Around 30 protesters confronted federal agents in front of the federal immigration courthouse in downtown San Francisco on Tuesday, attempting to stop the arrest of at least one person. Courtesy of Stevie Sanz
By Tom Li, Ko Lyn Cheang Updated July 8, 2025 (SFChronicle.com)
San Francisco immigration court was again the scene of chaos and clashes between authorities and protesters Tuesday as federal agents detained at least one person and faced a swarm of activists trying to prevent the arrest, including several who clung to a black van as it drove away.
Videos posted on social media showed a tense scene Tuesday morning as roughly 30 protesters attempted to block Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from escorting the person to a van outside the courthouse at 100 Montgomery St. The group screamed, physically confronted agents and tried to block the van from departing, and ICE officers in body armor, at least some of whom wore masks, yelled for them to stay away and forcefully pushed and moved them away.
ICE courthouse arrest prompts tense confrontation
The arrest is the latest of at least 26 courthouse detentions in San Francisco immigration court since May, according to Milli Atkinson, legal director at the San Francisco Immigrant Legal Defense Collaborative, who heads up the city’s Rapid Response Network that responds to immigration enforcement actions. The arrests in San Francisco, Concord and other cities have sparked angry protests and near-violent confrontations at courthouses where immigrants facing potential deportation attend hearings.
Atkinson said the attorney of the person who was arrested Tuesday is trying to get access to the client.
In videos, as the van departed, at least two protesters can be seen clinging to the vehicle as it accelerates past the intersection of Montgomery and Sutter streets. One falls off the car at the crosswalk, while the van sways side to side, seemingly attempting to rock the other protester off of the front windshield. One video shows the protester still clinging to the van as the vehicle approaches the intersection of Post and Montgomery streets, one block farther.
NorCal Resist reported that an ICE agent pepper-sprayed one protester and that another agent pointed a matte black rifle at protesters and press.
San Francisco resident Tay Franklin said she was walking north on Montgomery at around 11:45 a.m. when she heard screaming as she approached the immigration court. Some advocates were passing out immigration resource flyers outside of the court before the incident began, Franklin noted, adding that it was unclear whether the advocates were aware of the upcoming detainment.
“It was really chilling,” Franklin said, calling the scene “inhumane.”
“We’ve been reading about this kind of activity in the news, and we’ve maybe heard secondhand accounts, but there’s really nothing like seeing it in broad daylight, masked people, unmarked vans,” she added. “It’s very surreal. It’s beyond unsettling.”
According to Franklin, a group of San Francisco police officers stood at a nearby street corner but did not intervene in the scene, despite many protesters’ requests for them to do so.
The relatively new Trump administration practice of courthouse arrests is aimed at ramping up the mass deportation of at least 11 million unauthorized migrants in the U.S., many of whom have pending asylum claims in immigration court.
U.S. law grants asylum-seekers the right to remain in the United States while their asylum claims are pending, but the government has argued that it has the right to detain such individuals, which has been challenged in court. Under the U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment’s right to due process, immigrants also generally have the right to a hearing in front of an immigration judge before they’re deported, with some exceptions.
Under this tactic, when immigrants show up for their court hearings, ICE attorneys have requested the case to be dismissed, stripping them of protections they enjoyed while the case was pending.
ICE agents then detain the immigrant for expedited removal, or deportation without a hearing, a federal power that under former President Joe Biden was reserved for those arrested close to the border within two weeks of their arrival. Trump has expanded the use of expedited removal to anyone who cannot prove they’ve been in the U.S. for more than two years.
Courthouse arrests have already been challenged in court in recent weeks to some success, leading to some migrants being released from custody.
On July 4, a federal judge in California ordered that ICE release a Peruvian asylum-seeker who was detained after her July 3 hearing in San Francisco immigration court without a warrant. The judge wrote in a temporary restraining order that the government did not show that it had reason to continue detaining her or that she was a flight risk, because she had shown up for court hearings over the past two years and had no criminal record.
The judge also wrote in the order that she would “likely to suffer immediate and irreparable harm” if she continued to be detained, because she suffered from potentially life-threatening medical conditions that required medication.
“Her liberty interest is equally serious, the risk of erroneous deprivation is likewise high, and the government’s interest in continuing to detain her without the required hearing is low,” the order stated.
July 8, 2025|Updated July 8, 2025 5:34 p.m.
STAFF WRITER
Tom Li is an intern on the Chronicle’s Metro desk, where he covers breaking news. He is a rising senior at Brown University, where he studies public policy economics and international and public affairs. He also serves as the editor-in-chief and president of the Brown Daily Herald. Before joining the Chronicle as an intern, he reported for the Mercury News and East Bay Times, where his coverage focused on housing, the economy and the environment, among other topics. A Pleasanton native, he enjoys exploring the Bay Area’s rich food scene and hiking trails in his free time.
REPORTER
Ko Lyn covers Asian American and Pacific Islander communities for the Chronicle, which she joined in January 2024. She previously covered housing and city government for the Indianapolis Star, and her work has been recognized by the IRE Awards, Goldsmith Prize, and the Connecticut and Indiana Societies for Professional Journalists. She’s a graduate of Yale College and speaks Mandarin.
