Interfaith Activists Blocking Entrances to San Francisco ICE Office Are Detained

Federal officials detained more than 40 activists outside San Francisco’s federal immigration office Tuesday morning after they blocked access to the building for hours, calling for due process and respect for immigrants amid escalating enforcement activity.

The San Francisco Fire Department began breaking chains connecting some of the activists to the building’s doors just before 10 a.m. People were handcuffed and taken inside the building after Department of Homeland Security officials gave repeated warnings to disperse.

While local law enforcement is prohibited from assisting federal immigration officers with any investigation, detention or arrest under San Francisco’s sanctuary city policy, SFFD said firefighters acted within department protocol and “in order to ensure the health and safety of the individuals.”

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that 43 people were arrested by ICE and Federal Protective Service officers.

“Rioters chained themselves to the building’s front gate and doors, impeding law enforcement operations,” she said via email.

Though McLaughlin described the people as “rioters,” KQED witnessed protesters remaining peaceful throughout, aside from some booing and yelling while law enforcement officials made arrests.

Protesters told KQED that they were cited for obstructing the entrance to the building and released as of 2 p.m. By then, the protesters blocking both entrances had been cleared for hours.

Most of the at least 40 people who had been waiting in line outside the building for scheduled check-ins throughout the morning also began to leave after officials said their appointments had been canceled.

Activists told KQED that they were informed that the office would remain closed for the day.

The detentions come after dozens of faith leaders and members of a Bay Area interfaith group stationed themselves in front of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency’s entrances on Sansome Street and Washington Street. Others, singing hymns and holding large banners, blocked intersections on Sansome and vehicle access to the building from Battery Street.

“We are calling for an end to the kidnappings; we are calling for dignity and respect for all people; we are calling for due process,” said Limei Chen, a member of the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity who was chained to the door on Sansome. “We are just calling for love and dignity for immigrants and all people.”

Since the summer, Interfaith leaders from across the Bay Area have been holding multiple weekly vigils outside the office and an immigration court facility a half-mile away, but they have avoided interfering with ICE activity.

But the Rev. Deborah Lee, Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity co-director, said escalating violence has inspired them to take further action.

“At some point, we as people of faith are being called to not just love our neighbor, but we have to disrupt injustice that’s happening day after day after day,” she told KQED. “We cannot sit idly by and see people being marched into the slaughter of immigration detention across our country.”

Lee said over the last six months, about 120 people have been detained while reporting to mandatory asylum case check-in appointments and hearings in the city — a tactic that was unprecedented prior to the second Trump administration.

Among them is Alexandra De Martini’s husband, who was detained last month during what she thought was a routine green card interview. Currently, he’s being held in a detention center in California City.

“People need to be informed that this is happening, that people are being taken at routine green card interviews in front of their children and their spouses,” she said at the protest on Tuesday.

According to De Martini, her petition to sponsor her husband had already been accepted, and agents told her the appointment was wrapping up when she stepped out of the room to change their child’s diaper.

“I said, ‘I’ll just wait, it’s OK,’ … and the agent said, ‘No, I’ll walk you to the bathroom. We’ll come get you when it’s over. We’re almost done here,’” she said. “When I came out, I was informed that my husband had been detained.”

De Martini, who has impaired sight, said she’s had to walk to pediatrician appointments and faced difficulties caring for their 6-month-old without her husband.

She said lawyers advised her to request a same-day bond hearing to have him released from detention, but immigration officials have told her it isn’t possible.

“They said under the current administration, we don’t do that,” De Martini said.

The Department of Justice has also fired 12 of 21 immigration court judges who preside over the Bay Area’s court since the beginning of 2025, raising alarms that judges who might not be willing to rule in line with the administration’s immigration agenda could face consequences.

Advocates said prior to the detentions Tuesday morning that they had planned to remain despite knowing there was the risk of arrest.

“The harm that’s being committed in these buildings when people are being taken from their families and then put into concentration camps far outweighs any concerns to any harm that may come from standing here today in solidarity with people who are just simply trying to live their lives in this country in freedom and dignity,” said Rabbi Cat Zavis, who was among those detained. “Our faith traditions and our spiritual traditions call us to disrupt injustice and stand with them.”