Oscar Belgal is a New Yorker with a bullet in his neck. If, like me, you pay federal taxes, you paid for a small part of this bullet. The bullet has been in Belgal's neck since the afternoon of October 8, when it was one of at least seven fired into the car in which Belgal and his 5-year-old son were sitting on their way home from school pick-up in Marble Hill. The bullets were fired by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Officers, whose salaries and retirement benefits we are also paying, and whose legal authority, license to carry guns, and operational mandate were granted by us, through our elected government.
Our bullet has been in Belgal's neck for nearly seven days now. His attorneys report that he has lost feeling in half his face, as well as hearing in his left ear. The doctors who saw him shortly after he was shot told him he needed surgery this week to remove the bullet from his neck. Instead, he is being held in the Brooklyn federal jail complex we operate through our government's Bureau of Prisons.