Oscar Belgal, the man shot by arresting ICE officers while his 5-year-old was in the back of his vehicle, is being held in detention because of his criminal history of armed robbery and grand larceny, government lawyers told a federal judge Friday.
Belgal became a cause celebre for Democrats after the shooting, with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani using the shooting to demand U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement cease operations in his city.
Homeland Security officials, though, said at the time that Belgal had a lengthy criminal record, was associated with the Trinitarios gang and was believed to have information about a Trinitarios shooting of an immigration officer in New York last year.
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The gang issue is not mentioned in the Justice Department’s new memo justifying why ICE arrested and continues to detain Belgal. Instead, his criminal history in New York was cited.
“Petitioner failed to establish that he was not a danger to person or property based on, [among other things], his arrest for Robbery in the First Degree and conviction of Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Shi told a federal court.
He said ICE agents first tried to nab Belgal in September, but the Dominican Republic citizen evaded them.
ICE then caught up with him on Oct. 8, boxing in his Honda. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Belgal ignored orders to comply, accelerated his vehicle to smash into ICE vehicles, then aimed the car at officers.
At least one opened fire, and a bullet or fragment grazed his neck. His son was in the back seat throughout.
Belgal’s lawyers have filed a habeas corpus petition in a federal district court arguing that he must be released from immigration detention. They say ICE lacked a warrant to arrest him, used excessive force in the arrest and has since ignored his medical needs.
The DOJ provided the judge with two immigration arrest warrants, one for the September attempt when Belgal evaded capture, and one for October.
Prosecutors also said Belgal has been given medical care “throughout his detention” and said his use-of-force complaints are irrelevant to his detention.
The DOJ said Belgal is being held in immigration detention under a discretionary section of the law, based on that criminal history. That means he could ask for a bond hearing from the immigration courts.
He had filed a petition for a hearing but withdrew it.
The Justice Department said the immigration bond process, not the federal district court, is the proper place for Belgal’s detention to be fought out at this point.
In its court filing Friday, the DOJ included documents showing Belgal refused to sign his notice of rights. The documents also include a baggage check receipt for property taken from Belgal when he was booked into ICE custody. It lists shoelaces and a nose ring as the only property.
Immigrant rights activists have cast Belgal’s case as an example of an out-of-control agency that needs to be abolished.
“Having plainclothes federal agents approach people without identifying themselves and fire their weapons on streets filled with children and families endangers entire communities. Yet these tactics are the modus operandi of ICE, whose agents have opened fire at least 30 times so far during the second Trump administration, killing nine people,” the New York Civil Liberties Union said this week.
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