The viral video of immigration agents arresting a woman in front of a crying child at San Francisco International Airport may have ties to Sacramento, though details about the woman’s residency remain unclear.
Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, said in a post on X Monday afternoon that the woman, Angelina Lopez-Jimenez, lives in the capital region. But NorCal Resist, a Sacramento-based activist organization, said conflicting reports make it too early to confirm.
Videos, which have circulated on social media platforms, show two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in plainclothes detaining Lopez-Jimenez as several police officers and onlookers stand nearby. In the footage, the handcuffed woman screams as a young girl with backpack cries close by.
Matsui’s spokesperson, George Hatamiya, said in a written statement the congressmember received the information about Lopez-Jimenez’s residency through NorCal Resist, which oversees a rapid response hotline for people targeted by immigration enforcement.
NorCal Resist spokesperson Autumn Gonzalez said Monday afternoon that the group had received conflicting reports placing the family’s residency in the Bay Area and Sacramento. She called the situation “unclear and developing.”
“We want to make sure the family is able to connect with an attorney and and do all that before we put out anything to the media,” Gonzalez said.
In her post, Matsui described Lopez-Jimenez as a “neighbor and a member of our community.”
“This video showcases the cruelty we have come to expect from Trump’s ICE agents, but also the lasting trauma that will be inflicted on those who are forced to witness their disproportionate and deadly recklessness,” Matsui said. “I am demanding answers as to why ICE treated this Sacramentan so violently in front of her daughter.”
The arrest happened Sunday night, one day before President Donald Trump deployed ICE to airports across major U.S. cities to help Transportation Security Administration officers amid a partial federal shutdown. No agents have been seen at Sacramento International Airport yet, though social media videos and news reports show agents at around a dozen airports across the country.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a social media post Monday that the ICE officers arrested Lopez-Jimenez and Wendy Godinez-Lopez because they were given a “final removal order” by an immigration judge in 2019. Godinez-Lopez’s and Lopez-Jimenez’s relation to one another is unknown.
DHS accused Lopez-Jimenez of attempting to flee and resisted law enforcement officers, adding that the agency is working to “to repatriate the family unit” back to their home country of Guatemala.
Sen. Scott Wiener said at a news conference Monday that it was his “understanding” that the family boarded a plane, according to The San Francisco Chronicle. The outlet also reported that San Francisco Police Department denied assisting federal officers in the incident but remained on the scene to maintain public safety.
One video of the arrest showed police officers standing by and seemingly creating a barrier between the arrest and several bystanders, some of whom are asking immigrant agents for their badge numbers.
This story was originally published March 23, 2026 at 4:17 PM.
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Mathew Miranda is a political reporter for The Sacramento Bee’s Capitol Bureau, covering how decisions in Washington, D.C., affect the lives of Californians. He is a proud son of Salvadoran immigrants and earned degrees from Chico State and UC Berkeley.