Around 200 protesters gathered Tuesday morning outside San Francisco Immigration Court after activists said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had made arrests there. After more than an hour of angry demonstrations, the courts were closed for safety precautions shortly before 2 p.m., security staff told The Standard.
The courthouse is typically open until 4 p.m.
A Rapid Response Network operator said three people were detained but could not provide information about the detainees. The network is a coalition of nonprofits that verify or debunk reported ICE sightings.
A video shared with The Standard shows ICE agents handcuffing a young man in a white T-shirt and cargo pants on the fourth floor of the courthouse around 11:40 a.m.
“You guys need to step back. You can’t get this close,” an agent told the person filming. At least six plainclothes agents wearing masks are visible in the video, five of whom accompany the detainee into an elevator.
Protesters circled the courthouse entrance, some wearing purple SEIU T-shirts; some in masks or keffiyehs. They led familiar chants: “Say it loud, say it clear: Immigrants are welcome here.”
A total of 154 demonstrators were arrested Sunday night after a protest turned violent and an ICE field office on Sansome Street was vandalized. Police made additional arrests following a larger, calmer protest Monday night but have yet to state how many were detained.
Olga Miranda, president of Service Employees International Union Local 87, said she received word that ICE agents were removing people from the courthouse.
Miranda said her union members, who begin work shifts at the building after 7 a.m., witnessed the detentions and were “shaken by what they’re witnessing of people’s removal.”
“It’s not every day that you come to work, and you hear people shouting for help or crying,” she said. “They follow the rules, and this is what’s happening.”
Last week, ICE agents detained as many as 15 people, including a woman and her 3-year-old, during check-in appointments in San Francisco, according to a city supervisor and immigration attorneys.
On May 27, agents detained at least four people in what were believed to be among the first arrests of undocumented immigrants at immigration court, according to attorneys and advocates.
“ICE is now following the law and placing these illegal aliens in expedited removal, as they always should have been,” the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in late May. “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.”
“I have been briefed on the ongoing immigration enforcement actions taking place downtown. I know there is tremendous anxiety in communities across our city. Mayor Daniel Lurie said on X. “I have been and will continue to be clear that these federal immigration enforcement tactics are intended to instill fear, and they make our city less safe.”