A federal immigration agent has been “relieved” of his duties after videos surfaced on social media allegedly showing him shove a woman and pull her hair as she tried to shield her husband at a New York City immigration court.
The footage captures the woman pleading with an ICE agent, who is not in uniform, while he repeatedly says, “adios.” As he turns away, she continues to plead and positions herself in front of him in an apparent effort to stop him.
The agent is then seen shoving her, lifting her hands, and throwing her against a wall before pushing her to the ground, as bystanders scream in alarm. He is later seen speaking to her while standing over 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.
According to another video 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 off-camera is heard saying, “Just grab her, grab her and pull her away.” It was not immediately clear who made the comment, and ICE did not respond to PEOPLE’s query about whether other agents from the incident are under investigation.
In a statement to PEOPLE, Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, confirmed the officer has been “relieved” of his duties.
“The officer’s conduct in this video is unacceptable and beneath the men and women of ICE,” McLaughlin said, adding that an investigation is underway.
It remains unclear if the agent is still employed within the organization. PEOPLE has reached out for further clarification regarding the terms of the ICE agent’s relief from duty.
