‘They treated us like animals’

Monica Moreta Galarza felt relieved after her husband’s routine immigration hearing at 26 Federal Plaza in New York City.

A judge had ordered Rubén Abelardo Ortiz López to return to court in May, which López believed meant a postponement of his possible deportation to Ecuador.

Instead, as soon as she left the courtroom with her children, she was taken from her arms and thrown to the ground by immigration officers while they detained her husband.

“Someone attacked me so aggressively that I was terrified and ended up throwing me to the ground,” Ms Moreta Galarza told BBC News Mundo in Spanish. “They treated us like animals.”

The incident, which has since gone viral, led to the temporary suspension of an immigration officer. However, this is not an isolated incident. The BBC witnessed similar incidents at the courthouse, while other incidents sparked public outcry, including an aggressive confrontation between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the media.

Lawyers said ICE’s operations inside the building created a tense and tense environment.

“I can honestly sum it up as traumatic,” said Allison Cutler, a New York Legal Aid Group (NYLAG) attorney who practices at 26 Federal Plaza.

“It is traumatic to have the clients and families we serve torn apart.”

While most arrests at 26 Federal Plaza were swift and non-violent, reporters and attorneys have witnessed several chaotic incidents in recent weeks.

On a Tuesday in late August, the BBC watched a dozen police officers standing outside the courtroom pounce on a man, two women and a young boy. They quickly detained the man and a scuffle broke out as the group struggled to stay together.

The crying woman, clinging to the detained man, was forcibly taken away by a federal officer who appeared to be the same man who took Ms. Moreta Galarza from her husband.

The judge closed the courtroom and as a result the BBC was unable to confirm details of the case. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not provide details on the man’s current condition, but said the agency “takes its responsibility to protect children seriously.”

They added that ICE offers parents the option of being taken with their children or placing them with a designated person.

After footage of the incident with Ms. Moreta Galarza spread on social media, DHS announced that the officer involved in the incident was disciplined.

Then last week, immigration officers were caught on video pushing two journalists to the ground as they tried to document a possible detention. One of the journalists could not stand up and was taken to hospital.

Olga Fedorova, the other photojournalist who was thrown to the ground, told the BBC: “Nothing like this has ever happened to journalists before.” Ms. Fedorova frequently reports from the building and said that before the incident, “we were able to work with federal agents, around federal agents, 99% of the time without incident.”

DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told the BBC that officers made the arrest while they were “surrounded by agitators and members of the press, which hindered operations.”

Ms McLaughlin said officers “repeatedly told the crowd of agitators and journalists to turn back, move on and exit the lift”.

Chaotic encounters with government officials at the lower Manhattan building have occurred multiple times this year as immigration courts have become key sites for mass deportations ordered by the Trump administration.

Half of the 3,320 immigrants ICE detained in the New York City area from Trump’s inauguration through the end of July were arrested at 26 Federal Plaza, according to data obtained by the Deportation Data Project. Figures show the building’s immigration courts and offices are the main engine of the administration’s deportation plans in America’s largest city.

Deportation Data Project figures show that nearly three-quarters of people arrested at 26 Federal Plaza since Trump’s inauguration had no past criminal convictions or pending criminal charges.

Officers routinely withdraw large numbers of detainees from hearings without giving them a chance to speak with lawyers.

“We’ve never seen anything like this,” said Benjamin Remy, an NYLAG attorney who spends several days a week working with immigrants at Federal Plaza.

He said many immigrants no longer come to court. A man with a criminal record was unable to attend a hearing in August. Therefore, the judge ordered his removal from the country and dismissed his asylum case.

His involvement may not have changed the outcome; The immigration office also gathered outside this courtroom.

Triciah Claxton, supervising attorney for Safe Passage, an immigration rights group that focuses on minors, said people who are not U.S. citizens and do not have a visa or similar documentation are always subject to deportation.

“There was a concentrated effort to crack down on people who had criminal histories or might have been arrested before,” said Ms. Claxton, whose clients often appeared to virtually avoid arrest.

But now that network appears to have expanded, he said.

“You’re seeing a lot of people who are in the process — they have asylum claims pending, they have other forms of assistance pending — still being accepted,” Ms. Claxton said.

Legal experts say this is an abuse of the court system and puts immigrants in an impossible situation. If they attend hearings as instructed, they may be arrested. However, if they miss their court date, the judge may order their automatic deportation.

The government argues that it has broad authority to detain people who are in the United States illegally.

The administration says dangerous criminals are being removed from the country, and the White House and the Department of Homeland Security frequently tout the arrest and detention of undocumented immigrants with violent criminal histories.

He says he made arrests in immigration court for security reasons.

“DHS enforcement operations are highly targeted and officers exercise due diligence. We know who we are targeting in advance,” an agency official told the BBC. he said.

A New York Times/Siena poll found that a majority of respondents (54 percent) support deporting people who are here illegally. More than half (51%) thought the government was targeting the right people.

In the case of Rubén Abelardo Ortiz López, whose wife Moreta Galarza was pushed to the ground, the government says he is a violent criminal and his arrest in court is justified.

Ortiz López entered the country illegally on March 20, 2024, and was wanted after being arrested on June 18 for “assault and criminal obstruction of airway or blood flow.”

“President Trump and Secretary (Homeland Security) Noem will not allow illegal criminal aliens to terrorize American citizens,” the statement said.

“If you come to our country illegally and break our laws, we will arrest you and you will never come back.”

But the incident at the courthouse reminded Ms. Moreta Galarza of the injustices she said she had escaped from in her native Ecuador.

“I suffered a lot in my country. I had no protection and the authorities there didn’t care,” he tells BBC News Mundo.

He adds that he never thought the same thing would happen to him in the United States.

“It’s so ugly. I feel worthless now.”