A federal judge appointed by former President Barack Obama has temporarily halted the deportation of Oscar Bergal, a migrant who was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in New York City.
Judge J. Paul Oetken ruled Friday that Bergal, 28, cannot be immediately deported to the Dominican Republic after surviving the shooting in the Bronx one day earlier.
The Department of Homeland Security says Bergal is in the country illegally and has a substantial criminal record, including arrests connected to grand larceny, assault and robbery. Officials also allege that he has ties to the Trinitarios gang.
Federal agents were reportedly seeking Bergal during a New York City enforcement operation that included an investigation into the gang’s alleged role in a moped shooting.
Bergal was taken to a hospital after being shot Thursday and was treated for injuries described as non-life-threatening. He has since been released from medical care and remains in ICE custody, according to officials.
After Bergal’s detention, his attorneys challenged the government’s actions in court. Oetken then ordered that he cannot be removed from the United States while the legal challenge is under consideration.
The judge said the order was necessary “in order to preserve the court’s jurisdiction.” He also directed that any transfer be limited to detention facilities in New York’s Southern or Eastern Districts.
The ruling followed intense controversy in New York City after the shooting, with thousands of protesters demonstrating against ICE operations. The protests were led in part by socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
ICE agents shot Oscar Bergal, 28, during an operation in New York City on Thursday. The image shows an armed ICE agent wearing a safety vest during Bergal’s arrest.
DHS says Bergal has a lengthy criminal record, including arrests for grand larceny, assault and robbery, and has alleged connections to the Trinitarios gang.
Judge J. Paul Oetken ruled Friday that Bergal cannot be deported immediately to the Dominican Republic after surviving the Bronx shooting.
Officials have released few details about the incident. They said an ICE agent fired a weapon at about 4 p.m. Thursday during an enforcement operation.
Bergal was hit in the neck while his five-year-old son was sitting in the back seat of a nearby vehicle.
ICE officials said Friday that the agent opened fire after Bergal allegedly “weaponized his vehicle” by driving it toward agents.
Marcos Charles, executive director of ICE removal operations, said prosecutors would pursue criminal charges against Bergal. He added that the agency “will continue to try to remove him from this country as quickly as possible following his charges.”
Bergal’s attorneys said that, shortly after he left the hospital, several ICE vehicles moved him to an undisclosed location. They told Courthouse News that they have been unable to contact him since. Courthouse News
In a court filing submitted Friday morning, Bergal’s lawyers said they had “grave concerns for his health and well-being.” They also noted that his name did not appear in ICE’s online detainee locator.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani described ICE as “rotten to the core” after agents shot Bergal in the Bronx on Thursday.
Demonstrators marched through the Bronx, calling for ICE to leave New York City.
Although Oetken’s order requires Bergal to remain within New York’s Southern or Eastern Districts, reports indicate that ICE may have already transferred him outside the judge’s jurisdiction.
Charles said on Friday morning that ‘because of Bergal’s lengthy criminal history and known fleeing, we placed him in a detention facility outside of the state of New York.’ It is unclear where he was moved to, and Our News Outlet has contacted ICE for comment on the case.
Bergal had previously been arrested on a robbery charge in 2023, later pleaded guilty to grand larceny and was sentenced to probation. He was later arrested on a drug-sale charge that hasn’t yet been resolved, and pleaded not guilty in the drug case.
At a protest on Thursday evening, anti-ICE activists clashed with law enforcement in the Bronx, as Mamdani led condemnations over the shooting.
‘This city wants ICE out,’ the mayor declared as the protests raged. ‘All they do is terrorize this city.’
‘There is no justification for what we’ve seen today,’ he added.
Mamdani described the incident as ‘unconscionable and incredibly serious’ in a social media post, adding that his ‘thoughts are with the injured New Yorker and his family tonight. We are praying for his recovery.’
The mayor said he later spoke with President Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin to demand that ICE agents be removed from the city, but his efforts were unsuccessful.
Bullet holes could be seen in the back of the migrant’s SUV
Outraged residents gathered at the scene Thursday night to protest ICE’s presence in the city
‘Now I made clear to the president, to the secretary, our request [is] that ICE agents leave the scene entirely — as well as the demand that ICE stop its enforcement actions in New York City,’ he said.
‘We know, and I have said this directly, whether to the president or to the public, ICE undermines public safety. It makes us less safe,’ he argued.
Mamdani also said he tried to negotiate Belgal’s release from custody, but the man had been ‘whisked away’ from the hospital moments before the mayor’s press conference.
‘Let me say this plainly, what happened today was an outrage,’ Mamdani said.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul also revealed on social media that she had spoken with Trump and Mullin about the shooting.
‘I expressed outrage on behalf of New Yorkers and urged them to halt ICE enforcement operations in New York,’ she wrote.
‘I also asked that any body camera footage of the shooting be released to the public so we can establish the facts and get to the truth.’
