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NEED TO KNOW
- An unnamed ICE agent was seen in a video shoving a woman to the ground as she pleaded with him
- The woman was allegedly assaulted as she tried to protest her husband’s detention, per reports
- ICE says the incident is under investigation
A federal immigration agent has been “relieved” of his duties after videos surfaced on social media allegedly show him shove a woman and pull her hair as she tries to shield her husband at a New York City immigration court.
The video shows the woman pleading with an ICE agent, who is not in uniform, as he keeps saying, “adios” to her. As he turns away, she continues to plead with him and, seemingly in an effort to persuade him, stands in front him.
The agent then shoves her, his hands lifting hers, as seen in a brief glimpse in the video. He throws her on the wall, then continues shoving her to the ground, as bystanders scream in alarm.
He is then seen saying something to her as he stands on top of her before the video ends.
“[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 alongside one version of the video on Thursday, Sept. 25.
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According to another video of the incident cited by CNN, the woman was seen with her arms interlocked with a man, understood to be her husband, as he was being detained.
One masked agent is allegedly seen grabbing the woman’s hair while someone else is heard saying, “Just grab her, grab her and pull her away.”
It wasn’t immediately clear who the other commenter was, and ICE did not respond to PEOPLE’s query about whether any other agents from the incident are under investigation.
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In a statement to PEOPLE, Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, said they have “relieved” the officer of his duty.
“The officer’s conduct in this video is unacceptable and beneath the men and women of ICE, ” McLaughlin said in the statement, adding that there is an investigation underway.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the agent is still employed within the organization. PEOPLE has reached out for further clarification on the terms of the ICE agent’s relief from duty.
