Overview:
Led by NYC Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani, more than 100 elected New York state officials urged parking garage and lot owners to deny access to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The call seeks to address a gap in the sanctuary city’s protections, which restrict use of city-owned properties by ICE agents, but not private facilities.
NEW YORK — Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani led more than 100 elected officials from across New York state in calling on parking garage and lot owners to bar U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from using their properties for immigration enforcement operations.
“We are asking that you do not rent, lend, or otherwise make your property available to ICE as a staging area for its enforcement operations,” read the letter to more than 1,000 parking facility owners and operators.
“Our neighbors should not live in fear that the parking lot down the block could become a staging ground for an operation that puts their communities at risk,” the officials said.
The call comes one week after ICE agents shot Oscar Belgal, a 28-year-old father, in the neck during an operation in Marble Hill while his 5-year-old son was in the car, prompting several protests. ICE had reportedly been using a nearby private parking lot associated with a Target store to surveil and arrest people in the residential neighborhood. Local officials had raised concern that the lot allows federal agents to conduct their activities near homes and businesses.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani talks during a news conference near the scene of a shooting on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Under the city’s sanctuary policies to safeguard immigrants, law enforcement agencies outside the five boroughs generally may not use city-owned property as a staging area, processing location or base of operations without a judicial warrant or a limited legal exception. The protections cover city-owned parking facilities as well as schools, shelters and hospitals.
Private parking facilities, however, fall outside those restrictions. The latest appeal seeks to address that gap by asking property owners to voluntarily refuse ICE. It is not a legal prohibition.
Earlier this week, elected officials called on Target and the company that co-owns the Marble Hill parking lot to prevent ICE from using the property. According to local news reports, Target said it did not have a formal agreement with ICE.
More than 3.1 million New Yorkers were born outside the United States. They make up 43% of the city’s workforce, according to the Mayor’s Office, working across restaurants, shops, construction sites, hospitals and small businesses.
City officials said fear of immigration enforcement discourages residents from driving to work, running errands or carrying out day-to-day activities, with consequences for families, neighborhoods and the local economy.
“Owners who refuse to take part in these federal civil immigration enforcement operations advance public safety by protecting their own staff and customers, as well as fellow New Yorkers beyond their lots and garages,” the letter said. “They also tell every immigrant New Yorker that they are treasured members of this community, [that] our City welcomes them with open arms.”
For New Yorkers seeking immigration legal assistance, the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs operates an Immigration Legal Support Hotline at 800-354-0365.
