Por Renan Filho · 2026-10-12**Lead**
A prominent academic and political analyst has leveled severe accusations against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following a deadly shooting incident in New York City that has once again thrust the agency into the national spotlight. Mahmood Mamdani, a professor at Columbia University and author of several works on colonialism and state violence, described ICE as a “rogue” agency whose officers “treat the law as merely a suggestion.” The remarks, delivered during a panel discussion at the City University of New York on Monday, have ignited a fresh round of debate over the powers and accountability of federal immigration enforcement.
**Context**
The shooting — which occurred early Saturday morning in the borough of Queens — involved ICE agents who were attempting to apprehend a suspect with a prior deportation order. According to preliminary reports, the individual, a 34-year-old Honduran national, resisted arrest and allegedly fired at agents, prompting a return of fire that left him dead. No officers were injured. The incident is under investigation by both the New York Police Department and the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General. While ICE maintains that its agents acted within protocol and in self-defense, the event has reignited long-running criticisms about the agency’s conduct, particularly in urban environments with large immigrant populations.
Mamdani’s comments come at a time when ICE is already facing heightened scrutiny from civil rights organizations and several Democratic lawmakers. In recent years, reports of warrantless arrests, racial profiling, and harsh detention conditions have eroded public trust in the agency. Mamdani, a Ugandan-born scholar known for his work on the Rwandan genocide and U.S. foreign policy, framed the shooting as symptomatic of a deeper institutional dysfunction. “ICE was never designed to be a law enforcement body in the traditional sense,” he said. “It was built as an instrument of political enforcement, where the target is not a crime but a status — being undocumented. That mission intrinsically invites the disregard of legal norms.”
**Analise**
Mamdani’s characterization of ICE as “rogue” is not without precedent. Legal scholars and former agency officials have increasingly voiced concern over the expanding discretionary powers granted to ICE officers, particularly since the creation of the Department of Homeland Security in 2003. Unlike the FBI or most local police departments, ICE operates under a set of policies that often prioritize removal numbers over due process. The agency’s own internal data show that a significant portion of arrests are made through administrative warrants — which do not require judicial approval — and that officers frequently operate in “sensitive locations” such as schools and hospitals, despite internal guidelines advising against it.
The New York shooting further underscores the frayed relationship between federal immigration agents and the local communities they patrol. New York City has long been a so-called “sanctuary” jurisdiction, where local law enforcement is prohibited from cooperating with ICE in most civil immigration enforcement actions. This has created a vacuum that ICE sometimes fills with its own field operations, often without notifying local authorities. The result, critics argue, is a climate of fear and mistrust that makes immigrant communities less likely to report crimes or cooperate with police — ultimately undermining public safety.
Beyond the immediate aftermath of shooting, Mamdani’s critique taps into a broader anxiety about the rule of law in America’s immigration system. If federal agents view legal boundaries as “mere suggestions,” the implications extend far beyond a single incident. Erosion of trust in immigration enforcement can fuel vigilante attitudes, encourage non-compliance, and deepen the polarization that already characterizes the national debate on immigration. Conversely, proponents of aggressive enforcement argue that ICE is simply carrying out congressional mandates and that criticisms often ignore the agency’s role in apprehending violent criminals. The challenge for policymakers is to balance the necessity of enforcement with the core democratic principle that no agency is above the law.
**Sources**
Remarks by Mahmood Mamdani at CUNY panel, October 2026; preliminary NYPD and DHS OIG reports on Queens shooting; ICE operational policy documents; prior statements by civil rights organizations including ACLU and National Immigration Law Center.