ICE Officer Relieved After Shoving at Manhattan Court

A federal ICE officer has been relieved of his duties after multiple videos showed him grabbing and shoving Ecuadorian asylum-seeking mother Monica Moreta-Galarza into a wall and then to the floor at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan while her children watched as agents detained her husband. The clips, captured by several reporters and widely shared on social media, show the agent shouting “adiós” and allegedly grabbing her hair before the woman was taken to a hospital. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin called the conduct “unacceptable and beneath the men and women of ICE” and said the officer is being relieved of current duties while a full investigation is conducted. Elected officials and advocates, including Rep. Dan Goldman and New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, condemned the use of force and questioned whether ICE properly identified itself or had lawful grounds for the arrest. The episode has intensified scrutiny of arrests inside immigration courthouses and represents a rare public rebuke from DHS as investigators review the footage and the family’s pending asylum case.