Footage of a woman being detained by immigration authorities Sunday at SFO, as her crying child looked on, is sparking outrage.
Social media videos show San Francisco police officers providing a buffer for federal agents as a crowd of angry travelers yells at them and records the interaction. The video, posted to Reddit (opens in new tab), shows officials pushing a woman in a wheelchair as a girl walks behind. Another video, taken from a different angle (opens in new tab), shows two apparent officers detaining the woman, holding her down on the floor.
“We understand federal officers were transporting two individuals on an outbound flight when this incident occurred. We believe this is an isolated incident and have no reason to suspect broader enforcement action at SFO,” an airport spokesperson told The Standard on Monday. “The airport’s role is to ensure the safe and efficient operation of the facility for all passengers and staff. We were not involved in or notified in advance of this incident.”
State Sen. Scott Wiener said officers (opens in new tab) from Immigration and Customs Enforcement were “terrorizing a mother while her daughter watched” and reiterated his calls to keep the federal agency out of California.
Angelina Lopez-Jimenez and Wendy Godinez-Jimenez were arrested by ICE at SFO, the Department of Homeland Security said on X, calling them “ILLEGAL ALIENS (opens in new tab).”
Officers were escorting the pair to the international terminal when Lopez-Jimenez tried to flee and resisted them, DHS said.
A deportation order for the family was issued in 2019, according to the agency.
“ICE is working as quickly as possible to repatriate the family unit to their home country of Guatemala,” DHS’ statement said.
Wiener said Monday he believed that the mother and daughter had been placed on an international flight, but was awaiting word from ICE.
Saikat Chakrabarti, who is running against Wiener in the race to succeed Rep. Nancy Pelosi, suggested that the footage shows a violation of San Francisco’s sanctuary policies that prevent local officials from cooperating with federal immigration agents.
“How did two unidentified ICE agents get behind security at SFO to do this arrest?” he tweeted (opens in new tab). “Allegedly SFPD were on the scene providing cover for ICE — how is that ok?”
A San Francisco Police Department spokesperson said the officers involved upheld the sanctuary policy. The officers were summoned Sunday at 10 p.m. because of a 911 call related to an incident at the airport, the spokesperson said.
“Officers arrived on scene and determined the incident involved federal immigration officials,” an SFPD spokesman wrote in an email. “SFPD officers were not involved in the incident but remained at the scene to maintain public safety.”
ICE officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Mayor Daniel Lurie said it appeared to be an isolated incident. (opens in new tab)
“Like many San Franciscans, I found the incident at SFO last night upsetting. I have spoken to leaders at SFO and SFPD, and we believe this is an isolated incident,” Lurie posted to X. “We have no reason to believe there is broader federal immigration enforcement at SFO.”
Kristi Noem, who was recently fired as secretary of Homeland Security, had praised Lurie for cooperating with federal officials.
“You’ve got a mayor that works with us very well. He probably doesn’t want me to talk about it a lot, actually,” Noem said March 5. “But he has been cooperative, and we have great conversations and talk quite often.”
Filling in for TSA
The chaotic scene Sunday night came soon after President Donald Trump announced that ICE agents would be deployed to airports to help the shorthanded TSA move travelers through security checkpoints.
SFO, which has used private security rather than the TSA to screen passengers since 2005, said it does not expect ICE agents at its checkpoints.
Most DHS employees, including TSA officers, have worked without guaranteed pay since mid-February, as Congress has failed to pass a full funding bill for the agency.
Financial strains have driven up absenteeism among TSA officers; unexcused absences have tripled at some airports (opens in new tab), prompting Trump to order ICE agents to help manage security lines during the busy spring-break travel season.
The lack of pay has forced some TSA employees to seek second jobs or rely on food pantries and gas cards provided by airport operators.
Representatives of San Jose Mineta International Airport and Oakland International Airport said they had seen no unusual federal law enforcement activity.
An Oakland airport rep said the facility had “not been advised of any operational changes or initial planned deployments at this time” and had not experienced longer-than-usual lines at TSA checkpoints.
San Jose airport officials said operations and wait times were proceeding normally and directed questions about federal staffing to TSA and the Department of Homeland Security.
Two airport trade groups warned Congress in a letter last week that unexcused absences and associated staff shortages could linger through the FIFA World Cup, which begins in fewer than 90 days.
The ICE airport deployment comes as the Senate prepared to confirm Markwayne Mullin as DHS secretary and as the State Department on Sunday issued a heightened global threat level (opens in new tab), advising Americans — particularly those in the Middle East — to exercise increased caution.