{"id":49989,"date":"2026-09-02T12:04:34","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T19:04:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=49989"},"modified":"2026-09-02T12:05:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T19:05:13","slug":"ice-has-held-25-immigrants-at-sfo-for-more-than-three-days-in-2026-in-violation-of-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/09\/02\/ice-has-held-25-immigrants-at-sfo-for-more-than-three-days-in-2026-in-violation-of-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"ICE Has Held 25 Immigrants at SFO For More Than Three Days In 2026, In Violation of Policy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Leanne Maxwell<\/a><\/strong>\u2022September 1, 2026 \u00b7 SFist.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"ICE
PhotoMichael Vi<\/a>\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

X<\/a>Facebook<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lounge inside SFO\u2019s International Terminal is being used to detain immigrants, and 25 people were held there more than three days through July with limited access to medical care, legal representation, or beds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

San Francisco International Airport has had the second-highest number of airport detentions lasting more than three days this year, behind Miami, resulting in an ICE transfer, as the Chronicle reports<\/u><\/a>. Twenty-five people were reportedly held at SFO for more than 72 hours through July of this year, with 19 of them holding green cards. Eighteen of those 25 people were eventually transferred to ICE detention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of being released from the airport with an appointment to resolve questions about their immigration status, as was more common before the Trump administration\u2019s current deportation crackdown, some have reportedly spent days inside the SFO holding area before being transferred to ICE custody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Chronicle, some were not even originally headed to San Francisco. The US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) reportedly transported immigrants to SFO after they landed at other California airports, including Fresno Yosemite International Airport more than 180 miles away. Attorneys representing several of those detained said their clients were separated from their luggage and phones and had little or no contact with family while officers waited for certified court records or otherwise reviewed their admissibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CBP\u2019s national standards say detainees generally should not be held for longer than 72 hours and that agencies should make every effort to keep detention as short as possible. Federal data shows the agency has nevertheless held more than 400 people at international airports nationwide for longer than 72 hours since January, including 146 lawful permanent residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The change has alarmed immigration attorneys who say green-card holders previously were often released from the airport under a process known as deferred inspection, per the Chronicle. That reportedly gave them a few weeks to obtain court records and meet with immigration officers, often with an attorney present. Attorneys began noticing last year that those appointments were increasingly being replaced by direct transfers into ICE detention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The room where immigrants are being held at SFO is reportedly in the newly renovated Dianne Feinstein International Terminal. Marissa Hatton, a civil rights attorney who represents green-card holders detained at the airport, described the holding area as an inhumane makeshift jail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople are not free to leave, which is a key marker of something being used as a detention facility,\u201d she said, speaking to the Chronicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials said the federal government controls the CBP facility and SFO has no authority over immigration decisions or the detention of travelers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Chronicle, the conditions inside the holding area have also raised concerns. Attorneys said some detainees spent days sleeping upright in chairs, under lights that remained on around the clock, while others had no contact with family. Food was reportedly provided from airport concession stands, and some detainees were allowed supervised five-minute phone calls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medical access has been another concern, particularly for older detainees. The Chronicle reports that the median age of green-card holders detained for more than three days in San Francisco was 57, compared with 44 nationwide, and attorneys said some people in their 60s were not medically screened when they arrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. Kevin Mullin, D-San Mateo, whose district includes SFO, sought to see the facility after learning about the prolonged detentions from the Chronicle. CBP initially turned him away when he attempted to visit on August 20, despite federal law allowing members of Congress to inspect detention facilities without advance notice. He tells the paper he was admitted six days later and saw five people inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mullin said federal officers acknowledged that the practice of holding people rather than releasing them for deferred-inspection appointments began early last year. He also said officers told him weekend court closures can extend some detentions to five or six days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey were not hiding from the fact this is a definitive policy shift from the Trump administration,\u201d Mullin told the Chronicle. \u201cThey would not suggest there was a quota being handed out, but there is clearly direction being given from up top.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prolonged airport holds come as immigration enforcement has expanded nationwide. ICE recorded roughly 4,300 arrests in California and about 50,000 nationally in July, as the Trump administration pursues a goal of deporting one million people annually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related:<\/strong>\u00a0Woman From Ukraine Forcibly Detained at SFO In Viral Video; Feds Say She Overstayed Her Visa<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Leanne<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leanne Maxwell<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

SFist\u2019s associate editor, loves learning about the people and places in the Bay Area. Enjoys connecting dots and spotlighting overlooked subjects. Contact: leanne.sfist@gmail.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Leanne Maxwell\u2022September 1, 2026 \u00b7 SFist.com XFacebook A lounge inside SFO\u2019s International Terminal is being used to detain immigrants, and 25 people were held there more than three days through July with limited access to medical care, legal representation, or beds. San Francisco International Airport has had the second-highest number… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2004],"tags":[1888,1866],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49989"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49989"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49991,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49989\/revisions\/49991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}