Is ICE at SFO? What we know about detainment on viral video
Is ICE at SFO? What we know about detainment on viral video
Noe Padilla, USA TODAYMon, March 23, 2026 at 6:39 PM UTC
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A viral video that appears to show a woman being detained by plain-clothed Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel at San Francisco International Airport is raising concerns online amid the deployment of agents to U.S. airports.
Doug Yakel, the public information officer with San Francisco International Airport, confirmed that federal officers conducted ICE enforcement at the airport on Sunday, March 22 — the night before the U.S. Department of Homeland Security deployed ICE agents to some airports across the country.
Yakel said this detainment was an isolated incident. The airport has "no reason to suspect broader enforcement action at SFO," according to Yakel.
USA TODAY reached out to ICE for comment about the arrest but had not heard back at the time of publication.
What we know about ICE at SFO
A video posted to social media shows plain-clothed federal officers detaining a woman on a bench near the 'Untitled (Large Variation)' mural in the airport's Terminal 3. The video also captured a young girl crying in the background as ICE agents got on top of the woman and attempted to handcuff her.
California State Sen. Scott Wiener said on X that ICE was "terrorizing a mother while her daughter watched."
According to Yakel, federal officers were transporting two individuals on an outbound flight at the airport when the incident occurred. It was not immediately clear if the young girl was one of the two individuals described in this statement.
"We were not involved in or notified in advance of this incident," according to Yakel. "Airport operations continued without disruption, and there was no impact to flights or passenger processing."
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A person can be heard on the video asking the federal agents for their badge numbers to verify that they were with ICE.
"I don't know who you are. You could be someone kidnapping her," the person says to the federal agent.
An additional video shows dozens of people surrounding the area, as officers with the San Francisco Police Department stand in a line between travelers and the woman being detained by the federal agents. Several officers can be seen on another video extending their arms to stop travelers from getting any closer to the federal agents.
San Francisco police told SFGATE that their officers were maintaining public safety. “Consistent with our City Charter, state law, and SFPD department policy, we do not assist in the enforcement of civil federal immigration laws,” police told the outlet.
“On Sunday, March 22, at approximately 10:00 p.m., SFPD officers responded to a 911 call at San Francisco International Airport. Officers arrived on scene and determined the incident involved federal immigration officials,” the department said in a statement to SFGATE.
Travelers are heard yelling at the federal and police officers, as the ICE agents placed the woman in a wheelchair and pushed her away from the area.
Noe Padilla is a Northern California Reporter for USA Today. Contact him at npadilla@usatodayco.com, follow him on X @1NoePadilla or on Bluesky @noepadilla.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is ICE at SFO? What we know about detainment seen on video
Source: “AOL Breaking”
