San Francisco Leaders Propose New Law Requiring Police to ID ICE Agents

San Francisco supervisors plan to propose a policy directing local police to identify federal immigration agents conducting arrests in the city after a mother was arrested by plainclothes officers at San Francisco International Airport last week.

Supervisors Bilal Mahmood and Chyanne Chen said their ordinance would direct San Francisco Police Officers to confirm the credentials of federal agents and capture the process on body-worn cameras.

“With a lot of ICE agents either masked or in plain clothes or without readily identifiable information, we don’t know if someone is not even an ICE agent and is instead abusing that power. Or if they are, we don’t actually know what they’re there to do,” Mahmood told KQED.

Mahmood said the new legislation would create an additional measure of accountability for federal agents and clarify the expectation of local law enforcement officers’ role when interacting with federal agencies.

The proposal comes after a Contra Costa County woman traveling domestically with her young daughter was arrested in an airport terminal last Sunday evening by two plainclothes immigration officers, drawing wide criticism from local elected officials, immigration advocates and residents.

Video footage of the incident shows more than a dozen SFPD officers on the scene forming a circle around the two agents arresting the woman, between them and a group of bystanders attempting to document the incident and requesting the agents’ identification.

Days after the arrest, bystanders filed complaints against SFPD, alleging that the officers’ response violated the city’s sanctuary policy and department directives.

San Francisco’s sanctuary city policy already prevents local law enforcement officers from aiding in federal immigration operations, and in the fall, the department issued an executive order directing officers to identify immigration agents when possible.

SFPD spokesperson Robert Rueca said the officers responded to a 911 call, and “were not involved in the incident but remained at the scene to maintain public safety.”

Formalizing the order as city policy, he said, will bolster public trust and can serve as a model for other cities.

“We have an opportunity from San Francisco to lead,” Mahmood said. “Showing that there are legislative tools to provide safety for San Franciscans in light of the federal government.”

Mahmood said it also builds on a policy the city passed last month creating “ICE-Free Zones,” which bars immigration officers from using city buildings and resources for operations. Santa Clara and Alameda counties have also passed similar policies.

“This helps to increase the transparency of where [immigration enforcement] incidents might be occurring, when right now, it’s in some respect invisible to many people,” he said. “This is really, again, a broader framework about providing a legislative toolkit for legislators to be able to continue to ensure that our communities feel safe.”