ICE agents arrested a mother in front of her crying daughter at San Francisco International Airport. A video of the arrest has gone viral on social media. SFO officials have spoken out about the incident.
In the video, two ICE officers were seen attempting to arrest a wailing woman. The incident reportedly took place at 10:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 22, 2026. She was seen handcuffed and crying.
The two unidentified officers were also beside her, attempting to arrest her. In the viral video, the woman’s daughter was also seen crying as she witnessed the arrest.
She was surrounded by bystanders as she was taken into custody. Several of them appeared to be recording the incident from different angles.
Additional raw footage from new angle. 👇
This woman is U.S. citizen traveling with her young daughter—according to witness who filmed video.
She could not prove her citizenship to satisfaction of the agents—and was violently taken into ICE custody.
San Francisco Airport pic.twitter.com/d1WXpZwIm3
— LongTime🤓FirstTime👨💻 (@LongTimeHistory) March 23, 2026
One bystander asked the officer for his badge number, and others urged the officers to justify their actions. Many attempted to intervene; however, the officers continued with the arrest and did not engage with the crowd.
The San Francisco Chronicle cited a statement made on X by the Department of Homeland Security, revealing the identities of both women.
It remains unclear whether the young girl was also detained. However, the statement did refer to the arrested woman as an “illegal alien.” Both women were identified as Angelina Lopez-Jimenez and Wendy Godinez-Lopez, respectively.
According to the statement, they were reportedly arrested because of a final removal order from a judge in 2019. According to the statement, the woman and her daughter were held at the San Francisco International Airport and sent for processing.
During this process, Lopez-Jimenez had allegedly attempted to escape and “resisted law enforcement officers.” It’s what led to the arrest of the woman. The DHS statement concluded by stating that ICE was working towards reuniting the family in Guatemala.
This arrest of ILLEGAL ALIENS occurred yesterday on March 22, 2026 — BEFORE ICE officers were deployed to airports to bolster TSA efforts.
ICE officers arrested Angelina Lopez-Jimenez and Wendy Godinez-Lopez at the San Francisco International Airport. These illegal aliens had a… https://t.co/Km8uoX9DJT
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) March 23, 2026
Since the video was posted, many have expressed concern over whether or not the SFO airport was safe to visit. This is especially considering the presence of ICE agents on the scene.
As a result, an SFO spokesperson, Doug Yakel, confirmed that their authorities were “not involved” in the arrest. And there were no other such arrests or flight delays due to ICE officers being present that day after the viral arrest.
Yakel reassured fliers about the airport’s priority for passenger and staff safety. Calling it an “isolated incident,” the spokesperson claimed there was “no reason to suspect border patrol action at SFO.”
Federal agents have been deployed to airports in 11 U.S. cities, according to official reports. However, San Francisco was not on their list of cities to visit and monitor. Those on the list included New York, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Chicago, Atlanta, and more.
Donald Trump is considering deploying the National Guard to airports.
This comes after he deployed armed ICE agents to help run airport security. pic.twitter.com/G9lxQ4eMv5
— FactPost (@factpostnews) March 23, 2026
President Donald Trump has also commented on the situation with ICE agents at airports. He confirmed that the agents at the airports were “really there to help” and will continue to follow orders, imposing the current U.S. Immigration laws.
He also stated, “They (ICE agents) are now able to arrest illegals as they come into the country…” He then added, “If that’s not enough, I’ll bring in the National Guard.” As Trump mentioned, the federal officials are currently focusing on arresting illegals. Officials said airport operations were not disrupted.
