Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said on Friday Gov. Kathy Hochul offered to help federal authorities with future immigration enforcement operations in New York if they provide advance notice.
Mullin made the claim a day after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) agent shot 28-year-old Oscar Belgal in the neck during an attempted arrest in Marble Hill.
Belgal’s 5-year-old son was in the back seat of the car.
“Last night, I was on the phone with the governor. The governor said she would help us with over 100 different criminals that are in the state illegally, if we would just give them notice,” Mullin told reporters.
News 12 could not independently confirm Mullin’s account of the conversation.
Hochul confirmed she spoke with Mullin and President Donald Trump the night of the shooting. She said she urged them to “halt ICE operations in New York.”
“No, we’re not putting a pause on enforcement," Mullin said. "If you entered this country illegally, if you commit a crime and you’re illegal here, we are going to pursue you. We’re going to hunt you down. We will arrest you and we will send you back,” Mullin said.
The Department of Homeland Security said agents were attempting to arrest Belgal, a Dominican national the agency alleges has ties to the Trinitarios gang, when he attempted to flee.
Belgal was reportedly being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Hochul said his son is staying with his mother after witnessing the shooting.
It remains unclear what form any future cooperation between state and federal authorities could take.
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