The mother who was assaulted by an ICE agent after her husband was detained in immigration court on Thursday is begging President Trump to have compassion as her lawyer demands that the man responsible be held accountable.
Monica Moreta-Galarza, an immigrant from Ecuador, broke down in tears Sunday as she relived the moment she was tossed to the ground after pleading for the return of her husband. She said the incident was all the more painful because she initially believed the federal agents were there to protect them, but instead feels that she was targeted because of her ethnicity.
“I never imagined it because they are authorities, people who, and I thought that as authorities, they defended us. But now I realize that’s not the case. In this country, I felt protected, but I see that in reality, I’m something less than an insignificant person just for being Latina,” Moreta-Galarza said.
Within an instant, her husband had been taken away by masked agents. When she went to confront an ICE supervisor, that agent shoved her to the floor in an assault caught on camera that quickly went viral on social media.
Father Fabian Arias, a pastor who often attends immigration proceedings at 26 Federal Plaza, helped Moreta-Galarza seek both medical and legal aid.
According to Father Fabien, Moreta-Galarza and her family crossed the border in 2024 and after being processed, even received their work permits. The pastor added last Thursday was merely meant to be a routine court check in and they can’t understand why he was taken.
“They were happy and in two minutes everything changed, their life changed,” Father Fabien told amNewYork.
Lina Stillman, an attorney representing Moreta-Galarza, looked over previous images captured by amNewYork showing the same ICE agent who assaulted Moreta-Galarza also ripping apart other families and manhandling other women. She said she believes he needs to be held accountable.
“This individual has the propensity for violence. I think this individual is not somebody who should be working with immigrants. And you know, he should be punished,” Stillman said. “I think everybody needs to be outraged about this, right? I think everybody knows. The reason this video went viral is that it’s outrageous, right? This shouldn’t happen to anybody. This shouldn’t happen anywhere.”
After the video showing Moreta-Galarza’s assault went viral, the US Department of Homeland Security announced that it had relieved the ICE supervisor in question of his duties pending a further investigation. The agency claimed that “ICE law enforcement are held to the highest professional standards.”
In the meantime, Moreta-Galarza’s husband is still in ICE custody — and now she is left to fend for herself and her children.
“The only support and now the only sustenance are my children. Because of them, it’s the only thing that keeps me going are my children. And now it’s a struggle to be together. We are a family of four, as I always say,” Moreta-Galarza said.
Meanwhile, Moreta-Galarza herself looked to address President Trump, begging the man who is ordering mass deportations to show compassion, stating that she and her husband came to the United States seeking a better life for her children.
“I’ve seen many videos of him attending church,” Moreta-Galarza said. “We immigrants are many, we’re almost the majority in his country, and immigrants, the only thing we come to do is hard work. Because in a time of crisis, we clean. Sometimes we have to clean on our knees. I want the president to have compassion. May God move his hard heart.”
