ICE Agent Relieved Of Duties For Shoving Woman To The Ground
ICE Agent ‘Relieved Of Current Duties’ For Shoving Woman To The Ground At Immigration Hearing
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer seen shoving a woman into a wall before pushing her to the ground during a chaotic scene inside a New York immigration court has been “relieved of his current duties,” according to the Department of Homeland Security.
The incident, caught on video, has fueled outrage across the country, with advocates and elected officials condemning the ICE officer’s blatant use of aggressive force as distraught immigrant families face extraordinary pressures while attending their court hearings.
“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,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin did not clarify what “relieved of current duties” meant, or whether the officer remains employed elsewhere within the agency.
The video, which has been widely circulated on social media, shows Monica Moreta-Galarza and her children clinging tightly to her husband as he was detained by masked ICE agents. A voice can be heard urging, “Just grab her, grab her and pull her away,” before an agent seizes her by the hair.
Moments later, another video shows Moreta-Galarza confronting an agent in Spanish: “You guys don’t care about anything!” The officer responds, “Adios, adios,” before shoving her several feet down the hallway, slamming her into a wall, and ultimately pushing her to the ground. Standing over her, he orders her to “Leave!”
“When I arrived outside [the courtroom], they stopped [my husband], and they told us we couldn’t move,” Moreta-Galarza later told CNN affiliate WXTV. “They encircled us, then they slammed me against the floor, they grabbed my kids and dragged them away. They slammed me against the floor and caused my head to slam against the floor. Everyone from ICE fell on top of me.”
Her children screamed as court security officers eventually escorted her away. She was later rushed to a hospital for possible head trauma.
“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,” Monica Moreta-Galarza said in Spanish.
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) took to social media to give an update on the woman and her two young children, who he said “fled to my office for safety” after the incident before calling on DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to take disciplinary action.
“Monica and her 2 young children fled to my office for safety after she was assaulted by this @ICEgov agent in an egregious act of excessive force. This is unacceptable conduct from this ICE agent. @Sec_Noem must take appropriate disciplinary action and implement measures to prevent this from happening again,” Rep. Goldman wrote.
Taking immediate action on the promise, Goldman and New York City comptroller Brad Lander sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi referring the ICE agent for criminal investigation.
“This conduct is unacceptable, and we need to make a deterrent effect by seriously investigating it for criminal wrongdoing,” Goldman said. “I think anyone who sees that video would agree that that is excessive force.”
Goldman and Lander said in a joint statement that the footage reveals the officer’s “flagrantly egregious conduct,” which they claim is in apparent violation of the federal code on deprivation of rights under color of law, a federal crime.
“In this case, the officer, acting under the color of law, willfully used excessive physical force by throwing a young mother to the ground and thereby deprived the victim of her Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures,” the release said.
Front running New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani also condemned the ICE agent’s actions, saying that he was shocked by what occurred, pointing out that these types of incidents are occurring across the country daily.
“The fact that we knew that that act is taking place every day across this country, oftentimes unseen, unnoticed and unabashed in its cruelty,” Mandani said. “It’s important that we describe it, that we stand up to it.”
Immigrant advocates echoed those concerns noting that the terror the incidents are instilling in the immigrant community is making it increasingly difficult for those wanting to follow the rules.
“They trap and deport our neighbors when they are simply abiding by the rules to show up for their hearings,” Organizing director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, Jorge Torres said. “We demand ICE out of the courts — no arrests in or around our courthouses.”
Father Fabian Arias, who accompanied Moreta-Galarza, confirmed the family intends to sue ICE for excessive use of force. Meanwhile, her husband has been transferred to a detention center in New Jersey, though his fate remains unclear.
SEE ALSO:
ICE Agents Claim Assaults Are Reasons For Masks, But That’s A Lie
Federal Judge Rules ICE Racially Profiles
Latinos In DC Accuse ICE Of Racial Profiling In Class Action Suit
ICE Masks Are Just Modern Ku Klux Klan Hoods [Op-Ed]
ICE Agent ‘Relieved Of Current Duties’ For Shoving Woman To The Ground At Immigration Hearing was originally published on newsone.com
