SF Legal Coalition Mounts Resistance to ICE Detentions
A coalition of non-profits and lawyers in San Francisco is achieving legal victories in a challenge against federal ICE detention practices. The group is mounting a resistance against what it calls unfair and illegal detentions, reflecting the city's ongoing opposition to federal immigration policies.
This legal fight is part of a broader, ongoing battle against federal immigration policies in a city with a long history of offering sanctuary. San Francisco's "City of Refuge" ordinance was first passed in 1989, generally prohibiting city employees from using public funds or resources to assist federal immigration enforcement unless required by law. This was expanded in 2013 with the "Due Process for All" ordinance, which limits communication with ICE regarding an individual's release from local jail. The coalition, which includes the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area (LCCRSF), the ACLU of Northern California, and the San Francisco Immigrant Legal Defense Collaborative (SFILDC), has been actively filing lawsuits to halt specific ICE practices. One major legal challenge, the class-action lawsuit *Pablo Sequen v. Albarran*, targets the practice of arresting immigrants at courthouses and their prolonged detention in temporary holding facilities. In late 2025, the coalition secured a significant victory when a federal judge paused ICE arrests at courthouses across Northern California. The lawsuit alleged that these arrests create an impossible choice for immigrants: attend mandatory hearings and risk detention, or miss court and face a deportation order. The legal groups argued this practice violates the Administrative Procedure Act by reversing a long-standing policy without a reasoned explanation. The legal battle escalated in January 2026 when the coalition filed motions to block these courthouse arrest policies on a nationwide scale. They are also seeking to vacate a 2025 ICE policy that extended the limit on detention in temporary holding cells from 12 to 72 hours, arguing it disregards the humanitarian and constitutional consequences. In a separate but related action in February 2026, a federal court granted a preliminary injunction to improve conditions at the California City Detention Facility, the state's largest immigration detention center. The order, resulting from a lawsuit involving the ACLU, mandates that ICE provide access to emergency services, specialists, prescribed medications, and allows for a court-appointed monitor to ensure compliance. This came after California elected officials visited the facility in January 2026 and heard directly from detainees about inhumane treatment and inadequate medical care. These legal challenges are set against a backdrop of what data shows to be widespread unlawful detentions. A Reuters review found that in the four months leading up to February 2026, federal judges had ruled at least 4,421 ICE detentions to be unlawful, marking an unprecedented number of successful habeas corpus petitions.
