[News] 42 faith leaders arrested after chaining themselves to S.F. immigration court

[Anti-Imperialist News]

missionlocal.org
<https://missionlocal.org/2025/12/faith-leaders-chain-immigration-court-san-francisco/>
42 faith leaders arrested after chaining themselves to S.F. immigration
court
Mariana Garcia, Joe Eskenazi
December 16, 2025
------------------------------

Forty-two faith leaders were arrested by federal police on Tuesday morning
hours after chaining themselves to the front doors of San Francisco
immigration court at 630 Sansome St.
<https://missionlocal.org/2025/08/ice-hq-in-s-f-s-financial-district-has-an-80-year-history-of-detaining-immigrants/>
in a predawn action.

The protest, which started at 6:30 a.m. and was organized by the Interfaith
Movement for Human Integrity, sought to shut down the building where immigrants
and asylum-seekers
<https://missionlocal.org/2025/09/sf-ice-immigration-crackdown-illustrated/>
are routinely arrested
<https://missionlocal.org/2025/12/sf-ice-immigration-arrests-aclu/> by
federal agents after court hearings.

They were successful: By 11 a.m., signs reading “closed” hung on the
entrances. Asylum-seekers waiting in line for their appointments were told
to reschedule, or come back tomorrow.
[image: A group of people, including police and a firefighter, stand at the
entrance of a building marked "Appraisers," as a woman holds an immigration
protest flag and speaks to authorities.]Rabbi Cat Zavis from Beyt Tikkun
synagogue being arrested outside the court. Photo by Mariana Garcia. [image:
Several police officers in uniform stand outside a building’s glass doors,
with one officer handling a metal chain and lock attached to the door
handles during an immigration enforcement operation.]Federal police
removing the chains used to block the entrance to 630 Sansome St. Photo by
Mariana Garcia.

San Francisco firefighters used what looked like large bolt cutters to cut
off the chains from the protesters, who had linked arms and stood with
chains criss-crossing their bodies.

Department of Homeland Security agents arrested and zip tied them one by
one, hand cuffing the protesters who had been chained to the doors.

The faith leaders, wearing religious garb from various denominations, had
earlier stood in front of the courthouse doors, singing, “If you come for
them, you’ll have to go through us.” Stoles featuring monarch butterflies,
a symbol of migration, hung on their necks, and the group held a banner
reading, “People of faith choose love over cruelty.”
Faith leaders being arrested by federal police. Video by Mariana Garcia.

“The goal is to shut this building down for the day,” said Allison Tanner,
a pastor at the Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church in Oakland.

Tanner has been attending anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions
and leading vigils for six months, and said she grew tired of watching
immigrants entering this building, terrified, before being arrested
<https://missionlocal.org/2025/06/sf-ice-arrests-tracker/> in the
courthouse halls. She wants the detentions to end.

Reverend Deborah Lee, the co-executive director of the Interfaith Movement
for Human Integrity, echoed Tanner’s hopes: “Our goal is that no one get
arrested from the immigrant community.”
[image: A group of people protest on a city street holding red signs and
large banners about immigration, with a yellow mural painted on the road in
front of them.]The crowd protested outside the San Francisco immigration
court at 630 Sansome St. on Dec. 16, 2025. Photo by Mariana Garcia. [image:
A police officer handcuffs a person with a backpack among a crowd outside a
building during an immigration-related incident.]Protesters being arrested
by federal police. Photo by Mariana Garcia.

Both main entrances to the court building were blocked by protesters for
hours at what was a largely peaceful protest, despite the arrests.

Dozens rallied alongside the faith leaders, holding large banners reading,
“People of faith say: All people are sacred. Liberation for all.” Chants
included, “ICE, your walls are crumbling. We can feel them quake.”

The faith leaders gathered at Sansome Street 90 minutes before the
building’s scheduled opening time of 8 a.m. Immigrants are frequently
arrested
<https://missionlocal.org/2025/12/bay-area-legal-orgs-are-one-step-closer-to-halting-ice-courthouse-arrests-in-s-f/>
here during routine check-ins, and immigration attorneys last week accused
ICE of flouting
<https://missionlocal.org/2025/12/sf-ice-aclu-sansome-detention-lawsuit/> a
court order to improve conditions in holding cells.
[image: A group of people in black robes and red sashes hold signs naming
individuals who died in ICE custody during a protest outside a
building.]Interfaith
leaders gathered in the predawn hours of Dec. 16 to blockade the
immigration courthouse at 630 Sansome St. Photo by Mariana Garcia

“I’m here today because my faith tradition, like all spiritual traditions,
teaches us to care and love for the stranger and to pursue justice,” said
Rabbi Zavis. This, she continued, “requires disrupting.”

By 9 a.m. the line in front of immigration court had grown to some 50
people waiting for scheduled hearings or ICE check-in appointments. Marcela
and Mara, a mother and daughter from Nicaragua, had no idea that the
protest would be taking place when they arrived for a scheduled ICE
check-in.

“It’s really heartwarming,” said Mara. The only problem, she said, is that
they have a check-in they need to get to. The two have been attending
annual check-ins at immigration court together for nearly 19 years.
[image: Entrance of the United States Appraisers building at 630 Sansome
Street, once a hub for immigration processing, with glass doors displaying
"CLOSED" signs.]Signs reading “closed” outside 630 Sansome St. Photo by
Mariana Garcia.

Asked if they were worried about missing their ICE check-in, Mara replied:
“Big time.” They are hoping to prove they were present as required, and
figure out their next appointment.

Shortly before 10 a.m., Department of Homeland Security agents had
delivered a third and final dispersal order to protesters chained to the
doors of the immigration court.

The group remained, chanting, dancing, clapping and singing “Let It Shine”
as about eight federal agents looked on.

Within the hour, four firefighters with the San Francisco Fire Department
began cutting off the chains.

Protesters who were not chained to the doors sang and played guitar in
support of their arrested colleagues. “We are not afraid, we shall overcome
someday,” they chanted.

“We sang ourselves into arrest with a song about joy and love,” said
Reverend Lee. The group was taken to a processing space where
asylum-seekers are also processed when detained. “While we were there, we
just kept thinking of all the folks that have been forced into this space,”
she said.

Reverend Tanner said that the group did not find out the immigration court
had been shut down until they were all eventually released in the early
afternoon. “That was the best thing that happened all day,” she said. When
asked if being arrested was worth it, Tanner didn’t hesitate: “Totally.”

By 1:30 p.m., the faith leaders and remaining protesters lingered in the
street, singing songs, strumming guitars and banjos, and holding banners.
They closed out the action with a rendition of “Silent Night,” which those
arrested sang inside to federal agents earlier.

Charges have yet to be filed against the 42 arrested faith leaders. The
were cited for “blocking entrance.”
Protesters chaining themselves together before dawn. Video by Mariana
Garcia.
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