ICE agent benched after viral shove at NYC immigration court: DHS calls conduct “unacceptable”

A federal immigration officer seen on video shoving a woman to the floor inside Manhattan’s immigration courthouse has been relieved of duty while investigators sort out what happened, the Department of Homeland Security said Friday.

DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin called the officer’s behavior “unacceptable and beneath the men and women of ICE,” adding the agent has been pulled from current assignments pending a full investigation.

Clips posted to social media show a chaotic scene Thursday inside 26 Federal Plaza, home to New York’s immigration court. In one video, a woman and her young daughter cling to a man as masked officers move to detain him. Amid the struggle, an agent appears to grab the woman’s hair before she is separated and moved aside. In a later clip, the same woman confronts another officer, who says “adios” several times before shoving her into a wall and knocking her to the ground in front of her children, journalists, and court staff.

The woman, who told reporters her family is from Ecuador, was taken to a hospital after the incident.

“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,” she said in Spanish.

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who witnessed part of the encounter, blasted the use of force, saying the woman “did not pose any threat.” Rep. Dan Goldman said the family sought refuge in his office afterward and urged DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to impose discipline and prevent a repeat.

The confrontation comes as ICE has increasingly arrested people at or around immigration courts under the Trump administration’s stepped-up enforcement strategy—moves immigrant advocates and some officials say chill due process by scaring people away from hearings. ICE says its officers are held to strict professional standards and target individuals subject to lawful arrest.

For now, the officer is off the job while DHS reviews the footage, gathers witness statements, and determines next steps.

CNN, CBS News, the Independent, and the Guardian contributed to this report.