What Happened With the ICE Arrest at SFO Airport

Maybe you’ve seen this clip circulating on X today. Most people saw it this morning as word was spreading that ICE agents were being sent to airports to alleviate congestion caused by the partial government shutdown. As you’ll see in the clip, the TikTok user who filmed this was demanding badge numbers. “This is an illegal arrest!” the woman is shouting.

Chaos erupts at San Francisco International Airport pic.twitter.com/Ug2WLvFtt8

— Surajit (@surajit_ghosh2) March 23, 2026

That got reposted by this account which added alleged details:

ICE detain mother at airport—traveling with young daughter.

First reported kidnapping at airport since Trump ordered ICE agents to report—refuse to show ID.

Twenty minutes later the same account posted another video of the same arrest with more claims about what is happening here.

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. 

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

Both clips went viral and were seen several million times on X, not counting however many times they were seen on TikTok and on YouTube. Again, the message being communicated with these clips was that ICE was rounding up people (American citizens!) in the airport as part of their new assignment to assist TSA.

A few elected officials released statements demanding answers:

After killing people in our streets and detaining U.S. citizens, ICE has lost all credibility and trust with the public. @SpeakerPelosi & I are demanding immediate answers as to the mother’s and her child’s condition and the grounds for their detainment at the San Francisco… https://t.co/rXxJyNF3cH pic.twitter.com/0bdLeH39wH

— Kevin Mullin (@RepKevinMullin) March 23, 2026

Mayor Lurie of San Francisco seemed to get some basic information before pouring fuel on the fire.

Like many San Franciscans, I found the incident at SFO last night upsetting. I have spoken to leaders at SFO and SFPD, and we believe this is an isolated incident. We have no reason to believe there is broader federal immigration enforcement at SFO. SFPD officers remained at the… https://t.co/txWoxOX6TL

— Daniel Lurie 丹尼爾·羅偉 (@DanielLurie) March 23, 2026

Others, like State Sen. Scott Wiener seemed content to pile on without knowing anything.

ICE was at SFO airport last night, terrorizing a mother while her daughter watched. So much for the “hey we’re sending ICE to airports to fill in for TSA” BS.

ICE OUT OF CALIFORNIA pic.twitter.com/lcnjOV5HPs

— Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) March 23, 2026

Speaking of know-nothings:

This is an insane way to run a country https://t.co/Azi6Ykd6wS

— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) March 23, 2026

It hasn’t even been 24 hours, and Trump’s rogue secret police force is already kidnapping American citizens from our airports. This is not what a free country looks like. https://t.co/kKEEMVpqkG

— Rep. Jim McGovern (@RepMcGovern) March 23, 2026

Lots of voices on the left just went with what they assumed was happening.

ICE preying on travelers, as expected.
Vote with your feet. Don’t fly if there’s anyway to avoid it till ICE is out. https://t.co/ESZpWGIsSf

— Dr. Jill Stein🌻 (@DrJillStein) March 23, 2026

ICE is a criminal organization bringing chaos and terror to California — especially our immigrant communities.

In Trump’s America, even U.S. Citizens are afraid to travel. https://t.co/WYFdIQpX5H

— Tom Steyer (@TomSteyer) March 23, 2026

Disgusting. American Gestapo https://t.co/imE6Krr70E

— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) March 23, 2026

I’m cherry-picking a few names you might recognize but there are hundreds more like this, denouncing ICE and assuming this is connected to Trump’s decision to send ICE to airports.

A bit later in the day, DHS clarified what actually happened in those videos. First, the arrest happened yesterday, before any ICE agents had been sent to any airports to back up TSA. Second, the woman was not a US citizen. She’s Guatemalan and has had a final deportation order since 2019:

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

In short, nearly everyone who was sending this clip around all day was taking the false information about what happened for granted. Nearly everyone was wrong and even now that the facts are out there, no one is correcting the record. This is the BLM playbook applied to ICE once again. The truth is secondary. What matters is how angry you can make people with misleading claims about the law enforcement you’re trying to villainize. 

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