“Marble Hill residents have been reporting an increased ICE presence in their neighborhood for months.” Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal cited those reports in his response to the shooting on Thursday, October 8, when a federal immigration agent wounded a man during an operation in the area. In his statement, Hoylman-Sigal accused the Trump administration of jeopardizing residents’ safety to meet its deportation targets.
“To achieve its mass deportation goals, the Trump administration is rushing thousands of new agents onto our streets with little or no training, giving them free rein and a mandate to terrorize our communities,” he said. The Manhattan borough president described the shooting as what appears to be “the latest in a series of shootings by federal agents,” as ICE expands what he called a “campaign of terror” into neighborhoods across the country.
The wounded man is 28 years old and was shot in the neck. A five-year-old child was in the car with him and was unharmed. According to New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, at least one ICE agent fired seven shots. The man was taken to a hospital in stable condition; the NYPD said it had not participated in the federal operation.
Hoylman-Sigal said he was in contact with authorities and community members at the scene. His statement provides no additional details about the circumstances of the shooting: it challenges the handling of ICE operations and the decisions of the administration overseeing them. His allegation that new agents lack adequate training also concerns federal recruitment policy; the statement provides no information about the training of the agents involved in Marble Hill.
The reports cited by the Manhattan borough president had already prompted action by local elected officials. On October 5, three days before the shooting, eight representatives from the Bronx and Upper Manhattan wrote to the owners of the Shops at Marble Hill shopping center seeking clarification about ICE’s use of the Target parking lot. According to reports they had received, agents were using it as a staging area for operations. In the letter, the officials asked the owners to revoke any permission granted, unless required by law. Target said it had no cooperation agreements with federal immigration agencies. No connection has been established between those reports and Thursday’s operation.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that an ICE agent had fired during a targeted arrest operation, without explaining what had prompted the use of the weapon. NYPD cameras captured two plainclothes agents approaching the car, one with his gun drawn, but did not record the shooting itself: the vehicle had already moved out of frame.
Hoylman-Sigal ended his statement by returning to the need for limits on the agency’s operations: “We have seen what happens when ICE operates unchecked. New Yorkers will not accept it.”
