A woman was violently detained by federal agents on Wednesday inside Harvey Milk Terminal 1 at the San Francisco International Airport. A bystander caught the arrest on camera, and the footage shows the woman begging for help as the agents grapple with her on the ground, grabbing her by the neck and pinning her with their knees.
“You’re fucking choking me!” she exclaims repeatedly in the video.
The woman identifies herself as a Ukrainian, but further details about her name, her immigration status, and where she was taken remain unclear. Doria Robinson, a resident and councilmember in the city of Richmond, recorded the video and posted it to Instagram.
“So angry just witnessed Ice [sic] abduction of Ukrainian immigrant in SF international airport,” Robinson wrote in the Instagram post. “I have no words. This is unreal.”
Bystanders were able to document the woman’s name and contact information before she was cuffed to a wheelchair and led away by the agents, according to a follow-up post on Instagram by the hotline and advocacy group Stop ICE.
Doug Yakel, spokesperson for the San Francisco International Airport, told Gazetteer SF that SFO officials do not have any details on the incident beyond what was published on social media.
“ICE and DHS are federal agencies that operate outside the jurisdiction of US airports, including SFO. As a result, we are not involved in any decisions about their operations, nor are we notified when they occur,” Yakel said.
In a statement to Gazetteer, an unnamed DHS spokesperson confirmed the arrest happened on July 22 and alleged that Iryna Gorb, of Ukraine, entered the US in 2010 and overstayed her visa. She will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings, according to DHS.
Gazetteer has reached out to the mayor’s office and Robinson, and will update this story as we receive more information.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 12:30 p.m.
