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ICE Agents Tried to Enter Downtown SF Office Buildings, Janitors Union Says

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SEIU Local 87 President Olga Miranda speaks during a press conference with elected and public safety officials and labor leaders in front of City Hall in San Francisco on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, to reaffirm San Francisco’s commitment to being a Sanctuary City.  (Beth LaBerge/KQED)

A union representing janitors in San Francisco claimed federal immigration agents entered office buildings last week, spreading concern that immigrant workers in the city may be at risk of being detained.

“The janitors who work in these buildings clean our city’s offices. They go to work each day, pay taxes & raise their kids,” state Sen. Scott Wiener (D–San Francisco) said on social media platform X. “Trump says he’s only targeting criminals. That’s a bald-faced lie.”

President Donald Trump has signed executive orders to strengthen border security and increase deportations since his inauguration. There have been two confirmed immigration enforcement actions in the Bay Area, as well as rumors of several more. Rumors of federal raids and mass deportations have instilled fear in the undocumented community.

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There were reports of immigration agents entering five buildings in downtown San Francisco on Friday night, but SEIU Local 87 was only able to confirm two, according to union President Olga Miranda. Workers said plainclothes agents attempted to access the building, but they were stopped by security and asked to provide warrants.

No one was detained, Miranda said.

“This is the moment that private business in San Francisco can really speak up and say, ‘This is private property. You can’t come here’,” Miranda said.

She said it’s critical for employees to be educated on what to do if immigration officers show up at their workplace. Businesses also need to be ready to protect their workers by having established protocols, she added.

Bay Area elected officials have pushed back against Trump’s anti-immigrant directives and his attacks on sanctuary cities. In San Francisco, officials reaffirmed a commitment to not use city resources for immigration enforcement on Tuesday.

In San Jose, Mayor Matt Mahan confirmed ICE agents were conducting operations over the weekend. In a statement, he said the San Jose Police Department will not participate in immigration enforcement.

Miranda said cities such as San Francisco were always going to be targets for the Trump administration. However, the community shouldn’t live in fear, according to Miranda. People should feel comfortable sending their children to school and going to work, and it shouldn’t be seen as an act of defiance by federal officials, she said.

“We will always be in the crosshairs of this administration… but we will not live in darkness, and we will not live in fear,” Miranda said.

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