Read a PDF of our statement here.
Last night, one or more Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers shot and injured Oscar Belgal, an immigrant man from the Dominican Republic in a car while his 5-year-old son was in the back seat, placing the child’s life in danger.
In response, Legal Defense Fund (LDF) Associate Director-Counsel Sam Spital made the following statement:
“There cannot be safety in New York City when ICE is allowed to engage in acts of brutality that endanger the lives of our neighbors and children. The dignity and humanity of our immigrant neighbors must be respected. Black and immigrant communities will remain at particular risk of being victims of this type of abuse until ICE is fully abolished.
“We echo Mayor Mamdani’s powerful condemnation of this appalling act of violence. All available footage related to this incident must be made public in the interests of transparency. We also call for an independent investigation of this incident by the New York State Attorney General and Bronx District Attorney. Accountability is a critical next step, but it must occur in tandem with the removal of ICE from our streets.
“And we remind all officials and law enforcement that, as New Yorkers and others across the country continue to peacefully but forcefully protest ICE, their First Amendment rights and civil rights must be protected.”
LDF has called to abolish ICE, Border Patrol, and DHS operations and offices that drive and facilitate their abuses. Additionally, we have called for the replacement of the current immigration infrastructure with practices that promote true public safety for all and humane immigration policies that affirm the inherent humanity of all people, regardless of their immigration status.
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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation’s first civil rights legal organization. LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957, though it was founded under the leadership of Thurgood Marshall while he was at the NAACP. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute (TMI) is a division of LDF that undertakes innovative research and houses LDF’s archive. In all media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF (do not include NAACP) and refer to the Institute as LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute or TMI.