NEW YORK CITY − A federal immigration officer has been “relieved of current duties” after shoving a woman to the ground outside an immigration courtroom here.

The incident, captured on video, occurred after agents arrested her husband on Sept. 25.

The Manhattan federal building where the incident took place, has been the scene of previous controversial arrests, as agents detained people entering or exiting immigration court or arriving for Immigration and Customs Enforcement check-ins.

Footage showed the woman pleading with officers to release her husband from custody.

In front of reporters, the agent grabbed the crying woman by the arms before shoving her to the wall and then downward. She hit her head on the hallway floor and screamed, as the agent can be heard on the video saying, “Cállese,” shut up, and then “Adiós.”

The wife of the detained man from Ecuador pleads with a federal agent for her husband on September 25, 2025, in New York City. Despite getting continuances on their asylum claims, federal agents will still detain immigrants who appear for their court datesz

A city official and the news site ProPublica identified the woman as Monica Moreta-Galarza, of Ecuador, who had been seeking asylum in the United States. Moreta-Galarza remained on the ground, with her two children crying next to her. She was later hospitalized for possible head trauma, according to Rep. Dan Goldman, D-New York, whose office saw her and her children after the incident.

“Over there (in Ecuador), they also beat us,” Moreta-Galarza later told reporters in Spanish, through tears. “I never thought that I’d come here to the Untied States and the same thing would happen to me.”

The wife of a detained man from Ecuador falls to the ground after a federal agent shoved her on September 25, 2025, in New York City.

Commenting on the agent, Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, said: “The officer’s conduct in the video was 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,” she said in a statement.

Officials didn’t immediately respond to emailed questions about the officer’s name, title or how he had been relived of his duties.

A federal agent pushes the wife of a detained man from Ecuador to the ground on September 25, 2025 in New York City immigration court.

The viral images and videos drew swift condemnation of ICE’s tactics.

On Sept. 26, Rep. Goldman, a former federal prosecutor, said he referred the incident to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan for felony prosecution, accusing the officer of using excessive force against the woman and depriving her of Fourth Amendment rights to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.

“Not only should this individual no longer work for the United States government, but the Department of Justice should aggressively enforce the criminal laws against him, consistent with the precedents set by this administration,” Goldman said in a statement.

The wife of the detained man from Ecuador hugs her children after her husband was detained on September 25, 2025, following an immigration court hearing in New York City.

Both the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney’s office declined to comment.