Peruvian woman detained by ICE in San Francisco freed after judge's ruling
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainee who was arrested coming out of an immigration court hearing in San Francisco last week was released following a federal judge's ruling.
The case involves a Peruvian woman, Frescia Antonella Garro Pinchi, who was arrested on July 3 just as she left the immigration court on Montgomery Street in the city's Financial District. On July 4, Judge Rita Lin ruled that arrest should never have happened, and she ordered that Pinchi be released.
That day, while President Trump was celebrating the passage of his budget bill - which includes a staggering $100 billion for ICE over the next four years - another celebration was going on in the Oakland offices of Centro Legal de la Raza.
"It, to me, feels very symbolic that that temporary restraining order issued the night of the Fourth of July, while fireworks are exploding in the sky," said Abby Sullivan, the attorney for Pinchi, who presented herself in the United States for asylum in 2023.
According to the ruling, ICE agents had no warrant and communicated no reason for her arrest. It's not an unusual occurrence. The same thing happened Tuesday morning as protestors were gathering outside San Francisco Immigration Court.
"ICE has new directives to arrest 3,000 every day," said Sullivan. "They are desperate to fulfill these totally reckless and arbitrary metrics. So, one place they know they will encounter a lot of people that they can potentially arrest is the immigration courts."
But Pinchi was lucky. She had a rapid response team at her side, and they were able to contact Sullivan in time to file an emergency appeal to the District Court. Pinchi had attended every one of her immigration hearings, is employed full-time, and has never been arrested for breaking any laws in the U.S. or any other country.
Judge Rita Lin ruled that Pinchi did not appear to be a flight risk or threat to the community and ruled that she be released and not be re-arrested until she had a proper court hearing " before a neutral decisionmaker."
"This is a first in the Northern District of California under this initiative where ICE is arresting people in immigration court," Sullivan said. "The judge's order speaks for itself. This is a very clear violation of her constitutional rights, and she is released now unless the government can prove that there is a basis to detain her, which there simply isn't."
It could set a precedent about not arresting people at immigration hearings, but Sullivan said she wasn't confident that would settle the matter.
"Under any other president, I would have said when a judge tells you that what you're doing is illegal, the government entity is going to stop doing that because they know they're breaking the law, they're going to have a lot of liability issues," she said. "This administration appears to believe it's above the law. So, I can't predict whether they're going to continue these arrests or not."
Pinchi has been released and is back living with her family. Another hearing is scheduled for Monday, at which the government will have to prove that there is a reason for detaining her. If they can't, the temporary restraining order becomes permanent.
