“They treated us like animals”

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

The judge had ordered Ruben Abelardo Ortiz Lopez to return to court in May, which she believed would mean delaying his possible extradition to Ecuador.

Instead, once they were out of the courtroom with their children, Immigration officers snatched her from her husband’s arms and threw her to the ground while they detained him.

“One of them attacked me so hard that I was terrified, and he ended up throwing me to the ground,” Ms. Murrieta 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 agent. But it is not an isolated case. The BBC witnessed similar incidents in the courtroom, while others – including a violent confrontation between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the media – sparked public outrage.

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

“I would honestly sum it up as just a shock,” said Allison Cutler, an attorney with the New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) who works at 26 Federal Plaza.

“It’s traumatic for the clients we serve, and for the families that are falling apart.”

While many of the detentions at 26 Federal Plaza have been quick and nonviolent, reporters and lawyers have witnessed several chaotic incidents in recent weeks.

On a Tuesday in late August, the BBC witnessed dozens of officers waiting outside the courtroom attacking a man, two women and a young boy. They quickly arrested the man, and a melee broke out as the group fought to stay together.

The crying woman, who had been clinging to the detained man, was grabbed by a federal officer — apparently the same man who pulled Ms. Murrieta Galarza from her husband — as the man was taken away.

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

They added that ICE gives parents the option of removing them with their children or placing them with a specific individual.

After photos of the incident with Ms. Murrieta Galarza spread on social media, the Department of Homeland Security reported that the officer involved in the incident had been disciplined.

Last week, immigration officers were caught on video shoving journalists to the ground as they tried to document a potential arrest. One of the journalists was unable to get up and was taken to the hospital.

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

DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told the BBC in a statement that officers were making the arrests when they were “overrun by agitators and members of the press who were obstructing operations.”

“Officers repeatedly asked the crowd of agitators and journalists to get back, move and get out of the elevator,” Ms. McLaughlin said.

Chaotic confrontations with government officials have occurred several times in Lower Manhattan this year, as immigration courts have become prime sites for a mass deportation initiative ordered by the Trump administration.

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

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

Officers routinely withdraw many detainees from hearings, without giving them the opportunity to speak to lawyers.

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

He said many migrants no longer appear in court. At one hearing in August, a man with a criminal record did not show up. Therefore, the judge ordered his deportation from the country and dismissed his asylum case.

His presence may not have changed the outcome. Immigration enforcement was gathered outside the courtroom as well.

Noncitizens of the United States who do not have a visa or similar documentation have always been at risk of deportation, said Tricia Claxton, supervising attorney at Safe Passage, an immigration rights group that focuses on minors.

“There were efforts focused on those who may have had a criminal history or had been previously arrested,” said Ms. Claxton, whose clients often appear to avoid arrest.

But she said that network now appears to have expanded.

“You see a lot of people who are in this process – they have pending asylum claims, they have other forms of relief pending – and they are still being received,” Ms Claxton said.

Legal experts say this is an abuse of the court system and puts migrants in an impossible position. If they attend court hearings, as they are required to do, they could be arrested. But if they miss a court date, a judge can automatically order their deportation.

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

The administration says it is removing dangerous criminals from the country, and the White House and the Department of Homeland Security often promote the arrest and detention of undocumented immigrants with violent criminal histories.

She says she makes arrests in immigration court for safety reasons.

“DHS law enforcement operations are highly targeted, and officers are doing their due diligence. We know who we are targeting in advance,” an agency official said in a statement to the BBC.

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

In the case of Ruben Abelardo Ortiz Lopez, whose wife, Mrs. Murrieta Galarza, was thrown to the ground, the government says he was a violent criminal and his arrest in court was justified.

Ortiz Lopez entered the country illegally on March 20, 2024 and was wanted after his arrest on June 18 on charges of “assault and criminally obstructing an airway or bloodstream.”

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

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

But for Ms. Murieta Galarza, the courtroom incident reminded her of the injustices she says she fled in her native Ecuador.

She told BBC News Mundo: “I suffered a lot in my country. I had no protection and the authorities there did not care.”

She adds that she never thought the same thing would happen to her in the United States.

“It’s so ugly. I feel like I’m worthless now.”