WASHINGTON, DC- Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin and ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Executive Associate Director Marcos Charles unloaded on sanctuary cities following the arrest of an illegal alien career felon and gang banger who tried to run down ICE agents with his 5-year-old child in the car.
In a news release, Mullin slammed sanctuary politicians for creating “an environment for criminal activity to thrive, not for American citizens be safe.”
“Sanctuary politicians create an environment for criminal activity to thrive, not for American citizens [to] be safe,” Mullin said. “President Trump made it very clear that he was going to restore law and order in our cities, in our towns, and in our states, in spite of sanctuary politicians that put criminals in front of law-abiding citizens. Sanctuary cities and politicians endanger the safety of the public. That is not a secret. That is exactly what takes place.”
On Oct. 8, ICE officers attempted to stop Oscar Bergal, a criminal illegal alien and documented member of the Trinitario street gang in Bronx, N.Y. He was positively identified by ICE ERO New York City officers, who tried to conduct a vehicle stop. Bergal rammed the ICE vehicles and then appeared to be readying to strike officers on foot.
Due to what was perceived as an immediate and imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury, one of the ICE officers shot at Bergal in self-defense, striking him in the neck. Bergal received a non-fatal wound in the encounter. ICE officers rendered first aid until city emergency services arrived and evaluated Bergal. He was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation and treatment.
Bergal’s criminal history included a conviction for grand larceny, multiple counts of robbery, assault, larceny, weapons possession, possession of stolen property, and dangerous drugs. Twice in January 2026 protection orders were lodged against Bergal, both of which remain active.
“[Bergal] refused to comply with the orders of federal law enforcement officers, ICE officers,” said ICE IRO’s Charles. “Bergal is the subject of an HSI investigation; he is a known associate of a gang in New York; and he has evaded law enforcement before when we attempted to arrest him before.”
“Bergal refused lawful orders to exit his vehicle. He then accelerated his vehicle smashing into two of our ICE vehicles. He then weaponized his vehicle and proceeded to accelerate his vehicle toward other officers,” Charles continued. “Our officer, believing that their life, the lives of their partners, and the lives of the general public were in danger, used their training and fired their weapon.”
Bergal was arrested upon his release from the hospital and remains in ICE custody, believed to be out of New York.
Bergal illegally entered the U.S. on an unknown date, at an unknown location, and without being inspected, admitted, or paroled by a U.S. immigration official.
Despite Democrat politicians such as New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Gov. Kathy Hochul, and others trying to paint Bergal as a “New York resident,” he is anything but.
In December 2023, he was arrested by NYPD officers for Robbery 1st, Forcible Theft Armed with a Deadly weapon, for which he was sentenced to five years' probation after a plea deal reduced the charges to Grand Larceny 4th: Property Taken from Person.
The Democrat darling has active charges in New York for multiple counts of robbery, assault, larceny, weapons possession, possession of stolen property, and dangerous drugs.
“From January 2025 to September of this year, we have lodged 14,766 immigration detainers in the state of New York. These are for individuals who are locked up, with criminal backgrounds, that the state of New York has in custody,” Mullin said. “We have asked that these 14,766 detainers be honored because these are illegal aliens with criminal records who should never be allowed back on the streets. Silence—absolute silence is what we have heard from New York. These detainers represent 47,750 felony charges. We know that these are the worst of the worst of the worst.”
Contrast the Democrats’ reaction to a minor shooting of an illegal alien felon gang banger with that of an off-duty NYPD detective on Oct. 2. In that incident, two Dominican criminal illegal aliens stabbed the detective seven times during an attempted robbery in the Bronx. Detective Jose Mercedes was rushed to a hospital after the attack which came close to costing him his life. But for the quick thinking of the NYPD’s Emergency Services Unit, who provided first aid, Mercedes would likely not have survived the brutal attack.
Not one New York Democrat spoke out against the unprovoked attack on a decorated NYPD detective but tripped over themselves to condemn ICE for defending their lives against a career criminal illegal alien gang member.
The two suspects in Mercedes’ stabbing are also career criminals and were released into the country by the Biden administration.
“The men and women of ICE and DHS are out there every day enforcing our nation’s laws,” Mullin said. “We are not picking and choosing which laws to enforce like the sanctuary politicians. We are enforcing our nation’s laws. Why is that controversial? We should all want law and order on our streets.”
Thanks in part to anti-ICE rhetoric by Democrat politicians, ICE officers and agents have seen a 1,600% increase in physical assaults and an 8,000% increase in vehicular assaults.
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