A video has emerged showing an ICE officer forcefully tackling a distressed woman, sparking widespread outrage.
The event reportedly occurred earlier this week at the New York immigration courts, where the woman was visibly upset following her husband’s detention.
The footage captures her speaking in Spanish to a plainclothes ICE officer who repeatedly said ‘adios’ to her.
According to CBS News, the upset woman pleaded with the officer, saying: “Please, take me, too. They are going to kill him. They pulled my hair. You guys don’t care about anything.”
When she refused to leave, the officer grabbed her, pushing her against a wall, causing her to fall to the ground in tears. The incident was witnessed by several people, including her two children, who were visibly distressed.
The family is reported to be from Ecuador.
In the aftermath, Democratic Congressman Dan Goldman noted that the woman and her children sought refuge in his office ‘for safety’.
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander has publicly criticized the officer’s behavior.
“I was back at 26 Federal Plaza today, where an ICE agent violently threw this bereft woman to the ground in front of her kids,” he wrote on Bluesky alongside the video.
“She had not touched him. She did not pose any threat. She had to be taken to the hospital.”
The Department of Homeland Security has also voiced disapproval of the incident.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin stated, as reported by NPR: “The officer’s conduct in this video is unacceptable and beneath the men and women of ICE.”
“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.”
According to the BBC, the federal officer has been placed on leave during the investigation.
UNILAD have sought further comments from ICE and DHS regarding the situation.
New details about the woman have emerged, identifying her as Monica Moreta-Galarza.
ProPublica reports that the Ecuadorian woman entered the US with her family seeking asylum.
Addressing reporters after the incident, she expressed: “Over [in Ecuador], they beat us there too. I didn’t think I’d come here to the United States and the same thing would happen to me.”