New York, New York - An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent was recently relieved from duty after he was caught on video slamming the grieving wife of a detained migrant to the ground.
On Thursday, Monica Moreta-Galarza and her young children were seen clinging to her husband as ICE agents moved to detain him following his immigration court hearing – despite the family being in the US legally on open asylum claims.
After agents pulled the family apart, Moreta-Galarza confronted one agent, who was caught on video responding by violently grabbing her, pushing her into a wall, and then slamming her to the ground.
In a statement provided to CNN the following day, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin described the officer's conduct as "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."
McLaughlin did not clarify whether the agent had been suspended from duty completely, or simply relocated.
ICE has carried out Trump's aggressive anti-migrant agenda
The incident comes as President Donald Trump leads an aggressive deportation campaign since being re-elected, ordering ICE to detain undocumented individuals across the country and deporting many without due process.
While DHS claimed the officer's conduct was "beneath" them, the agency has faced criticism for repeatedly making light of and even joking about its agenda.
In an interview following the incident, Moreta-Galarza claimed she and her husband had fled Ecuador and had been "beaten" there too, adding she didn't think "the same thing would happen" to them in the US.
Local officials have slammed the incident, with Representative Dan Goldman describing it as "flagrantly egregious conduct" as the officer "willfully used excessive physical force... and thereby deprived the victim of her Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures."
NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani was "shocked" by the incident and "the fact that we knew that that act is taking place every day across this country, oftentimes unseen, unnoticed, and unabashed in its cruelty."
"It's important that we describe it, that we stand up to it," Mamdani added.
NYC Comptroller Brad Lander, who has been a leading activist against unlawful ICE arrests at immigration courts in the city, says he is helping Moreta-Galarza and her family find legal representation.