An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent has been relieved of his “current duties,” pending an investigation after he pushed a woman in a New York immigration courthouse.
A video showed the officer pushing an Ecuadorian woman, identified as Monica Moreta-Galarza, whose husband had been arrested. She was taken to the hospital after hitting her head and later discharged.
Recommended Stories
- ICE shooting in Dallas is 'very definition of terrorism': US Attorney
- Dallas shooting suspect Joshua Jahn wanted to 'give ICE agents real terror': FBI
- DHS will immediately begin increasing security at all ICE facilities: McLaughlin
“The officer’s conduct in this video is unacceptable and beneath the men and women of ICE,” Assistant Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told the Washington Examiner. “Our ICE law enforcement are held to the highest professional standards, and this officer is being relieved of current duties as we conduct a full investigation.”
McLaughlin told the New York Times that any suspension or firing decision is “being determined pending investigation.”
A video shows Moreta-Galarza being pushed to the ground while onlookers scream. The agent stands over her and says, “Adios!”
Another video shows Moreta-Galarza telling the agent in Spanish, “You guys don’t care about anything!” The agent then grabs her and pushes her down the hall and onto the ground.
Moreta-Galarza told ProPublica that her family had also been beaten in Ecuador: “I didn’t think I’d come here to the United States and the same thing would happen to me.”
Some New York elected officials reacted to the incident in horror. “I was back at 26 Federal Plaza today (w/ @NYSenatorRivera), where an ICE agent violently threw this bereft woman to the ground in front of her kids. She had not touched him. She did not pose any threat. She had to be taken to the hospital,” city comptroller Brad Lander, who was arrested months prior at the courthouse after clinging to a migrant, posted on X.
Lander said Friday that he was “grateful that action is being taken to address yesterday’s violence at 26 Federal Plaza.”
“When we insistently bear witness, there are limits to the cruelty people will support. Even Trump’s ICE can’t escape that indefinitely,” he added.
Democratic nominee for mayor Zohran Mamdani called the incident “sickening.”
“Sickening behavior by this agent. The fact that [New York City Mayor Eric Adams] has rolled out the red carpet for ICE is a stain on our city,” he wrote on X.
The interaction occurred at 26 Federal Plaza, which houses a controversial ICE field office. Lawmakers have criticized the office for holding immigrants for too long in overcrowded, unsanitary conditions.
Nearly a dozen New York lawmakers, including Lander, were arrested earlier this month for protesting at the facility after attempting to gain access.
DHS WILL IMMEDIATELY BEGIN INCREASING SECURITY AT ALL ICE FACILITIES: MCLAUGHLIN
Friday’s action was the first time immigration expert Aaron Reichlin-Melnick had seen “DHS under this administration publicly acknowledge fault and take action to punish an officer for violating procedure.”
“This is a step in the right direction. I just wish it wasn’t only because of a viral video,” he added.