Multiple videos posted on social media show two federal immigration officers not in uniform, forcibly handcuffing a woman at San Francisco International Airport while her daughter, who appears to be around 10, stands by crying.
An SFO airport official says they “understand federal officers were transporting two individuals on an outbound flight when this incident occurred.”
The video catches the voices of onlookers asking “where is your badge?” and “can I see your badge number sir, what is your name?” as well as the cries of the woman being detained. In the background, another bystander says “this is illegal,” and another person says “don’t choke her.”
About a dozen San Francisco Police Department officers are seen standing in a line to form a barrier as the federal immigration agents roll the woman away in an airport wheelchair. The video was posted on the Internet late Sunday night.
The story post video, shared to Instagram by Andrey Ivanov, captures the moment when the woman clings to an airport bench while two agents attempt to forcefully remove her. The first agent pries her fingers off the bench while a second agent helps to push the mother into a chair. A woman can be heard yelling, “What are you doing, leave her alone!”
In another video, posted to Reddit by the handle Din Jarring, about a dozen SFPD officers form a defensive line around one of the presumed ICE agents as they wheel the woman out of the airport terminal. Her child walks beside them holding the hand of the other agent, who says in Spanish, “Vente,” meaning ‘come on.’ One onlooker yells, “This is the face of America, congratulations!” Another man says, “Are you fucking serious?”
A spokesperson for the San Francisco International Airport confirmed the incident was indeed a federal immigration enforcement issue but that they were not able to verify “who they were, what they were doing or why.” The spokesperson said SFPD was present but did not assist nor prevent the enforcement. They also said they believe this was an isolated incident and they have no reason to suspect broader enforcement at SFO.
Officer Robert Rueca from the San Francisco Police Department said that officers responded to a 911 call at approximately 10 p.m. last night. Rueca wrote, “Officers were not involved in the incident but remained at the scene to maintain public safety.”
Jason Sweeney, a public affairs official with Immigration and Customs Enforcement said by email that ICE will be releasing a statement on the video later in the day on Monday.
San Francisco mayor Daniel Lurie wrote on X that he “found the incident upsetting,” and says that officers “remained at the scene to maintain public safety and were not involved in the incident.” But in the video, SFPD officers are clearly lined up to act as a barrier so that the unidentified federal immigration officers can conduct their enforcement operation.
Meanwhile, Senator Scott Wiener said in a statement “ICE’s tactics are violent and unacceptable and they need to stay the hell away from San Francisco and SFO.” Wiener will be addressing ICE’s conduct today at 11:45a.m. outside of SFO’s International Terminal.
The state of California has sanctuary policies that preclude local law enforcement from assisting in detaining or arresting persons for immigration purposes.
Although there are certain exceptions to the law, Jordan Wells, a senior staff attorney at the Lawyers Committee For Civil Rights said that this type of activity does not appear to be one of those exceptions. Some of these exceptions include sharing certain criminal record information and state prison system cooperation.
The City of San Francisco also has it’s own sanctuary ordinance that prohibits all city employees, including police, from assisting ICE. The police department’s policies specifically prohibit officers supporting “routine ICE/CBP operations, investigations, or raids.”
Milli Atkinson, director of the Immigrant Legal Defense Program at the San Francisco Bar Association, said that the Rapid Response Hotline received multiple calls from people who said that they had witnessed ICE at SFO. Atkinson was unable to provide any further information.
A representative at United States Customs and Border Enforcement at SFO told Mission Local over the phone to contact SFPD and that a commanding officer would call back to provide more comment. No call was ever received.
The incident at SFO on Sunday coincided with the deployment of ICE officers to airports across the country during the ongoing standoff over Department of Homeland Security funding.
This story is developing and will be updated.