ICE arrests another 7 at S.F. immigration court, 2 without lawyers

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ICE arrested seven individuals at San Francisco’s immigration court on Thursday at 630 Sansome St.

At least two arrestees, a Colombian man and Mexican woman, were not able to meet with an attorney in the courtroom before they were detained.

Although this man and woman did not know each other, Judge Patrick O’Brien called them to the stand together. Before their hearings began, O’Brien asked the Department of Homeland Security attorney, “Are there going to be motions?”

The attorney replied, “Uhhh, both,” referring to the only two asylum-seekers in the courtroom. The department, as it usually does, moved to dismiss their asylum cases.

No observers were present, nor were the pro-bono “attorneys of the day” who typically advise asylum-seekers. They were overwhelmed with assisting five other people who were arrested earlier that morning.

The man and woman sat before O’Brien, who could offer little succor.

“I would normally give you some information about how immigration court works,” he said. But, because DHS was moving to dismiss their cases,  O’Brien knew, as all regular observers of immigration court know, that ICE was likely to detain both immediately after the hearing.

“The rules tell me that I should give you at least 10 days to respond,” he said, offering them until early October to respond to the motion. 

A “motion to dismiss” signals that an asylum-seeker will likely be arrested by ICE upon exiting the courtroom, even though their case is technically in progress.

In practice, asylum-seekers are arrested and taken to far-flung detention centers across California or in states like Arizona, Texas and Hawaii. It is difficult for them to continue pleading their cases while in detention.

Both had friends or family waiting to take them home after court.

The Colombian man had been dropped off by a friend who was just outside. Upon exiting the courtroom, he was handcuffed and detained by four ICE agents.

The Mexican woman, 32, explained that she also had a cousin waiting for her. She suffers from high blood pressure, she said, and had medication with her inside a backpack. Two ICE agents took her by the arms and walked her to the sixth floor for processing.

The woman’s cousin, a 32-year-old U.S. citizen, entered the building lobby and waited for hours to visit her in detention. The two women had driven three hours from their home in Merced to San Francisco for the hearing that morning.

The cousin said that the arrestee worked at a bakery in Merced as a panadera, a baker. She had been in the U.S. for nearly two years, and her goal was to be able to save enough money to build her mom a house in Mexico, where she currently lives.

Inside the waiting room of the ICE processing center, the cousin anxiously made calls. With tears in her eyes, she called her sister, recounting the situation.

“She was so anxious that she turned pale” said the woman in Spanish, recalling how her cousin felt on the drive to court. “It was a whole show.”

She was ultimately able to meet with her cousin before making the three-hour drive back to Merced.

Together, four attorneys of the day divided the asylum-seekers among themselves, hurriedly meeting with five who were arrested earlier that day.

Attorneys from the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office and La Raza Centro Legal were also able to meet with the Colombian man and Mexican woman who did not have legal help or observers present during their hearings. 

Later, a representative of the Mexican consulate arrived to speak with the Mexican woman in an effort to provide resources for her, in case she does end up being deported.