TSA agents alerted ICE before arrest of mother at San Francisco airport

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: Transportation Security Administration officials quietly tipped off immigration authorities before federal agents swooped in on a mother and her young daughter at San Francisco International Airport earlier this week, according to a New York Times report published Tuesday, March 24.

Citing federal documents, the paper said TSA officials flagged Angelina Lopez-Jimenez, 41, and her 9-year-old daughter after their names appeared on a passenger list for a Sunday flight from San Francisco to Miami. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents then used that tip to track the pair down inside Terminal 3.

A viral video showed plainclothes agents restraining a crying woman while a visibly distressed child stood nearby.

According to the report, TSA shared Lopez-Jimenez’s travel details directly with ICE. The move is raising fresh questions about how passenger data is handled at major airports, including SFO.

The timing is also notable. The report comes as the Trump administration increases the presence of immigration agents at airports nationwide during a partial federal shutdown that has stretched wait times and staffing levels thin.

From boarding list to deportation

As laid out in federal documents reviewed by The Times, the timeline moved at breakneck speed.

Lopez-Jimenez and her daughter had been ordered removed from the country back in 2019 after she missed an immigration court hearing. TSA officials reportedly identified them on Friday (two days before their planned trip) and alerted ICE in advance.

What followed was rather swift.

At 10:51 p.m. Sunday, after Lopez-Jimenez was wheeled away from a crowd described, she was booked into an airport holding room, the report said.

By 7:50 p.m. Monday, less than 24 hours later, she and her daughter had been transferred to a hotel in Texas.

By 3 a.m. Tuesday, they were checked out. Just over five hours after that, they were on a flight from Harlingen, Texas, bound for Guatemala.

All told, the turnaround from airport arrest to international deportation took barely more than a day.

Officials push back, critics lean in

The Department of Homeland Security said earlier this week that Lopez-Jimenez and her daughter had final removal orders and that she resisted arrest. DHS also insisted the confrontation at SFO had nothing to do with the administration’s push to deploy ICE agents at airports to help with TSA staffing shortages.

Airport spokesperson Doug Yakel said SFO authorities were not given advance notice and that airport operations continued without disruption. Mayor Daniel Lurie added there was no sign of expanded immigration enforcement tied to the shutdown.

But Democrats and immigrant advocates have already accused the administration of going after families rather than prioritizing dangerous offenders.

In a Monday statement, the DHS described Lopez-Jimenez and her daughter as “illegal aliens” and said ICE was working to deport them to Guatemala, again alleging she resisted arrest. It remains unclear whether Lopez-Jimenez was aware of her prior deportation order. The agents who detained her were in plainclothes.

Rep John Garamendi noted the data trail that led to the arrest. “The real story here is the way in which databases are being used,” he said in an interview with the Times. “A mother and her daughter are detained, and within 36 hours, they’re sent to Guatemala.”

It's worth noting that SFO isn’t even on the list of airports expected to receive ICE agents for checkpoint support during the shutdown. Unlike most major hubs, San Francisco International relies on private security contractors operating under federal oversight, not federally employed TSA screeners.