Immigration court arrests and protests roil the Bay

The Weekly Dispatch

Community-powered immigration news from the Bay Area.

---

Welcome to El Tímpano’s Weekly Dispatch. I’m Erica Hellerstein, senior immigration, labor and economics reporter.

The biggest California immigration story this week is the rapidly escalating situation in Los Angeles and the chain of events it has set off statewide, from President Trump’s federalization of the National Guard to the ongoing protests (and arrests) of demonstrators across California.

In the Bay Area, this already volatile situation was inflamed by a series of detentions at immigration courts this week, which led to another round of protests in the East Bay and San Francisco. These courthouse arrests, coupled with ongoing ICE raids targeting workers across California, have had a profound impact on immigrants in the Bay Area. People are afraid and reconsidering their daily routines amid the risk of arrest and detention.

The spark that lit the fuse was a set of ICE raids last week in Los Angeles, leading to the arrests of more than 40 immigrant workers. The apprehensions quickly drew protests, which spread across the city. The Trump administration responded to the demonstrations by deploying thousands of National Guard troops to the city over Governor Gavin Newsom’s objections, raising concerns that federal officials may invoke the Insurrection Act, which authorizes the president to deploy military forces inside the U.S.

The current clash between the Trump administration and the Golden State has been in the making for months. The two sit on opposite ends of the political spectrum. California, the most diverse state in the nation, has deep immigrant roots – nearly one-third of its population was born outside the U.S. As the Trump administration has escalated its attacks on immigrant communities, California has positioned itself as a foil to the president’s agenda. The administration appears to have a particularly strong animus towards the state’s numerous sanctuary jurisdictions, which it sees as obstructing deportations. The state and the administration have been on a clear collision course. Now, we are seeing the clash in perspective and values erupt in protests not just in Los Angeles, but in cities across the state, including San Francisco and Oakland.

Here in the Bay, over the last few days, demonstrators have rallied against a string of ICE arrests at the San Francisco and Concord immigration courts. These arrests, which come on the heels of a similar round of apprehensions last month, are part of an unprecedented effort to detain immigrants and asylum seekers reporting for their hearings, organizers say, intensifying fears among those with upcoming court dates.

“This is the third time since May 27, that ICE has arrested individuals with ongoing court proceedings in San Francisco,” said Milli Atkinson, director of the Immigrant Legal Defense Program at the San Francisco Bar Association’s Justice and Diversity Center. “This is causing fear amongst those individuals who want to comply with their obligation to appear before a judge when ordered to do so and are trying to assert their rights that are granted to them by Congress to pursue their asylum claims. We are calling on the community to speak with their elected officials to condemn this practice and protect the rule of law and due process.”

While this is a rapidly evolving story, I want to take the rest of the newsletter to share what we know about the immigration arrests at courts in San Francisco and Concord this week, and the advice service providers have for people with upcoming hearings in the face of an increasingly uncertain legal landscape.

What happened

On Tuesday morning, I got word of ICE’s presence in both the San Francisco and Concord immigration courts. According to Sean McMahon, an attorney with the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice, immigration officials arrested eight people across the two courts. All of those arrested were asylum seekers with no known criminal history. The arrests prompted a new round of protests in front of the two courthouses on Tuesday, ultimately forcing both courthouses to shut down for the rest of the day.

These arrests come on the heels of a string of apprehensions at the San Francisco and Concord immigration courts last month, when eight people in total, including three asylum seekers, were detained while attending their court hearings. Advocates say the arrests are designed to stoke fear among immigrant communities and may dissuade some people from showing up to immigration court – a decision with significant consequences. If an immigrant fails to appear in court, a judge may issue an outstanding removal, known as an order of removal in absentia, allowing ICE to detain and deport the person at any time.

Lawyers who provide representation to immigrants say the tactic of apprehending immigrants at courthouses, while not illegal, is unprecedented. Along with schools and churches, courthouses were treated as “sensitive locations” under previous administrations, meaning that they were generally off-limits for immigration enforcement. As McMahon explained: “ICE traditionally hasn’t done enforcement in immigration court because they feel like it will scare people away.”

Over the last few weeks, that’s clearly changed. With arrests of immigrants and asylum seekers reporting for their appointments no longer off the table, people with upcoming court dates may be questioning whether they should attend their hearings and check-ins at all.

Advice for immigrants with upcoming hearings

How to prepare for the unpredictable? That’s the question attorneys and immigrant-serving organizations are grappling with as people ask for concrete advice about whether to attend their court hearings. Just two months ago, when I ran this question by local immigration attorneys, the risk calculus was different – nobody had yet been arrested at any Bay Area immigration courts. “The risk of detention when you show up for your hearing is low,” an attorney with the Immigration Institute of the Bay Area told me then.

Now, after multiple weeks of arrests at immigration courts, people are weighing the same questions in a new context.  The experts I spoke to stressed the importance of securing legal representation ahead of any hearings, appointments or check-ins. “We’re urging people to reach out to their local hotlines, local rapid response networks, local community organizations, and get an individualized consultation with an immigration attorney,” said Atkinson. “There’s no blanket advice that I can give that’s going to apply to everyone. What I need people to do is talk to an attorney about their case, and then that attorney can tell them what the risks are that are likely to face them.”

People who are fearful of attending court alone can also request the services of an accompaniment program, which pairs immigrants with trained volunteers who join them for their hearings and check-ins (Faith in Action Bay Area and the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity offer such programs at the San Francisco and Concord immigration courts). People with upcoming court dates can also request a virtual hearing, a process that involves filing a written request–or motion–to have a remote hearing. For people interested in requesting a virtual hearing, Atkinson recommends reaching out to a local hotline or rapid response network that can assist with the process of drafting and filing the motion, or connect immigrants to other nonprofits that can help. 

Even amid all these changes, McMahon said that “we are still emphasizing to the community that it is better to show up for court, because if you skip court, you will automatically receive a deportation order. If someone has an upcoming court hearing and they entered within the last two years, or were arrested by police previously, and they want to consult with someone, they should reach out to get accompaniment or a consultation before their hearing.” 

You can find a list of all the rapid response networks in the Bay Area here. 

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading and see you next week.

Ear to the Ground

El Tímpano’s text messaging (SMS) service reaches 5,900 Spanish-speaking immigrants across the Bay Area. This week, following recent events and heightened concerns about ICE raids, many subscribers have shared questions and concerns about how to receive alerts and stay safe. Here are a few of their responses:

I need alerts when immigration is near my area. In case of an emergency, which lawyer can I contact?

Necesito alertas cuando inmigración esté cerca de mi área. En caso de una emergencia, ¿a qué abogado se puede recurrir?

–Hayward resident 

Do you have information about alert groups confirming the presence of immigration? There are many comments on social media, but it’s hard to tell if they’re true!

¿Ustedes tienen información de grupos de alerta que confirmen la presencia de inmigración? ¡En las redes sociales hay muchos comentarios pero ya no se sabe si son ciertas!

–Fremont resident 

Would it be possible to receive a list of immigration attorneys in the Bay Area who work with deportation cases? It’s best to be prepared with that information.

¿Sería posible recibir alguna lista de abogados de inmigración, en el Área de la Bahía que trabajen con deportación? Es mejor estar preparado con esos datos.

–Oakland resident 

Copyright © 2025 El Tímpano, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you expressed your interest, online or in person, to receive updates from El Tímpano.

Our mailing address is:

El Tímpano

P.O. Box 420442

San Francisco, CA 94142