The shooting of Dominican national Oscar Belgal by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer has triggered what are now predictable responses: street protests before the facts are known; demands by sanctuary politicos — including Mayor Mamdani — that the agency be “abolished.”
But if he and others of his ilk truly cared about community safety, he’d be cooperating with immigration enforcement, not trying to gut it.
The Department of Homeland Security claims that Belgal is an illegal alien with ties to the violent Trinitarios gang, and the NYPD has confirmed he has prior arrests for robbery and larceny, and drug charges that are still pending.
Assuming those facts are true, ICE is required under both the immigration laws and the Laken Riley Act — the latter named after a young student killed by an illegal migrant in broad daylight and passed on a bipartisan basis in January 2025 — to take him into custody.