The detention took place outside of the immigration building at 630 Sansome Street in San Francisco, where small groups of protesters have been organizing for months, rallying against ICE detentions of undocumented immigrants.
After 24 hours in custody, San Francisco resident Angelica Guerrero was released. It was an emotional moment for her family and community advocates.
"Without a phone call, without being able to contact a lawyer or anything," Guerrero said. "They could have shipped me to Louisiana. Nobody would have known about it until charges were filed."
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Guerrero, a transgender woman, described confusion among federal agents after her arrest. She was transferred to multiple facilities around the Bay Area.
They took her from 630 Sansome to the Alameda County Santa Rita Jail.
"Those holding cells in Santa Rita Jail are barbaric," Guerrero said. "Santa Rita Jail has been prosecuted many times for their subhuman and miserable conditions. The walls where I was meant to sleep were covered in feces and blood."
Images from a video posted on many websites show the moment a federal agent turned and tackled Guerrero to the ground, arresting her while she was protesting with a small group.
"An agent tackled her and detained her. Put her hands behind her back. I didn't hear any rights being read or anything like that," Sanika Mahajan of Mission Action said.
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Guerrero's parents and community advocates said they spent hours trying to find her after Wednesday's arrest. They finally located her Thursday morning.
"Everyone has the right to due process and how ICE behaved and how they are behaving forward its unjust because it's not just our child. There are many people impacted by this," her mom Maria Guerrero said.
Guerrero says she was charged Thursday with misdemeanors for interfering with federal agents and destruction of property. Rachel Lederman, the Senior Counsel at the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, said federal agents violated multiple laws.
"First Amendment right to protest and the sidewalk is a public space that is traditionally allocated for that," Lederman said. "There is also a Fourth Amendment right that protects you from unreasonable searches and violence by the police. Here the ICE agents were immediately violent with the crowd."
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Not getting access to make phone calls was also a violation.
"Normally, with a federal arrest, you do have a right to make three phone calls, fairly immediately," Lederman said.
Guerrero walked out of the federal courthouse without shoelaces, her phone or wallet. She was told they were holding them back as evidence.
"They are limiting my freedom of speech," Guerrero said.
ABC7 News contacted ICE and has not received a response. Angelica Guerrero is set to be back in court in September. In the meantime, a judge mandated her to stay away from federal buildings.