Members of the Democratic Socialists of America's New York City chapter are demanding that Mamdani fire Tisch over an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)-involved shooting last week. The group is also calling on the mayor to use every available power to drive ICE out of the city.
The demands follow an incident in Manhattan in which Oscar Belgal, an illegal immigrant from the Dominican Republic who had recently escaped detention, was struck in the neck by a bullet or bullet fragment in front of his young son.
Federal authorities describe Belgal as a fugitive with gang ties who was the target of an ICE enforcement operation. Officials allege that he refused commands to exit his vehicle and accelerated into two government vehicles, prompting an agent to fire in self-defense.
However, city officials say the surveillance footage indicates plainclothes agents, some wearing masks and construction vests, abruptly approached Belgal's vehicle with guns drawn, causing a panic that prompted Belgal to try to flee before he was shot.
Belgal survived; he was discharged from the hospital on Thursday evening and is now at Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. His 5-year-old son was also unharmed, but Tisch and the NYPD have faced accusations of violating sanctuary city policies and using excessive force against protesters.
"Jessica Tish … is one of the most highly thought of quasi-political figures in the Big Apple," notes Art Arthur, a resident fellow in law and policy at the Center for Immigration Studies. "For that reason, I think that Mayor Mamdani would invite a certain level of political risk if he were to attempt to remove her."
Republicans have defended Tisch and criticized New York's sanctuary city laws, which limit local police cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Progressive critics argue that the NYPD unlawfully assisted ICE after the shooting, while moderates and conservatives contend that restricting communication with federal agents creates dangerous loopholes that compromise public safety.
Mamdani has said he has no plans to fire Tisch, defending her record on crime and corruption. Arthur, however, says the pressure from the mayor's progressive allies highlights a fundamental divide over law enforcement and public safety in New York City.
"I think that at some point … everyone involved needs to consider whether they are sworn to uphold the law and protect public safety, or whether they are sworn to defend some of the worst of the worst who are out there on the streets and who, by law, should be removed from the United States," he submits.
