Spanish
New York. - An immigration agent who pushed and threw a woman to the ground in a federal building in New York yesterday has been fired after the images went viral, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported this Friday.
The incident took place at number 26 Federal Plaza, a building that ICE uses as a detention center and that has been denounced for its terrible conditions.
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In a video that circulated this Thursday on social media, it is seen how an undercover agent violently throws a woman to the ground who, crying, begged him in Spanish not to arrest her husband. In the images, it can be heard how after the altercation the officer says in Spanish "goodbye" repeatedly. "The agent's conduct is unacceptable and below the standard of the men and women who work for ICE," said DHS Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a statement sent to the press. McLaughlin assured that ICE security forces adhere to the "most professional" standards and that the agent appearing in the video has been "relieved of his duties". The woman told the press yesterday that she and her family emigrated from Ecuador to the United States last year. In addition, the organization LatinoJustice indicated today in a statement that she had to be taken to the hospital due to the injuries caused by the altercation. "This cruelty is indefensible. Migrant families deserve dignity, respect, and due process, not brutality in the very hallways of the immigration court where they seek justice," denounced Rex Chen, supervising attorney for Immigrant Rights at the organization. In recent months, the building has been the scene of arrests of immigrants by ICE agents dressed as civilians or masked who then transfer them to a detention center inside.
