New York Man Shot by ICE Still Has Bullet 'Lodged in His Neck' and Hasn't Been Fed, Lawyers Say: 'Unimaginable Nightmare'

Oscar Belgal, the man shot by ICE in the Marble Hill neighborhood of the Bronx, N.Y., is living an "unimaginable nightmare" in custody, his lawyers claimed.

The legal organizations representing Belgal claim the Dominican father still has a bullet in his neck, is being kept in solitary confinement, has not been fed a full meal and only has access to a bathroom sink for his water.

Belgal was shot by ICE agents in a controversial operation on October 8. A plainclothes officer with a rifle and a construction vest opened fire into Belgal's car, which also had his 5-year-old son. The son was unharmed.

He was brought to the city's New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital, where protests erupted against ICE. The agency announced its intent to move Belgal out-of-state, but lawyers filed a habeas corpus for the Dominican man, preventing his removal from New York state. He is now being held at Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

The Legal Aid Society and Make the Road New York, two organizations providing counsel for Belgal, say he is being subject to "horrific" conditions in custody and is suffering from medical complications related to the shooting.

“Mr. Belgal is living through an unimaginable nightmare. While he is currently in solitary confinement, a bullet remains lodged in his neck, the left side of his face is numb, and he can barely hear out of his left ear. Doctors have told him he urgently needs surgery, but that the procedure was too dangerous to perform Thursday evening without a specialized surgeon present,” the organizations said in a statement.

“Although he was instructed to return to the hospital this week, he has been left in the dark about whether that surgery will even happen," they continued. "He is also suffering from a shoulder wound caused by shattered glass during the incident.”

The lawyers went on to condemn ICE and its treatment of their client.

“The deliberate indifference Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents showed toward Mr. Belgal when he was shot on Thursday, and the treatment he has endured in detention since, are further examples of the cruelty and disregard for basic human dignity that have long defined this agency," the statement continued. "We will continue to fight for Mr. Belgal’s immediate release from detention and to ensure that he receives the medical care, due process, and basic human dignity to which he is entitled under the law."

The shooting of Belgal has become a flashpoint for discussions about ICE activity in New York City.

The Department of Homeland Security has insisted that Belgal, who has a criminal record, is in the U.S illegally and a member of the Trinitarios gang, insisting that their operations only go after the "worst of the worst."

New York officials are irate about the operation. Mayor Zohran Mamdani argued that the undercover operation made it impossible for Belgal to reasonably comply with officials, saying the unmarked officer carrying a gun was indistinguishable from a mass shooter.