By Zach Fuentes and Frances Wang
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SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — ICE agents in plain clothes forcefully detained a woman at San Francisco International Airport on Sunday night while her young daughter watched, setting off controversy across the Bay Area.
Videos of the incident went viral after they were posted late Sunday. The incident happened around 10 p.m. in Terminal 3.
The video shows what appears to be officers arresting a woman with a crowd of people surrounding her, the arrest happening in front of the woman’s daughter, who could be heard crying.
The woman who recorded the video told ABC7 Eyewitness News’ Frances Wang, she rushed over after hearing screaming and seeing a child crying.
She said she repeatedly asked the men to identify themselves. “Is this a kidnapping? Is this a federal agent? And that was what was most frustrating was not being able to receive any sort of response from them,” the woman who didn’t want to be named said. “These are other humans that are being treated as less than. And I think, you know, anyone should react this way.”
The officers did not respond to those requests and the woman is seen later being taken through the airport by officers in a wheelchair.
The news of that detainment came just a day before the president said he would send ICE agents to national airports to ease long TSA lines. The Bay Area, as of now, is not included in those airports, so this incident appears to be unrelated, but left many people confused and on edge.
The Department of Homeland Security later confirmed it was an arrest and insists it happened before President Trump’s deployment of ICE agents to national airports.
In a statement released on X Monday, the DHS identified the woman and her daughter as Angelina and Wendy Godinez-Lopez.
DHS claims the family had “an outstanding final order of removal since 2019.”
DHS also provided context on what lead up to the viral video moment.
“While being escorted to the international terminal for processing, Lopez-Jimenez attempted to flee and resisted law enforcement officers,” wrote a DHS spokesperson. “ICE is working as quickly as possible to repatriate the family unit to their home country of Guatemala.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for SFO said that federal officers were transporting two people on an outbound flight when the incident on video happened.
SFO says it believes that it was an isolated incident and that it has no reason to suspect that broader enforcement is happening at SFO.
“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. Airport operations continued without disruption, and there was no impact to flights or passenger processing,” the statement said in part.
San Francisco police and local lawmakers are sounding off on the issue.
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie posted a statement on X, saying:
“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. We have no reason to believe there is broader federal immigration enforcement at SFO. SFPD officers remained at the scene to maintain public safety and were not involved in the incident. Under our city’s longstanding policies, local law enforcement does not participate in federal civil immigration enforcement. Those policies keep us safe and will not change as long as I’m mayor.”
State Senator Scott Wiener held a press conference in response to the incident, where he reiterated a stance that “ICE is not welcome in San Francisco or at San Francisco International Airport.”
“We don’t need ICE or border patrol or any of these other thugs in our city and our airport,” he said. “They’re not welcome here, and they need to stay the hell out.”
Wiener also expressed skepticism about DHS’ statement, saying he takes statements from the administration “with a huge grain of salt.”
His understanding is that the woman and her child were being taken to the airport to be deported and that they ultimately boarded a plane.
“Last night, at the airport, we had a really horrible situation with immigration agents, with a mother and her young daughter. They were violently handcuffing her and taking her down. And, at the airport. It was just horrible with a child there.”
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and Congressman Kevin Mullin also issued the following joint statement:
“The video of a mother being aggressively detained by ICE agents in front of her daughter at the San Francisco International Airport is yet another heartbreaking example of how Trump’s inhumane immigration enforcement is terrorizing communities across America. After killing people in our streets and detaining U.S. citizens, ICE has lost all credibility and trust with the public. We demand immediate answers as to the mother’s and her child’s condition and the grounds for their detainment. The hardworking TSA staff at SFO are contract employees, and we are relieved to hear this incident is not related to Trump’s threat to send ICE agents into airports to perform sensitive airport security for which they are not trained. Trump and Republicans are failing to keep communities safe and posing risks to families across America.”
Another video shows several San Francisco police officers standing nearby. SFPD said it does not assist in enforcing civil federal immigration laws and was only on scene to maintain public safety.
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