NEW YORK (October 9, 2026)— Last night, an ICE officer shot and injured a man sitting in a car in New York City. There was a five-year-old child in the same car. The officer fired at least seven rounds.

In response, Shayna Kessler, director of the Advancing Universal Representation initiative at the Vera Institute of Justice, said the following:

“Last night, an ICE officer fired at least seven rounds of bullets into a car, injuring a man and terrifying a five-year-old child sitting in the back seat. That is not public safety. This is yet another terrifying failure of it.

When a federal agency is given extraordinary resources and power without meaningful accountability, the result is fear, cruelty, and chaos. The mass deportation dragnet is terrorizing communities and undermining public safety. Any video of the incident should be released, a full and independent investigation should be conducted, and ICE’s record funding should be clawed back.

We know what makes communities safer: accountability, trust, and investments in proven solutions that prevent harm and strengthen neighborhoods. Our leaders have a choice: continue pouring resources into tactics that terrorize families or build a system of safety and justice that actually protects them. Every New Yorker deserves the latter, and our democracy depends on it."

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