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Oscar Belgal, the man who was shot by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the Marble Hill section of the Bronx on Thursday, still has not undergone surgery, according to his legal counsel, The Legal Aid Society and Make the Road New York.
Belgal’s attorneys issued a joint statement on Sunday that details the hardships they say he has endured at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn (MDC). They say the 28-year-old still has a bullet lodged in his neck and “is living through an unimaginable nightmare.”
As News 12 previously reported, masked ICE agents in plainclothes opened fire on Belgal while he was inside his car with his 5-year-old son in the backseat.
On Friday, the NYPD released bodycam video of its officers responding to the shooting, along with surveillance footage of the incident itself.
NYPD officers quickly carried Belgal from the scene into an unmarked police car and rushed him to NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital . He was released from there and was back into ICE custody later that day.
The Department of Homeland Security has continuously described Belgal as a “criminal illegal alien from the Dominican Republic” with alleged Trinitarios gang ties.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch says Belgal has two prior arrests in New York City. He pleaded guilty to grand larceny in 2023 and was on five years’ probation when the ICE shooting occurred. Tisch says a drug sale charge remains pending.
Belgal was first taken to Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey, and then transferred to MDC on Friday.
That same day, a federal judge temporarily blocked Belgal’s deportation.
Belgal’s attorneys say he is in solitary confinement at MDC and has not eaten since the day of the shooting. They also claim he is suffering from additional injuries on top of his gunshot wound.
MDC has made headlines for years based on reports of rampant violence, contraband and poor conditions.
News 12 reached out to MDC for a statement but had not heard back as of Sunday night.
See the full joint statement from The Legal Aid Society and Make the Road New York below.
“Since Mr. Belgal was shot in the neck by ICE agents on Thursday, with his five-year-old child in the car, he has endured horrific conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, a facility federal judges have described as ‘barbaric’ and ‘inhumane,’ where officers have been characterized as ‘contemptuous of human life and dignity. All the while, a bullet remains lodged in his neck.
“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. 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. He is also suffering from a shoulder wound caused by shattered glass during the incident.
“Rather than receiving the urgent medical attention, care, and compassion he desperately needs, Mr. Belgal reports being confined to a solitary cell, where he is forced to relive the terrifying moments of being shot. He says he has not eaten a single meal since Thursday and has been told that the only water available to him comes from a bathroom sink.
“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. 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.”
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