Federal officers escalated their use of force Wednesday morning as about 30 protesters clashed with Department of Homeland Security and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers outside the San Francisco immigration courthouse, following alleged detentions after court hearings.
While witnesses on the scene initially reported as many as nine people being detained as they left or entered immigration hearings, the SF Rapid Response Network later confirmed only one arrest of an immigrant at 100 Montgomery St. at around 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 20, 2025. A second arrest occurred later that morning at 630 Sansome St., where, according to witnesses, officers zip-tied a protester with a bullhorn and brought them inside the ICE field office. DHS has not confirmed their identities.
Though there have been no mass raids in San Francisco, ICE agents have carried out targeted arrests of immigrants — including families with children — during routine check-ins, while others were detained in courthouse hallways after their hearings. A San Francisco Chronicle analysis found ICE arrests in Northern California have surged 123% this year compared to the last seven months of the Biden administration, reflecting a nationwide escalation.
For months, immigrant rights activists have staged regular sit-ins outside the Montgomery Street courthouse, blocking access and sometimes forcing hearings to be postponed. They were in their usual spot outside of the building when multiple unmarked DHS vehicles approached. Carrying signs that read “Block ICE” and chanting “ICE out the Bay!” protesters moved to block the intersection of Montgomery and Sutter streets with bicycles and their bodies.
Tyler Morris, a freelance photographer who has previously worked with El Tecolote, described seeing a “convoy” of DHS vehicles stalled outside the courthouse as officers confronted protesters. “One DHS officer whipped his baton out,” Morris said. “He was getting directly into the face of this one protester, and so that was kind of this flash point… it just kind of spiraled.”
What began with verbal sparring escalated into violence when officers deployed pepper spray — one officer accidentally spraying a fellow agent — and brandished batons. Soon, more DHS officers in tactical gear, armed with guns and non-lethal ammunition, joined the scene. Pepper balls and rubber bullets were fired, leaving some protesters doubled over in pain while others collapsed to the ground.
After clearing the intersection, the DHS convoy turned the wrong way onto Sutter Street where another group of protesters blocked their path toward Sansome. Witnesses said officers punched one protester in the chest as others used a van to physically push demonstrators aside.
Eventually, DHS vehicles reached 630 Sansome St., the San Francisco ICE field office, escorted by a line of officers spanning the street. Protesters followed, shouting “Shame!” and heckling the agents. Several more demonstrators were pepper-sprayed and struck with rubber bullets at close range before officers made the second arrest.
Morris noted that medics with the protesters quickly attended to those injured by rubber bullets and pepper spray. To his knowledge, none sustained life-threatening injuries, though the status of the arrested protester remains unknown.
Absent from the scene was the San Francisco Police Department. An SFPD spokesperson later confirmed the department “had nothing to do with today’s events.”
For San Francisco’s immigrant community, Wednesday’s clash was another reminder that enforcement is not only rising, but also growing more forceful. Earlier this month, ICE agents tackled and arrested two protesters outside the Sansome Street office; they were both released from custody the same day.
Wednesday’s confrontation marks the latest in a series of escalations. On June 8, ICE agents pepper-sprayed protesters trying to prevent the agents from detaining an immigrant at 100 Montgomery; the use of pepper spray and other weapons has only increased since.
California is not the only state to have experienced stepped-up ICE tactics. Nationwide, reports and videos show DHS using heavier tactics against demonstrators, including a widely circulated video last week showing agents dragging Colombian TikToker Tatiana Martinez from her car during an arrest.