The viral footage showed the officer shoving a woman into a wall and then pushing her to the ground at the immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan on Thursday.
"The officer’s conduct in this video is unacceptable and beneath the men and women of ICE," Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin confirmed to NTD in an emailed statement. "Our ICE law enforcement are held to the highest professional standards and this officer is being relieved of current duties as we conduct a full investigation."
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) said the woman, identified as Monica Moreta-Galarza, had fled to his office for safety after she was assaulted.
Goldman applauded the disciplinary action against the ICE officer.
Moreta-Galarza told reporters that she was seeking asylum in the United States.
At the time, she was pleading with ICE agents not to take her husband away, she said, but didn’t expect to be assaulted by law enforcement, something she said happens in the country she fled from.
New York City comptroller Brad Lander maintained that her husband “had just been abducted” and remained separated like many families, due to the actions of ICE agents. She didn’t pose a threat to anyone, yet was violently thrown to the ground in front of her children, Lander added.
The incident is one of several at 26 Federal Plaza related to the Trump administration's illegal immigration crackdown.
Earlier this month, about a dozen elected officials were arrested at the government building while protesting ICE's detention practices.
DHS said local police and federal law enforcement arrested 71 people, including lawmakers, for obstructing justice.