Viral video of federal immigration agents detaining a woman and her child at San Francisco International Airport late Sunday drew swift condemnation from local and national officials and renewed calls for limits on federal immigration enforcement.
Videos circulating on social media show two plainclothes federal agents restraining a woman near a gate while a young girl stands nearby crying. In one video, a witness is heard asking officers to show identification. In another video, San Francisco police officers are shown forming a protective line between the arrest and bystanders.
San Francisco police said in a statement Monday, that officers responded to a 911 call around 10 p.m. Sunday.
“SFPD officers were not involved in the incident but remained at the scene to maintain public safety,” the statement said. “Consistent with our City Charter, state law, and SFPD department policy, we do not assist in the enforcement of civil federal immigration laws.”
Not connected with federal shutdown
The incident is not related to a social media post by President Donald Trump saying he will place officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in airports in response to a congressional standoff over a partial shutdown on funding to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Most of the nation’s airports are experiencing delays due to the increased absenteeism of unpaid Transportation Security Administration workers. SFO security agents are paid through independent contracts.
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a statement reiterating that the arrest occurred before ICE officers were deployed to airports to bolster TSA efforts.
“ICE officers arrested Angelina Lopez-Jimenez and Wendy Godinez-Lopez at the San Francisco International Airport,” the statement said. “These illegal aliens had a final order of removal from an immigration judge since 2019. While being escorted to the international terminal for processing, Lopez-Jimenez attempted to flee and resisted law enforcement officers. ICE is working as quickly as possible to repatriate the family unit to their home country of Guatemala.”
Mayor Daniel Lurie said in a statement on social media that the footage was troubling but emphasized that the episode does not appear to signal a broader federal enforcement effort at the airport.
“Like many San Franciscans, I found the incident at SFO last night upsetting,” Lurie said. “We believe this is an isolated incident. We have no reason to believe there is broader federal immigration enforcement at SFO.”
Wiener: ‘ICE is not welcome’
California state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, sharply criticized the operation and the broader role of ICE at an airport news conference Monday.
“Congressional Democrats need to continue to stand strong and to refuse to fund ICE and Border Patrol, and they should continue to insist on a standalone funding of TSA,” said Wiener, adding that Democrats are refusing to fund ICE unless there is fundamental reform and to stop them from wearing masks and to stop warrantless entry into homes.
“I’m here today to make clear yet again that ICE is not welcome in San Francisco or at San Francisco International Airport,” Wiener said. He described the scene as “horrible, with a child there.”
Wiener also pointed to his No Kings Act legislation that is advancing in Sacramento that would allow people to sue federal agents for alleged constitutional violations.
“Right now, it is almost impossible to sue a federal agent, even for the most egregious constitutional violations,” he said.
In Washington, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Kevin Mullin issued a joint statement demanding answers from federal authorities.
“The video of a mother being aggressively detained by ICE agents in front of her daughter at the San Francisco International Airport is yet another heartbreaking example of how Trump’s inhumane immigration enforcement is terrorizing communities across America,” they said.