'They treated us like animals' - Inside the epicentre of deportations in New York City

Chaotic scenes have become routine in a federal immigration court in Manhattan.

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A judge had ordered Rubén Abelardo Ortiz López to return to court in May, and she believed that meant a reprieve from his potential deportation to Ecuador.

Instead, as soon as they stepped out of the courtroom with their children, she was torn from her husband's arms and thrown to the ground by immigration officers as they detained him.

"One of them charged at me so aggressively that I was terrified, and he 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 one immigration agent being temporarily suspended. But it is not an isolated occurrence. The BBC witnessed similar incidents at the court house, while others – including an aggressive encounter between Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the media – have sparked public outcry.