A mother of three from the Bronx is begging for help Tuesday after her husband was ripped away from her family during a routine immigration hearing at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan.
Cocha, whose last name has been withheld by amNewYork upon request for fear of retribution, spoke to amNewYork after her husband, Luis, was dragged away from her on Aug. 26 by masked men inside 26 Federal Plaza. Cocha and Luis left a courtroom on the 12th floor on Aug. 26 with her husband and three children, aged seven, 13, and 15, when federal agents made the family separation.
“They didn’t tell me anything,” Cocha said with the help of a translator.
Without explaining the reason for the stop, she said, ICE grabbed onto Luis and began pulling him away. Her children leapt onto their father, yanking at his shirt in a desperate attempt to remain together.
However, in the view of an amNewYork reporter and other journalists photographing the scene, an ICE agent violently yanked one of Luis’ daughters backward, prying them apart. Luis’ 7-year-old son was left weeping as a masked agent used his arm to block them.
Within seconds, Luis had been whisked out of sight. Now the family is traumatized and left to wonder where he went.
“It was very traumatic for me and my children. My daughter is distraught, they took their father away. I don’t know what to do,” Cocha said.
Cocha’s family wept and leaned on the walls in despair after Luis’ arrest. Cocha explained that they believed Luis’ case had been extended for another year when the ICE agents came for him.
Why they came to America
The family hails from Ecuador and has been in the country for 2 1/2 years. He does not have a criminal record, according to his family.
Cocha told amNewYork that together they made the long trek on foot and in cars until they made their way over the border into the U.S. She stated that the family fled Ecuador due to local corruption and feared for their children.
“I didn’t see any future for my children,” she added.
Luis works as a mechanic and serves as the family’s main financial support system. Without him, she worries for their children’s long-term security.
“I stayed home to take care of the children, and now that he’s not here, I don’t know what to do,” she said.
Luis’ arrest was one of hundreds that ICE agents have made at Federal Plaza in recent months as part of President Trump’s ongoing immigration crackdown. While Trump and his supporters claim these operations are necessary to national security, Cocha implied that those arrested in these operations are still people deserving of rights, and members of famlies who depend upon them for their livelihood.
“I want the government to be a little more human. Please understand that we are coming here for a better opportunity, not just for ourselves, but for our children,” Cocha said, heartbroken.
“I don’t know what to do,” Cocha said defeated.
Cocha’s family was not the only one separated on Tuesday. Another man was also torn from his wife and child, leaving her weeping.
The latest arrests come 24 hours after New York Attorney General Letitia James said she made a legal filing seeking to halt courthouse arrests, during which she added that research shows children who experience separations like these suffer anxiety, depression, and PTSD, effects that often persist well into adulthood.
