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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://missionlocal.org/2025/12/faith-leaders-chain-immigration-court-san-francisco/">missionlocal.org</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">42 faith leaders arrested after chaining themselves to S.F. immigration court</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Mariana Garcia, Joe Eskenazi</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">December 16, 2025</div>
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<p>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 <a href="https://missionlocal.org/2025/08/ice-hq-in-s-f-s-financial-district-has-an-80-year-history-of-detaining-immigrants/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">630 Sansome St.</a> in a predawn action.</p>
<p>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 <a href="https://missionlocal.org/2025/09/sf-ice-immigration-crackdown-illustrated/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">immigrants and asylum-seekers</a> are <a href="https://missionlocal.org/2025/12/sf-ice-immigration-arrests-aclu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">routinely arrested</a> by federal agents after court hearings.</p>
<p>They were successful: By 11 a.m., signs reading \u201cclosed\u201d hung on the
entrances. Asylum-seekers waiting in line for their appointments were
told to reschedule, or come back tomorrow.</p>
<img width="432" height="324" src="https://newspack-missionlocal.s3.amazonaws.com/mission/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/IMG_7645-853x640.jpg" alt="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." class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 25px;">Rabbi Cat Zavis from Beyt Tikkun synagogue being arrested outside the court. Photo by Mariana Garcia.
<img width="432" height="324" src="https://newspack-missionlocal.s3.amazonaws.com/mission/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/IMG_7674-853x640.jpg" alt="Several police officers in uniform stand outside a building\u2019s glass doors, with one officer handling a metal chain and lock attached to the door handles during an immigration enforcement operation." class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 25px;">Federal police removing the chains used to block the entrance to 630 Sansome St. Photo by Mariana Garcia.
<p>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.</p>
<p>Department of Homeland Security agents arrested and zip tied them one
by one, hand cuffing the protesters who had been chained to the doors.</p>
<p>The faith leaders, wearing religious garb from various denominations,
had earlier stood in front of the courthouse doors, singing, \u201cIf you
come for them, you\u2019ll have to go through us.\u201d Stoles featuring monarch
butterflies, a symbol of migration, hung on their necks, and the group
held a banner reading, \u201cPeople of faith choose love over cruelty.\u201d </p>
Faith leaders being arrested by federal police. Video by Mariana Garcia.
<p>\u201cThe goal is to shut this building down for the day,\u201d said Allison
Tanner, a pastor at the Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church in Oakland.</p>
<p>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 <a href="https://missionlocal.org/2025/06/sf-ice-arrests-tracker/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">arrested</a> in the courthouse halls. She wants the detentions to end.</p>
<p>Reverend Deborah Lee, the co-executive director of the Interfaith
Movement for Human Integrity, echoed Tanner\u2019s hopes: \u201cOur goal is that
no one get arrested from the immigrant community.\u201d </p>
<img width="432" height="324" src="https://newspack-missionlocal.s3.amazonaws.com/mission/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/IMG_7681-853x640.jpg" alt="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." class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 25px;">The crowd protested outside the San Francisco immigration court at 630 Sansome St. on Dec. 16, 2025. Photo by Mariana Garcia.
<img width="432" height="324" src="https://newspack-missionlocal.s3.amazonaws.com/mission/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/IMG_7647-853x640.jpg" alt="A police officer handcuffs a person with a backpack among a crowd outside a building during an immigration-related incident." class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 25px;">Protesters being arrested by federal police. Photo by Mariana Garcia.
<p>Both main entrances to the court building were blocked by protesters
for hours at what was a largely peaceful protest, despite the arrests.</p>
<p>Dozens rallied alongside the faith leaders, holding large banners
reading, \u201cPeople of faith say: All people are sacred. Liberation for
all.\u201d Chants included, \u201cICE, your walls are crumbling. We can feel them
quake.\u201d </p>
<p>The faith leaders gathered at Sansome Street 90 minutes before the
building\u2019s scheduled opening time of 8 a.m. Immigrants are frequently <a href="https://missionlocal.org/2025/12/bay-area-legal-orgs-are-one-step-closer-to-halting-ice-courthouse-arrests-in-s-f/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">arrested</a> here during routine check-ins, and immigration attorneys last week accused ICE of <a href="https://missionlocal.org/2025/12/sf-ice-aclu-sansome-detention-lawsuit/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">flouting</a> a court order to improve conditions in holding cells. </p>
<img width="432" height="324" src="https://newspack-missionlocal.s3.amazonaws.com/mission/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/78759272738__FFC1C1B8-F8CE-4E6A-A436-8C98224757FF-853x640.jpeg" alt="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." class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 25px;">Interfaith
leaders gathered in the predawn hours of Dec. 16 to blockade the
immigration courthouse at 630 Sansome St. Photo by Mariana Garcia
<p>\u201cI\u2019m here today because my faith tradition, like all spiritual
traditions, teaches us to care and love for the stranger and to pursue
justice,\u201d said Rabbi Zavis. This, she continued, \u201crequires disrupting.\u201d </p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>\u201cIt\u2019s really heartwarming,\u201d 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. </p>
<img width="432" height="324" src="https://newspack-missionlocal.s3.amazonaws.com/mission/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/IMG_7685-853x640.jpg" alt="Entrance of the United States Appraisers building at 630 Sansome Street, once a hub for immigration processing, with glass doors displaying "CLOSED" signs." class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 25px;">Signs reading \u201cclosed\u201d outside 630 Sansome St. Photo by Mariana Garcia.
<p>Asked if they were worried about missing their ICE check-in, Mara
replied: \u201cBig time.\u201d They are hoping to prove they were present as
required, and figure out their next appointment. </p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>The group remained, chanting, dancing, clapping and singing \u201cLet It Shine\u201d as about eight federal agents looked on.</p>
<p>Within the hour, four firefighters with the San Francisco Fire Department began cutting off the chains.</p>
<p>Protesters who were not chained to the doors sang and played guitar
in support of their arrested colleagues. \u201cWe are not afraid, we shall
overcome someday,\u201d they chanted.</p>
<p>\u201cWe sang ourselves into arrest with a song about joy and love,\u201d said
Reverend Lee. The group was taken to a processing space where
asylum-seekers are also processed when detained. \u201cWhile we were there,
we just kept thinking of all the folks that have been forced into this
space,\u201d she said.</p>
<p>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. \u201cThat was the best thing that happened all day,\u201d she
said. When asked if being arrested was worth it, Tanner didn\u2019t hesitate:
\u201cTotally.\u201d</p>
<p>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 \u201cSilent Night,\u201d
which those arrested sang inside to federal agents earlier.</p>
<p>Charges have yet to be filed against the 42 arrested faith leaders. The were cited for \u201cblocking entrance.\u201d</p>
Protesters chaining themselves together before dawn. Video by Mariana Garcia.
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