A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer was reportedly shot during an attempted robbery in Manhattan on Saturday night, and one of the alleged assailants was an illegal immigrant who had previously been released into the United States by the Biden administration despite a lengthy criminal record and an existing deportation order, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The off-duty federal officer, 42, was shot in the face and arm just before midnight at Fort Washington Park, near the Hudson River.
Local news outlets reported that the officer returned fire during the confrontation. He remains hospitalized in stable condition.
DHS confirmed the identity of one of the suspects as Miguel Francisco Mora Nunez, a Dominican national who was apprehended by border agents near San Luis, Arizona, on April 4, 2023. Rather than being deported, Mora Nunez was released into the country.
According to DHS, he had an outstanding kidnapping warrant from Massachusetts and had been ordered deported as far back as 2003.
“UPDATE: Footage shows two assailants, one an illegal alien with criminal charges, ambushing and shooting a @CBP officer yesterday in New York City,” DHS posted on X, along with surveillance video of the attack.
The footage appears to show two men approaching on a motorcycle before one of them opens fire.
The incident is now being investigated by the New York Police Department. According to DHS, Mora Nunez had also previously been arrested on felony second- and third-degree assault charges — charges that would have rendered him a priority for deportation under stricter immigration policies.
Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary for Homeland Security, noted the troubling history of the suspect. “This individual should never have been on our streets,” she said. “He was wanted for kidnapping, had multiple felony arrests, and had been under a deportation order for over two decades.”
Conservatives have quickly seized on the shooting as a tragic example of what they see as the former Biden administration’s lenient and chaotic immigration policies.
Rather than prioritizing public safety, critics argue, the administration has too often defaulted to catch-and-release practices that endanger communities — including the very law enforcement officers tasked with defending the border.
“This is a failure at every level,” one DHS official said. “An officer of the United States was shot by someone who never should have been here — and would not have been here under policies that actually enforced our laws.”
While one of the suspects has been apprehended, the second remains at large. DHS has vowed to pursue all leads and ensure justice is served.
But for many, the damage has already been done — and the case has become a grim symbol of the costs of failed immigration enforcement.
In the words of one DHS official: “When government refuses to enforce the law, innocent Americans pay the price.”
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