Democrats condemn detention of distraught woman by federal officers at San Francisco airport

WASHINGTON, March 23 (Reuters) - The detention by federal officers of a crying woman at the San Francisco International Airport on Sunday drew condemnation from local ​officials in California after the clips went viral.

One video posted by an NBC affiliate, opens new tab ‌on Monday showed the woman in tears and screaming as officers held her down. Her daughter could be seen looking on and crying.

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State Senator Scott Wiener, a Democrat, said the incident showed that such ​federal action brought “nothing but fear and chaos.” San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, also ​a Democrat, said what had happened was “upsetting.”

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, ⁠whose Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has overseen Republican President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, said on ​X the clips showed the arrest of people who were in the U.S. illegally.

“ICE officers ​arrested Angelina Lopez-Jimenez and Wendy Godinez-Lopez at the San Francisco International Airport,” the DHS said on X, adding the family had an outstanding final order of removal to Guatemala from 2019.

Democratic U.S. Representative Doris Matsui ​said the woman detained by ICE lived in Sacramento and described her as “our neighbor ​and a member of our community.”

Trump’s immigration crackdown and his administration’s use of ICE agents has been ‌widely condemned ⁠by human rights advocates who say the crackdown violates due process and free speech rights, and has created an unsafe environment, particularly for ethnic minorities.

Trump says his actions aim to improve domestic security and reduce illegal immigration.

The airport said it was not involved in or notified in ​advance of the ​incident, which it cast ⁠as “isolated.”

Airport operations continued without disruption, and there was no impact to flights or passenger processing from that incident, the airport added. San ​Francisco Police also issued a statement saying it did not participate ​in the ⁠incident.

The DHS said the incident took place on Sunday before ICE officers were deployed to airports.

On Monday, Trump deployed armed immigration agents to help ease hours-long security lines at major airports strained ⁠by staff ​shortages.

Democrats have refused to fund the DHS without new ​curbs on the actions of immigration agents. There was little sign the standoff between Trump’s Republicans and opposition Democrats ​would end soon.

Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Ted Hesson in Washington; Editing by Kate Mayberry

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Kanishka Singh

Thomson Reuters

Kanishka Singh is a breaking news reporter for Reuters in Washington DC, who primarily covers US politics and national affairs in his current role. His past breaking news coverage has spanned across a range of topics like the Black Lives Matter movement; the US elections; the 2021 Capitol riots and their follow up probes; the Brexit deal; US-China trade tensions; the NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan; the COVID-19 pandemic; and a 2019 Supreme Court verdict on a religious dispute site in his native India.

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Ted Hesson

Thomson Reuters

Ted Hesson is an immigration reporter for Reuters, based in Washington, D.C. His work focuses on the policy and politics of immigration, asylum and border security. Prior to joining Reuters in 2019, Ted worked for the news outlet POLITICO, where he also covered immigration. His articles have appeared in POLITICO Magazine, The Atlantic and VICE News, among other publications. Ted holds a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and bachelor’s degree from Boston College.

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