ICE arrest of illegal migrant fugitive at San Francisco airport sparks fear-mongering - here's what really happened

Viral video of a woman being nabbed by Immigration and Customs
Enforcement officers at San Francisco International Airport sparked mass
online fear-mongering about Trump’s deployment of immigration agents to
help ease the TSA security crisis. 

Video captured the moment ICE agents began handcuffing a crying woman on
Sunday at around 10 p.m. inside the airport’s Terminal 3. 

The officers were met with backlash from multiple passengers who filmed
the scene and yelled at them, as the woman continued to cry with a young
girl standing beside her, also sobbing. 

“This is un-American,” one passenger is heard yelling.

“What is your badge number? What is your name?” one of the people
filming asks as an agent holds the crying woman by the head. 

However, the Department of Homeland Security told Fox News that the
woman was part of a family of illegal Guatemalan migrants who have had
removal orders since 2019. 

Agents arrested the family members as part of a targeted operation, but
as they were being escorted away, the woman broke free and ran,
according to DHS. 

DHS accused the woman of resisting arrest as agents tried to cuff her
again. 

The airport also confirmed that the arrest was unrelated to Trump’s
order to deploy ICE agents at busy air hubs around the country to try
and ease the wait times at TSA lines. 

“We understand federal officers were transporting two individuals on an
outbound flight when this incident occurred. We believe this is an
isolated incident and have no reason to suspect broader enforcement
action at SFO,” spokesman Doug Yakel said. told The Post.  

After the arrest, the agents appeared to have trouble moving the woman
as the crowd of passengers yelled and booed at them, with the hecklers
eventually calling the police. 

The ICE agents were able to leave with the woman, with San Francisco
police present during the detention. 

The sanctuary city police neither assisted nor intervened in the arrest.

The woman and the child who were in the video have yet to be publicly
identified. 

The San Francisco airport was not among the list of locations where ICE
would be deployed, and the transportation hub does not have TSA working
at its security checkpoints. 

It instead uses private contractors as its screeners, which has allowed
it to bypass the bulk of the latest travel chaos caused by the partial
government shutdown. 

“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,” Yakel said. 

ICE did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

https://nypost.com/2026/03/23/us-news/ice-arrest-of-illegal-migrant-fugit
ive-at-san-francisco-airport-sparks-fear-mongering/