Plainclothes federal agents detained at least four people Tuesday morning in what were believed to be among the first arrests of undocumented immigrants at San Francisco Immigration Court, according to attorneys and advocates.
A reporter from The Standard witnessed several plainclothes federal agents — one with an ICE badge around his neck — walk a man in handcuffs out of 100 Montgomery St. and load him into a white van with Department of Homeland Security plates. Immigration attorneys and advocates said they witnessed three additional arrests.
The federal agents declined to answer questions when approached.
A Chevrolet Impala, parked on the street, was accompanied by a uniformed officer. A paper sign on the dashboard read “ICE Official Business.”
Laura Sanchez, working Tuesday as an attorney in the Rapid Response Network, said DHS attorneys are asking for “custody redetermination,” which allows ICE to detain immigrants while they await hearings.
“They switched their tactics,” Sanchez said. “This is new. We’ve only seen it when it was for public safety reasons. I’ve never seen this kind of systematic pattern ever, and I’ve done this for 15 years.”
Immigration advocates warned last week that DHS attorneys were attempting to dismiss cases, after which ICE agents on standby would arrest the immigrants. Sanchez suggested that because judges at San Francisco Immigration Court were unwilling to dismiss cases, ICE switched to a new tactic.
The California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice and other advocacy groups said in a joint press release Friday that there had been no prior arrests at San Francisco Immigration Court, though ICE has reportedly made courthouse arrests in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Seattle after successfully dismissing cases.
“We condemn this coordinated campaign of fear-mongering to terrorize immigrants and undermine the constitutional right to due process,” said Ali Saidi, director of Stand Together Contra Costa. “ICE’s goal is to bypass the legal system and take away the right to seek asylum by intimidating people into missing their court dates, exposing them to rapid deportation.”
The detained man seen Tuesday by The Standard did not appear to resist the officers. A handful of passersby paused on the sidewalk to watch as officers loaded him into an unmarked van, though the detention did not cause a commotion on Montgomery Street in the heart of FiDi.
After the van, driven by what appeared to be a uniformed private security officer with a “G4S” patch, departed, officers reentered the building. G4S has been conducting deportations for the U.S. government since at least 2006, according to reports.
President Donald Trump has pledged to deport vast numbers of undocumented immigrants to their home countries. Since January, reports of green card holders being detained upon reentry to the U.S. and arrests for missed paperwork deadlines have sown fear among immigrants, documented or not.
ICE did not comment directly on the arrests in San Francisco. DHS said it is working to quickly remove immigrants from the U.S. after what it described as lax policies under former President Joe Biden.
“ICE is now following the law and placing these illegal aliens in expedited removal, as they always should have been,” the DHS statement said. “If they have a valid credible-fear claim, they will continue in immigration proceedings, but if no valid claim is found, aliens will be subject to a swift deportation.”
Sanchez said she suspects ICE is attempting to scare immigrants from attending their hearings, which would allow agents to detain them.
Lorena Melgarejo, executive director of the Faith in Action advocacy group, warned that despite the risk of detention, it’s important for immigrants to attend their hearings.
“If they don’t show up to court, immigration will show up to their house and basically disappear them,” she said. If they do attend, advocates like her can track their cases.