The statements, issued by Mayor Daniel Lurie and SFO officials, were aimed to address fears that the incident was indicative of a more sweeping immigration effort at the airport. The incident unfolded within hours of the Trump administration’s weekend announcement that it would deploy federal immigration agents to airports to help ease federal shutdown-related delays.
“We believe this is an isolated incident and have no reason to suspect broader enforcement action at SFO,” SFO spokesperson Doug Yakel said in a statement.
“The airport’s role is to ensure the safe and efficient operation of the facility for all passengers and staff,” Yakel continued. “We were not involved in or notified in advance of this incident. Airport operations continued without disruption, and there was no impact to flights or passenger processing.”
The scene unfolded at about 10:30 p.m. Sunday in Terminal 3, according to social media users who posted videos of the incident. The plainclothes men are seen holding down a woman in handcuffs as she screamed and a young girl behind her cried. The men, both wearing black hoodies, did not respond to a bystander’s demands to see their badges.
One of the videos posted on social media shows several San Francisco police officers standing by, creating a barrier between the struggle and several onlookers.
Police officials said the officers did not assist in the enforcement of federal immigration actions, consistent with the city’s charter.
Police said officers responded to a 911 call about the incident at about 10 p.m. and determined that it involved federal immigration officials.
“SFPD officers were not involved in the incident but remained at the scene to maintain public safety,” police officials said in a statement. “SFPD has a large presence and is responsible for public safety at the airport.”
Federal immigration officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In a Monday morning statement, Mayor Daniel Lurie said he found the incident at SFO “upsetting,” but echoed the belief that it was an isolated incident.
“We have no reason to believe there is broader federal immigration enforcement at SFO,” Lurie said. “SFPD officers remained at the scene to maintain public safety and were not involved in the incident.”
SFO is one of about 20 U.S. airports that use private contractors, rather than federal TSA employees, to staff security checkpoints. Because those screeners are privately employed and funded, they continue to be paid during the ongoing partial government shutdown, which helps shutdown SFO avoid the staffing shortages seen elsewhere.