October 12, 2026

Media Contact: info@haitianbridge.org, media@haitianbridge.org 

SAN DIEGO, CA — Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) strongly condemns the October 8, 2026, shooting of Oscar Belgal, a Dominican immigrant wounded by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer during an arrest operation in New York City while his five-year-old son sat inside the vehicle.

This latest shooting is not an isolated incident. According to an investigation by The Trace, federal immigration agents have been involved in at least 32 documented shooting incidents since 2025, leaving nine people dead and 15 others injured. In addition, Human rights and policy organizations track over 60 total deaths inside ICE custody across this combined 2025–2026 period due to medical neglect, overcrowding, and facility conditions. 

These disturbing figures expose the deadly consequences of an immigration enforcement system increasingly defined by militarization, violence, and a dangerous lack of accountability. Most recently, Pierre Damas Bel, a brilliant 20-year-old immigrant from the Republic of Haiti and Wright State University student, committed suicide amid the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for roughly 350,000 Haitian nationals and more than a million other nationals whose countries are facing severe humanitarian and security crises. Bel had reportedly been placed under electronic monitoring by U.S. immigration authorities and had spoken publicly about the fear, shame, bullying, and emotional distress he experienced while wearing an ankle monitor.

“Far too many immigrants and Americans have been killed and shot by ICE, and now a five-year-old child has been exposed to gunfire during an ICE operation. How many more families must be traumatized before we say enough is enough?” said Guerline Jozef, Founder and Executive Director of Haitian Bridge Alliance. “This administration has unleashed a campaign of fear and violence against immigrant communities, particularly Black and Brown families. We cannot continue to accept a system where immigration enforcement becomes a license to terrorize communities, endanger children, and take human lives. Our humanity is not negotiable. Our dignity is not conditional on immigration status. We demand accountability, justice, and an immediate end to these dangerous enforcement practices.”

For Haitian and other Black immigrant communities already confronting discriminatory immigration policies, racial profiling, and the constant threat of family separation, these shootings represent an escalating human rights crisis that demands national attention.

The Haitian Bridge Alliance calls for an immediate independent investigation into the New York shooting, the release of all relevant body-camera footage, full accountability for unlawful uses of force, and congressional intervention to end militarized immigration enforcement practices that threaten civilian lives.

ABOUT HAITIAN BRIDGE ALLIANCE

Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), also known as “The Bridge”, is a grassroots community organization that advocates for fair and humane immigration policies, foreign policy, and provides migrants and immigrants with humanitarian, legal, and social services, with a particular focus on Black migrants, the Haitian community, women and girls, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and survivors of torture and other human rights abuses. HBA also seeks to elevate the issues unique to Black migrants and build solidarity and a collective movement toward policy change. Anpil men chay pa lou (“Many hands make the load light”).
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