A New York man shot by federal immigration officers appeared remotely before an immigration judge Thursday for his first hearing. Oscar Belgal, 28, joined the brief session by video from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn and spoke little.
His lawyers say a bullet remains lodged in the back of his neck and that he needs surgery. Legal Aid Society lawyer Karene Brown told Judge Dara Reid that Belgal is held under 24-hour lockdown without phone access to his family. Brown said Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not granted her request to move him; Reid said she cannot decide his placement within the jail.
The accounts of the Oct. 8 shooting differ. In a court filing, Belgal's lawyers said an officer fired into his car as he tried to drive away after picking up his 5-year-old son from school. Department of Homeland Security officials say officers fired because they believed their lives were in danger after Belgal struck two government vehicles and accelerated toward them.
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