New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, an avowed and admitted Democratic socialist, along with other Empire State Democratic leaders, have urged private parking lot owners in the Big Apple to prohibit Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers from utilizing their property to stage operations designed to detain and ultimately deport illegal aliens back to their countries of origin.
“In solidarity with immigrant New Yorkers and in our shared commitment to the City we love, we ask that you do not rent, lend or otherwise make your property available to ICE as a staging area for its enforcement operations,” the mayor went on to say in a letter sent to owners and operators of local parking lots and garages.
Over 100 elected officials, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) put their names on the dotted line of Mamdani’s request. The New York Democrats justified their call for the parking lot ban by citing the recent ICE-involved shooting of Oscar Belgal in the Marble Hill neighborhood.
Belgal had his 5-year-old son in the car with him at the time of the shooting. According to The Hill, Mamdani condemned the shooting, referring to the incident as “unconscionable” in a post published on social media, going on to demand that ICE enforcement operations taking place in the city be brought to a halt. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which is the agency that oversees ICE, revealed that Belgal was a criminal illegal alien with a lengthy criminal record of prior convictions and arrests.
“Federal agents are turning to private parking lots, including a lot just blocks from where they shot Mr. Belgal,” Mamdani went on to say in a statement concerning the incident. “I am asking every garage and lot owner in this city to stop giving them that option. Do not rent your property to ICE. Do not lend it to them. Tell them they are not welcome.”
Democrats quickly pointed to an executive order Mamdani signed earlier this year that bars all external law enforcement agencies, such as ICE, from staging operations on city property unless they have been granted a judicial warrant or meet other “limited legal exceptions.” The officials wrote in a letter, “Time and again, New York City has made it through challenging moments because government, business and community leaders come together and show the world what New Yorkers can do.”
“Owners who refuse to take part in these federal civil immigration enforcement operations advance public safety by protecting their own staff and customers, as well as fellow New Yorkers beyond their lots and garages,” the letter continued. “They also tell every immigrant New Yorker that they are treasured members of this community and that our City welcomes them with open arms,” they continued. “We hope you will stand with us.”
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A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security spoke with The Hill and said that prohibiting federal agents from parking lots would not stop deportation operations in the Big Apple. “Mayor Mamdani should be grateful to our brave law enforcement officers for cleaning up the streets of NYC since he won’t,” the DHS spokesperson wrote in a statement. “Luckily, no terminated parking will stop ICE from deporting criminal illegal aliens to make New York safe again.”