Did SF police violate sanctuary law at SFO? Advocates demand answers after ICE arrest

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — A group of community organizations is alleging that the San Francisco Police Department unlawfully assisted federal immigration agents during the arrest of two immigrants at the airport on Sunday.

The coalition filed a complaint against SFPD on Wednesday, alleging officers violated city and state sanctuary laws due to their presence surrounding federal agents during the arrest.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested a mother and her daughter from Guatemala at San Francisco International Airport on Sunday, with bystanders recording videos of the incident that have drawn national attention.

Bay Area lawmakers are sounding off after video shows reported ICE agents in plain clothes detaining a woman at SFO.

A judge issued a final order of removal to the immigrants, identified as Angelina Lopez-Jimenez and Wendy Godinez-Lopez, back in 2019, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Videos circulating on social media show several SFPD officers appearing to form a perimeter while ICE agents detained the woman.

“I want to understand what information they had before they arrived. I want to understand what their reason or excuse was for showing up on the scene. I understand how they decided to deploy that many officers to protect ICE,” said Angela Chan, assistant chief attorney with the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office.

Chan, who helped write the city and state’s sanctuary laws, argues the officers crossed a legal line.

“I believe what they did was they assisted with immigration enforcement by assisting with an arrest, a detention and transportation for ICE. I think they did more than form that perimeter,” she said.

SFPD maintains it does not assist in federal immigration enforcement, and told ABC7 that its officers responded to a Sunday 911 call around 10:00 p.m. at SFO.

“Officers arrived on scene and determined the incident involved federal immigration officials. SFPD officers were not involved. SFPD has a large presence and is responsible for public safety at the airport. SFPD will continue to ensure public safety at SFO and in the City of San Francisco,” a spokesperson said.

Mayor Daniel Lurie reinforced that stance.

“Our sanctuary policies are here. They are in place. They’re not going anywhere as long as I am mayor. We are going to continue those policies. SFPD, and any local law enforcement will not assist federal immigration enforcement,” Lurie said.

Legal gray area hinges on intent, experts say

“We don’t know enough information,” said Bill Hing, a law professor at the University of San Francisco and former SFPD commissioner.

“What we don’t know is if they were worried that the situation was going to escalate into violence, where people could get hurt, innocent bystanders,” he said.

The city’s sanctuary ordinance prohibits city employees from using resources to “assist or cooperate with any ICE investigation, detention, or arrest.”

“They’re not supposed to use San Francisco resources to assist in immigration enforcement,” Hing added. “However, they are if what they were doing was to prevent violence from occurring.”

He said hypothetically, if ICE called SFPD asking for protection, that would be permissible under the city ordinance.

“That’s different from ‘we want San Francisco police to come in and help us because we’re going to engage in something that involves immigration enforcement,'” he said. “Then that’s bordering on San Francisco police responding in violation of the sanctuary policies.”

He added that determining intent will likely require further investigation into who called police and how officers were instructed to respond.

For now, advocates say the public records request could provide insight into whether sanctuary policies were violated – or upheld.