Mullin refuses to pause ICE operations in New York after shooting

The US homeland security secretary said immigration operations would continue after a man was wounded while a child was in his vehicle.

At a Friday news conference in Washington, Markwayne Mullin rejected requests to suspend immigration enforcement in New York. He defended the work of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers following the shooting, which had drawn criticism from city and state leaders.

Police identified the wounded man as 28-year-old Oscar Belgal. New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said two plainclothes federal officers approached his vehicle as he backed into a parking space in Marble Hill on Thursday afternoon. A 5-year-old child was also inside the car.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani condemned the incident, while Governor Kathy Hochul said she had asked Mullin and President Donald Trump to halt operations in the state. Mullin maintained that federal officers would continue enforcing immigration laws despite those requests.

Federal officials defended the use of force at the briefing. Their account of the driver's actions remains a claim by the authorities, rather than an independently established explanation of why an officer fired. Reuters reported that it could not verify the account given by a senior ICE official.

The dispute has placed immigration enforcement and the shooting under renewed scrutiny. The refusal to suspend operations does not resolve the questions about the officers' conduct or the circumstances in which Belgal was wounded.