An off-duty U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer was shot in a New York City park on Saturday during an attempted robbery by an illegal immigrant who had been arrested four times and released due to sanctuary city policies.
The 42-year-old federal agent is recovering in the hospital after he was shot in the face during the attack in Fort Washington Park in Manhattan. He had his service weapon and shot back in self-defense, wounding his attacker, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other officials held a press conference Monday regarding the incident, which appears to have been a random robbery attempt.
Suspect Miguel Francisco Mora Nunez is a national and citizen of the Dominican Republic.
RE ENTERED and RELEASED under Biden— on April 4, 2023 the United States Border Patrol apprehended him at/near San Luis, AZ.
This criminal has a criminal warrant in Massachusetts for… https://t.co/zHo93ENSuo pic.twitter.com/zajApb7nLh
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) July 20, 2025
Video from the park shows the two assailants pull up on a moped and approach the victims. The suspected shooter, Miguel Francisco Mora Nunez, is a 21-year-old Dominican national with a lengthy rap sheet in New York.
DHS announced the second suspect, Christhian Aybar-Berroa, was also in custody in connection to the incident near the George Washington Bridge. Aybar-Berroa, also in the country illegally, has been arrested eight times between March and April of last year for grand larcenies and robberies.
The second suspect involved in the shooting of @CBP agent was caught by @ICEGov early this morning. Christhian Aybar-Berroa, is an illegal from the Dominican Republic. He entered the country illegally in 2022 under the Biden Administration and was ordered for final removed in… pic.twitter.com/8LJVxcWtwq
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) July 21, 2025
“There is absolutely zero reason that someone who is scum of the earth like this should be running on the streets of New York City,” Noem said. “Make no mistake this officer is in the hospital today fighting for his life because of the policies of the mayor of this city and the city council and the people that were in charge of keeping the public safe.”
Border Czar Tom Homan said he visited with the officer on Sunday and his family is devastated. “It’s just a shock to the soul when you walk in and see that.”
Homan reiterated that sanctuary cities won’t work with U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement, so they have to go out into communities and make arrests.
“Sanctuary cities are sanctuaries for criminals. Hard stop,” Homan said. “I’ve been doing this since 1984 and I’ve never seen a situation like I see it today in New York City. How many times do you want to see NYPD attacked by illegal alien criminals and now a federal officer? How many citizens in this city have been attacked by illegal aliens?”
Nunez was arrested after seeking treatment at a Bronx hospital for gunshot wounds, The New York Post reported.
Mora Nunez was wanted on kidnapping and weapons charges out of Massachusetts related to a robbery at a pawn shop, sources said. He also had at least four arrests in New York City, but he was let go without bail each time despite having a deportation order.
The CBP officer and a female companion were sitting on the rocks along the Hudson River when they were ambushed by the two men on a moped around 11:50 p.m. Saturday, according to police sources.
The video shows one suspect hopping off the scooter and approaching the CBP officer before firing shots at him — then retreating after the officer returned fire. The suspects eventually fled on the moped, the video shows.
The CBP officer was shot in his right arm and left cheek. He is in stable condition at Harlem Hospital and underwent surgery on Sunday, The Post reported.
Police officers responded quickly to the scene because they were nearby — investigating a mugging in the area, where the same suspects are believed to have stolen a woman’s cellphone just five minutes before the shootout, The Post reported.
Nunez “has a rap sheet that is a mile long,” Noem said. “He was arrested four different times in New York City and because of the mayor’s policies and sanctuary city policies he was released back to do harm to people and to individuals living in this city.”
Nunez illegally entered the United States on April 4, 2023, and was released by the Biden Administration into the country.
According to a DHS news release, his criminal history includes:
- On October 11, 2023, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) arrested and charged Nunez with felony grand larceny, petit larceny, and reckless driving.
- On October 1, 2024, the NYPD arrested and charged Nunez with 2nd and 3rd degree assault.
- On November 30, 2024, the NYPD arrested Nunez for criminal contempt. On January 13, 2025, he was again attested for criminal contempt.
- On February 21, 2025, the Leominster Police Department in Massachusetts issued a criminal warrant for Nunez for armed robbery with a firearm.
After failing to show up for his immigration hearing, a judge issued Nunez a final order of removal on November 6, 2024.
“We should not be here today,” said Rodney Scott, commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. “The reason these two assailants are inside the United States today are because of failed border policies by the Biden administration.”
Scott said Saturday’s shooting of a CBP officer was 100% preventable and it was caused by bad policy, adding “it can be fixed with good policy.”
Scott, who served as chief of the United States Border patrol until 2021, said he tried to warn the Biden administration about the massive flow of unvetted migrants at the southern border.
“I personally warned the Biden administration against their open border policies in 2021,” Scott said. “I was ignored and exactly what I predicted, and what many of us predicted, happened with total chaos along the border.”
Scott said President Trump stepped up and fixed those failed policies on Jan. 20. Sanctuary city policies across the nation and even states in some cases are failed policies.
“With the support of Secretary Noem, we now have one of the most secure, we have the most secure border that I have ever seen in my entire lifetime,” he said. “Much of that resolution was by fixing failed policies based on facts and evidence.”
Scott said it’s time for local leadership and state lawmakers to face the facts and evidence and “acknowledge crime is crime.” He called on them to step up to the plate, get rid of sanctuary city laws and enforce the laws on the books.
There is no global information system to vet the millions of illegal immigrants who entered the country.
“We do not know who they are, and we have to have border security where we simply know and control who and what enters our country just like we do our homes,” Scott said. “This should not be political.”
Homan said “sanctuary cities are now our priority, and “we’re going to flood the zone.”
When ICE agents cannot arrest illegal criminals in the county jail, they have to go out into the community.
“It makes it unsafe for the community, for the officers, and for the aliens because anything can happen on the street,” Homan said. “So, sanctuary cities are going to get exactly what they don’t want. More agents in the community and more agents in the worksite.”
Homan also took aim at media reports that ICE agents aren’t targeting criminals and national security threats.
“I look at the numbers every day. We had 130,000 arrests and 90,000 were criminals, so do the math. That’s 70 percent,” Homan said. “And who are the others? Others are those who had final orders of removal, who had due process at great taxpayers’ expense and a federal judge ordered them removed, so ICE’s job is to remove them.”
