restraining order with prejudice after federal prosecutors did not contest Oetken’s directive barring Belgal’s deportation.
Belgal, a 28-year-old Dominican national, was shot after allegedly refusing to follow lawful orders during an ICE operation targeting him in the Bronx, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference near the scene Thursday night that Belgal moved his vehicle forward before at least one officer fired seven shots, hitting him below his left ear.
ICE officers used their vehicles to block Belgal as he tried to drive away, but he accelerated toward them, said Marcos Charles, a senior ICE official. Charles spoke Friday at a Washington news conference with DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
“Our officers, using their training and believing that their life and the life of their partners and the general public were in danger, used their training and fired weapons,” Charles said.
In this image taken from New York City Police Department body camera video, law enforcement personnel tend to the suspect, who was shot by federal immigration officers on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in New York, as he drove his car with a 5-year-old boy inside. (New York City Police Department via AP)
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The 5-year-old boy inside the vehicle was not injured. Charles said Belgal survived the shooting and was treated at a local hospital.
Belgal has since been released, though his attorneys said a bullet remains lodged in his body.
ICE agents did not know the child was inside the vehicle. Charles said, however, that Belgal “was aware” of the boy’s presence and put him at risk by attempting to evade law enforcement.
Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said in a statement that her office was working to establish what happened and determine how to proceed.
“Any shooting in the Bronx is a matter of grave concern that impacts community safety,” Clark said. “As District Attorney, it is my top priority to protect the well-being of everyone in the borough. We will continue to conduct a thorough investigation where our process is guided by the evidence and the law.”
Outside the courthouse, Harold Solis, an immigration attorney with the nonprofit Make the Road New York, condemned the ICE officers’ actions.
“Regardless of whether or not someone has a criminal history, it is not lawful and it is not OK to shoot a father in an afternoon with his son in the back seat,” Solis told reporters Friday. “That is not how we resolve legal disputes in this country. We resolve them in buildings like these, in courtrooms.”
Protesters and law enforcement officers clash close to the scene where a man was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer during an operation in the Bronx borough of New York on October 8, 2026, according to local media and police. (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP via Getty Images)
The NYPD released body-camera footage Friday showing officers arriving after the gunfire. NYPD officers were not involved in the shooting.
The video shows the suspect handcuffed and sitting on the ground as officers approach. In the background, a crowd can be heard expressing anger and dismay over the shooting.
According to DHS, Belgal has a prior grand larceny conviction and previous arrests for assault, robbery, drug possession, and weapons possession. Federal authorities also alleged that he has ties to the notorious Trinitarios street gang.