ICE Officers Arrest Mom and Daughter at SFO

On Sunday night, ICE agents made a forcible, graphic arrest of a mother and her young daughter at San Francisco International Airport. Footage quickly circulated online, drawing more attention to the agency’s ongoing, often unconstitutional raids. Airport officials claimed they didn’t expect ICE would target SFO, since this airport pays private contractors to screen their passengers. The workaround negated ICE from standing in for disgruntled TSA workers per Trump’s directive, but only technically. Warranted or not, ICE agents act with increasing impunity. 

As agents continue to roam unpunished, one wonders how their run will end.

Agents dressed in plain clothes arrested Angelina Lopez-Jimenez and her daughter Wendy, and refused to show onlookers their badges. An agent made a phone call while TikTok user @Arg26 repeatedly asked for valid identification, as permitted by law. Both agents are seen violating the woman’s 4th Amendment rights by refusing to identify themselves or the reason for arrest. They hoist her off the floor by her arms. Her cuffs go taut and she cries out. Meanwhile, her daughter panics behind her, tears streaming down her face, unaware she is next. 

It’s an all-too-familiar scene: parents and children separated, starved, abused, assaulted, maybe reunited, maybe not. Associated Press reports that “the family had an outstanding final order of removal to Guatemala from 2019.” At the very least, the plainsclothes officers’ overkill response should make you ask what threat Wendy and Angelina seriously represent. If I’m not threatened by their presence and neither are you, who is? 

And why on Earth does the discomfort of so-called patriots take precedence over a mother and child’s survival? It makes no ethical sense in this world where ethics and empathy lose you land, money, and time. A justifiable society cannot function this way, and despite concerted efforts to de-intellectualize America, more and more people know it. Arg26’s TikTok video is nearing 100k likes. Meanwhile, DHS is attempting to distance ICE from Sunday’s unlawful arrest, claiming “the arrest occurred BEFORE ICE officers were even deployed to bolster TSA efforts to help American travelers who are facing hours[-]long lines across the country.” 

Is either agent employed with DHS? If they aren’t with ICE, which department do they represent? Why aren’t they being held accountable for the inhumane actions of their employees on Sunday? 

Senator Scott Wiener publicly condemned the arrest, saying ICE is not wanted in San Francisco. The senator’s words leave me asking, Since when has ICE cared if their presence was wanted or not? That’s kind of the point—they’ll do what they want, where they want, in Minneapolis, LA, San Francisco, DC, your backyard. Scott Wiener’s response was hot air. Daniel Lurie’s was downright tepid. The mayor’s only comment about the treatment we all saw: “Upsetting.” 

“Like many San Franciscans, I found the incident at SFO last night upsetting,” he posted at 10:45 Monday morning. He went on to add that, “We have no reason to believe there is broader federal immigration enforcement at SFO.” Note the rhetorical feint this “reason to believe” attempts. Any belief can be disproven. I have no reason to believe I’ll ever drink again. So if I do relapse, I could say it was always a ‘maybe,’ and technically get away with it. You might accuse me of weaseling out of taking accountability, and you’d be right. By Lurie’s logic, if ICE increases their presence at SFO or San Francisco, he’s already off the hook.

See the Mayor hiding behind technicality once again? They believe it is an isolated incident, so if it happens again, we cannot claim broken promises. SFPD did not choose to stand down. If you didn’t know, they were merely observing “State Charter, state law, and department policy” to not intervene with ICE. They Tweeted as much, ten minutes before the Mayor’s post. “SFPD officers were not involved with the incident but remained at the scene to maintain public safety.” It’s rare the police improve any situation they’re called to. Lurie’s post simply propped up an existing rule and presented having SFPD at SFO that night as effective decision-making. 

I believe we are witnessing the obsoletion of DHS, ICE, and other post-9/11 agencies collectively watching their welcome evaporate. Despite a purported obsession with the Roman Empire, ICE agents lack historical foresight to see what lies ahead. When the system unravels the way Pam Bondi allegedly fears, it will start with the right cannibalizing itself. ICE agents will be ripe for sacrifice when politicians need to manage the legal and moral consequences of their actions. Rather than protect them, the system they dedicated themselves to will abandon them. Friends and loved ones will abandon them. Time itself will abandon them as sure as history will prefer we forget them. 

Especially those caught on camera—cowards immortalized in .mov format. High-visibility crime can meet with equally visible justice (Nuremberg, anyone?)—that is, we hope. Once political and social support collapse, the official narrative no longer holds. So keep your eyes and camera apps open. As ICE agents defy history, we witnesses have the power make it.