1: Mamdani Demands Trump Free Illegal Immigrant Shot by ICE in the Bronx as DHS Chief Fires Back
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin called the mayor’s anti-ICE rhetoric dangerous after Mamdani renewed his push to abolish the agency
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani spent roughly two hours on the phone with President Donald Trump on Thursday night, pressing him to release a man an ICE agent shot during an arrest attempt in the Bronx. DHS says the man is an illegal immigrant with a grand larceny conviction and alleged ties to the Trinitarios gang. The request was not granted, and Mamdani declared that “ICE is rotten to its core.”
Why It Matters to You: Whether federal agents can enforce immigration law in the nation’s largest city is now a direct standoff between the White House and City Hall. DHS says New York City released this man once before, and the outcome of this fight will shape how sanctuary cities handle criminal illegal immigrants everywhere.
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and wounded a man Thursday afternoon during a targeted arrest in the Marble Hill section of the Bronx, setting off an overnight clash between New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the Trump administration. According to the Department of Homeland Security, ICE was attempting to arrest a wanted man from the Dominican Republic at around 4 p.m. when an agent opened fire. DHS has not released details on what led to the shooting. In a statement, the agency said, “ICE officers immediately rendered aid. The individual is alive and at a local hospital. The FBI and HSI are on the scene. The incident remains under investigation.”
At a news conference late Thursday, Mamdani said he spoke with President Donald Trump for about two hours and urged him to release the wounded man. That request was not granted. Mamdani then demanded an end to ICE enforcement in New York, saying of the agency, “All they do is terrorize this city.” The mayor also confirmed that ICE agents had moved the man out of the hospital. By Friday morning, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin was firing back, calling the mayor’s rhetoric dangerous.
DHS describes the man as an illegal immigrant with a prior grand larceny conviction and previous arrests for assault, robbery, drug possession and weapons possession. The agency also alleges he has ties to the Trinitarios street gang. According to DHS, New York City police arrested him on Dec. 7, 2023, but he was released several days later, and the department blamed the city’s sanctuary policies for that release. Those allegations come from DHS. The man has not been publicly named, and the shooting itself remains under investigation by the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations.
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch added key details Thursday night. She identified the man as 28 years old and said a 5-year-old boy believed to be his son was in the vehicle during the shooting. “Based on evidence collected at the scene, we know that at least one ICE agent discharged the seven rounds, striking the driver in the neck below his left ear,” Tisch said. The child was not hurt and is in the care of a family member. Hours later, hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital. Protesters and police shoved one another as officers set up barricades, some demonstrators threw water bottles at officers, and police made arrests.
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Mamdani went well beyond the single incident. He accused ICE of acting “with impunity” and spreading “chaos and terror” across the country. “Today’s shooting is only further devastating confirmation of what we have long known,” the mayor said, adding, “ICE is rotten to its core.” He also claimed ICE has “killed far more of our neighbors than they could ever have claimed to save,” and renewed his call to abolish the agency. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she also spoke with Trump and Mullin. “I expressed outrage on behalf of New Yorkers and urged them to halt ICE enforcement operations in New York,” Hochul wrote on X, adding that she asked for any body camera footage of the shooting to be released.
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Mullin pushed back hard on Friday. “His words are dangerous and incite hostility,” the secretary said of Mamdani. “Well mayor, if you abolish ICE, who’s going to take criminals off the streets of your own town?” DHS has framed the case as an example of what happens when local officials refuse to work with federal immigration authorities, pointing to the man’s 2023 release by the city. The White House has not announced any change to ICE operations in New York, and Mamdani’s request to free the man was not granted.
Why This Matters to You
The core question is simple: who decides whether federal immigration law is enforced in America’s largest city? Immigration enforcement belongs to the federal government, and ICE does not need a mayor’s permission to make arrests. But sanctuary policies can decide whether a person already in local custody is handed over to federal agents or released back onto the street. DHS says this man was released after a 2023 NYPD arrest. When that happens, ICE is forced to track people down in neighborhoods, at traffic stops and outside homes, where encounters are far more dangerous for officers, suspects and bystanders, including, in this case, a 5-year-old child.
The facts of the shooting still need to come out, and the body camera footage Hochul requested would help establish them. But the political fight is already defined. A sitting mayor has called a federal law enforcement agency “rotten to its core” and asked the president to free a man DHS says has a criminal record and gang ties. The Trump administration has said no. With the midterm elections less than four weeks away, voters in New York and every sanctuary jurisdiction across the country will decide whether they want local leaders working with federal agents or working to shut them out.
