Just steps outside the courtroom where Judge Joseph Y. Park was presiding over asylum cases on Friday morning, a federal immigration officer grabbed a Colombian man and slammed him against the wall, an eyewitness and multiple sources confirmed to Mission Local.
Other Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents moved in to handcuff the man, who had just finished his asylum hearing, when suddenly the arrest was called off: ICE had the wrong person.
After the incident, the man walked free to his waiting family, and the ICE agents stayed outside the immigration courtroom at 630 Sansome St., where they apprehended a different Colombian asylum-seeker — one they had intended to arrest.
Around half a dozen agents stood, some in ski masks covering their faces, one wearing a black surgical mask and the rest wearing no masks at all.
The arrests are a near-daily occurrence in the courtroom: ICE agents wait outside the hallways and take asylum-seekers after their hearings are finished.
Only an hour before, the Colombian asylum-seekers had been two of around 20 immigrants who went before Judge Park for his 8:30 a.m. hearings.
One young woman sat with an elderly man wearing a Marines hat, who had accompanied her to court. She passed a letter from her 10-year-old to the clerk for the judge to read. The letter was covered with hand-drawn smiley faces.
With each case, the judge scheduled follow-up court hearings but, in three of them, including that of the Colombian man whom ICE had meant to arrest, the Department of Homeland Security moved to dismiss the asylum case, signaling that ICE was likely to arrest this person. All three asylum seekers will have ten days to respond to the DHS motion.
One of the others, a man who appeared to be in his late 50s, pleaded his case, to no avail.
“I need more time. I am afraid to return to Venezuela,” he told the courtroom before detailing harrowing experiences in his home country. The man appeared without a lawyer and said he was on the waiting list for a pro-bono attorney.
Despite his testimony, DHS moved to dismiss his case. The attorney of the day quickly consulted with him before he exited the courtroom and ICE officials put him in handcuffs.
The third arrest occurred in a similar fashion. The asylum-seeker told Park that he didn’t want his case to be dismissed. But, like the others, DHS moved to dismiss it, despite Park scheduling his next hearing to review evidence for his asylum case.
Shortly after, the man exited the courtroom with the attorney of the day and ICE handcuffed him in the hallway.
This is a shocking incident. Mistaken arrests can have serious consequences, and it’s alarming to see how this was handled. I hope the man gets the support he needs and that such mistakes are prevented in the future.
I’m not a lawyer, but I believe it is incorrect to say above that “DHS dismissed his case.” The DHS lawyer may *move* to dismiss the asylum case, but generally has no good cause to do so. In the above cases, as in many others, the judge did not agree to the motion to dismiss, so the asylum case is still active. ICE unfortunately has the prerogative (which they are taking advantage of here) to take the asylum-seeker into custody pending the outcome of their case, but they are not allowed to actually begin deporting them (this would be “expedited removal”, which is not currently legal.) It is of course much harder for asylum-seekers to prepare their cases while detained, and DHS often tries to move them to different jurisdictions where the judges are more likely to rubber-stamp the regime’s wishes, but there are still things that can be done and lots of heroic pro-bono lawyers doing them. [If any lawyers out there want to correct my understanding of the situation, please do!]
It’s illegal for law enforcement to cover their faces in the state of California. SB 627 was recently signed into law so feel free to remind ICE that they are no longer allowed to hide their ugly mugs.
Federal law enforcement do not have to comply. Nice try
SB627 is set to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2026
we need ice. especially down at pier 33/ Alcatraz landing. out there EVERY DAY selling putrid hotdogs and fruits that don’t adhere to ANY public health regulations. how much longer will this go on before DPH/SFPD put a stop to this ?? THEY ARE ALL ILLEGAL and need to be detained