A masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent grabbed Monica Moreta-Galarza’s hair as she clung to her husband, pleading with the agents who were detaining him. She was wrestled away from him as her crying children were held back by other agents.

Moreta-Galarza was taken to a nearby room for an unknown period before she was seen in videos captured by onlookers in the hallway of an immigration courthouse in Manhattan in late September, telling a different federal agent in Spanish: “You guys don’t care about anything!”

The agent, wearing a flannel shirt and baseball cap, replies, “Adios, adios,” as he grabs the mother and forces her several feet down the hallway, shoving her into the wall before pushing her to the ground.

Moreta-Galarza was rushed to the hospital for possible head trauma.

Her experience is a snapshot of an array of incidents nationwide caught on camera by bystanders, revealing heavy-handed tactics by federal agents since President Donald Trump took office in January, experts told CNN. Videos over the months have shown ICE agents wearing face coverings and plainclothes, driving unmarked cars and swarming worksites and streets during their deportation operations. Tensions flared again in Chicago this week when an immigration operation resulted in a crash, bringing anger from residents and tear gas.

Many of the incidents in this story, including Moreta-Galarza’s, have been reported by CNN and authorities confirmed ICE agents were involved, with eyewitness videos showing the sometimes violent nature of the arrests.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement to CNN federal agents are facing “smearing” by claims the agency is using “harsher approaches,” and said they “put their lives on the line every day to enforce the law.”

A federal agent prepares to throw a tear gas canister at community members during clashes on Chicago’s South Side on Tuesday. Jim Vondruska/Reuters

Echoing past statements DHS has made after many of the incidents, the agency said it is targeting arrests of the “worst of the worst” and agents are facing a surge in attacks against them. Last month, investigators said a shooter targeted ICE officers at an ICE field office in Dallas, killing two detainees and injuring another.

ICE and US Customs and Border Protection agents are trained “to use the minimum amount of force necessary to resolve dangerous situations to prioritize the safety of the public and themselves,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in the statement.

Federal officers under DHS are “highly trained” in de-escalation tactics and “regularly receive ongoing use of force training,” McLaughlin said.

Pressures to meet deportation goals are fueling aggressive tactics, experts say

Former Homeland Security officials and immigration experts argue the aggressive tactics are a result of the immense pressure on immigration agents to ramp up arrests of undocumented immigrants as the administration tries to meet its deportation goals. Historically, the agencies charged with those arrests, like ICE, have been strained, making White House-imposed goals more difficult to meet. The administration says it’s a whole government effort.

Officers from other federal agencies, such as the FBI and CBP, the agency responsible for border security, have also been pulled into immigration enforcement efforts, flooding the streets of blue cities such as Los Angeles, Washington, DC and Chicago.

Law enforcement sources told CNN the increasingly aggressive tactics they’ve observed from immigration agents in recent months have led to confrontations between DHS and agents from other federal agencies working on joint task forces.

John Sandweg, former acting director of ICE under President Barack Obama, said the tactics are not aimed at fighting criminality – they’re designed to increase overall arrests.

Members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and federal law enforcement officers look on during a traffic stop in Washington, DC, on August 17. Alexander Drago/Reuters

“You don’t arrest people in immigration court … who are on stays of removal unless you’re looking for cheap, fast and easy arrests,” said Sandweg, who remains in contact with current ICE and DHS