Our Rule of Law and the ICE Shooting in the Bronx

The New York County Lawyers Association’s (NYCLA) President Ronald C. Minkoff issued this statement criticizing the Administration’s continued use of aggressive immigration enforcement procedures.

On Friday October 8, 2026, at about 4:00 PM in a largely residential area of the Bronx, ICE agents shot and wounded Mr. Oscar Belgal, a man in an SUV that also contained a five-year-old child in the back seat. The shooting apparently occurred as Mr. Belgal tried to drive away when approached, while his SUV was parked, by two ICE agents in plainclothes pointing guns at him.

Americans should demand that federal law enforcement immediately adopt and implement policies to ensure that our immigration agents follow consensus policing protocols and respect our Constitutional freedoms, liberties and rights, including abiding:

• Consensus police protocols. See e.g., a Boston Globe discussion of two fatal shootings by immigration agents at traffic stops in July 2026. I criticized this misconduct on July 24, 2026`

• Our Constitution’s Fourth Amendment prohibition on the use of lethal force “unless it is necessary to prevent the escape and the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others.” Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1, 3 (1985). In Garner, police officers killed an individual, while he was fleeing the scene of a crime he had committed.

• The DHS’s own protocols on the use of force which explicitly references the Garner decision. These protocols also emphasize the importance of using tactics “promoting the safety of LEOs [DHS law enforcement officers and agents] and the public.”

In order to prevent immigration agents from posing an undue danger to bystanders, the targets, and the agents, I call for the Administration to immediately adopt policies to ensure that all immigration detentions be conducted by uniformed agents in conformity with our Constitution and consensus policing protocols, as well as limiting the unholstering of firearms by agents, and using body cameras, so as to hold agents fully accountable for their actions if needed. Taking these steps would afford the American public, citizens and noncitizens alike, the protections we all deserve from undue risk of violence and Constitutional violations.

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This statement has been issued by the NYCLA President. It has not been reviewed by NYCLA‘s full Board of Directors and does not necessarily represent its views.