An ICE supervisor who made headlines Wednesday after he shoved a distraught mother to the floor of immigration court has been relieved of his duties.
The ICE agent, who has been overseeing detentions inside 26 Federal Plaza for months as immigrants attend their legally mandated court hearings, will no longer be working in the courthouse, according to Homeland Security. In a statement Tricia McLaughlin said that the agent — whose identity has not been made public — had been relieved of his duties pending an investigation.
“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 said.
The incident came a day after Monica Moreta-Galarza, an immigrant from Ecuador, pleaded with the officer to release her husband from custody. Video circulating online shows the federal agent shoving her against a wall, then to the ground, and shouting over her as she wept.
The incident drew immediate condemnation from elected officials.
“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,” U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman wrote on X. “This is unacceptable conduct from this ICE agent. @Sec_Noem must take appropriate disciplinary action and implement measures to prevent this from happening again.”
“An ICE agent violently threw this bereft woman to the ground in front of her kids. She had not touched him. She did not pose any threat. She had to be taken to the hospital,” New York City Comptroller Brad Lander wrote on X.
The ICE agent, now removed from duty, had previously been accused of using force against court attendees. Last month, amNewYork reported that he pulled a teenage girl from her father’s arms and restrained her as she cried. Several court observers had also complained for months about his physical behavior.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
