NEW YORK, New York – Immigration advocates have welcomed New York City Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani’s call for parking garage and lot owners to prevent United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from using their properties to stage immigration enforcement operations.
New York City Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani.In a letter issued Friday, Mamdani and more than 100 New York State elected officials urged more than 1,000 owners and operators to refuse to rent, lend or otherwise make their properties available to ICE.
The appeal follows reports that ICE agents have been using a shopping plaza’s parking lot in Marble Hill, Upper Manhattan, to stage operations. Immigration advocates have called on Target to end its alleged cooperation with the agency at the location.
The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), which represents more than 200 immigrant and refugee groups, said agents had been seen using the lot for months, including shortly before an ICE agent shot Oscar Belgal, a 28-year-old undocumented Dominican Republic national, last week.
“This is an important step toward limiting ICE’s ability to operate in our neighbourhoods,” NYIC President and Chief Executive Officer Murad Awawdeh told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).
He applauded Mamdani’s appeal but said further action was needed to ensure the New York Police Department (NYPD) did not facilitate federal immigration enforcement.
“Last week’s shooting of Oscar Belgal is a devastating reminder that ICE’s presence in our neighbourhoods puts lives at risk, spreads fear, and undermines the safety of every New Yorker,” Awawdeh said.
Natalia Aristizabal, co-executive director of Make the Road New York, another immigrant advocacy group, also welcomed the initiative, saying ICE operations put the wider community at risk.
She called on businesses and property owners to refuse to provide facilities for enforcement operations and said more action was needed to prevent the administration of US President Donald Trump from using city government to support immigration enforcement.
“We must also ensure that the NYPD plays no role in facilitating ICE’s abductions,” Aristizabal said. “We will not rest until ICE is out of New York for good.”
Mamdani said ICE agents fired multiple rounds at Belgal, striking him in the neck while his five-year-old son was in the vehicle. He said the agents had reportedly been staging operations at a private parking lot nearby.
The mayor also cited reports of ICE operating from two bank parking lots on Northern Boulevard in Queens and a garage on Morton Street in Manhattan. He said the Morton Street garage removed ICE vehicles after neighbours raised concerns.
Mamdani said city laws and policies restrict the use of municipal property for federal civil immigration enforcement, including staging operations, except where a judicial warrant or limited legal exception applies. The protections cover city-owned parking facilities, schools, shelters and hospitals, but not private property.
In February, he issued Executive Order 13 to strengthen safeguards governing city agencies’ interactions with federal immigration authorities. Following an audit completed in May, the city issued updated guidance, he said.
Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs Faiza N. Ali urged private property owners to help protect immigrant communities.
“While our city’s local laws prohibit the use of city-owned properties and lots for federal civil immigration enforcement, including ICE staging, we urge private property owners to do their part to protect immigrant New Yorkers,” Ali said.
