#### Read Mission Local often? Help **grow our newsroom** , joining the 3,250 readers who support us by giving below. Donate today! A 66-year-old woman from Russia was detained by immigration agents in San Francisco’s Diamond Heights neighborhood Thursday morning and ordered released by a judge later that evening following legal intervention, according to her attorney. At 9am this morning, the 66-year-old woman, who has been in the United States for over ten years and has legal work authorization, was followed by multiple unmarked vehicles in Diamond Heights. After she parked and stepped out of her car, she approached by immigration agents, some masked and others without masks. Her employer, noticing what was going on, asked the agents for a warrant, but they did not comply, and refused to identify themselves or provide paperwork, according to Ghassan Shamieh, her attorney. She was handcuffed and detained without cause, he said. Want the latest on the Mission and San Francisco? Sign up for our **free daily newsletter** below. Sign up Shamieh says that just three hours after his wife gave birth to their third child, he got a call from one of his clients, the family where the Russian woman works, advising him of the elderly nanny’s arrest. A colleague from Shamieh’s office went to 630 Sansome, the immigration court in downtown San Francisco to try and make contact with the woman. According to Shamieh, his colleague was first told they would grant access to their client, and then told that access would be denied. Later, they were told she would be transported to a holding facility in San Francisco due to her medical conditions. This turned out to not be true. It is common for detained individuals to get “lost” in the system, with attorney’s, friends, and family members often struggling to locate detainees. Shamieh’s office worked swiftly to file a habeas petition and a Temporary Restraining Order to release the woman, and around 6:30pm, an immigration judge ordered her release from custody. As of around 7pm, the woman was in ICE custody on the way to California City, and her attorney is working with officials to figure out where her family and friends can pick her up. Mayor Daniel Lurie wrote in a statement that his office was “aware of the immigration enforcement action in Diamond Heights earlier today” and that San Francisco police officers were “not involved” in accordance with the city’s sanctuary policies. But the city’s sanctuary policies do not prevent federal immigration agents from conducting enforcement, as the arrest and detention of this 66-year-old woman shows. “I am in touch with the Rapid Response Network and community organizations to ensure communities continue to receive accurate information,” Lurie said. “We are not aware of any other immigration enforcement action in the city today. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and remain committed to upholding the values and laws of our city.” The Rapid Response Network, a coalition of nonprofit organizations that operate a hotline for immigration emergency’s, also confirmed the arrest. The post from the San Francisco Rapid Response Network on a purported arrest of an “elderly nanny” in Diamond Heights on Feb. 13, 2026. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to requests for comment. ICE enforcement in San Francisco has centered on the immigration courthouses downtown where asylum-seekers were, until recently, routinely arrested after court hearings and check-ins. A broad daylight arrest on a city street would be a marked departure from ICE’s past practice in San Francisco. Mandelman, for his part, urged caution reacting to the news. “We can’t say based on one instance that there’s been a change in strategy.” * * * _This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available._ #### Join the 3,250 readers who keep Mission Local free for all! Because of you, Mission Local reached and surpassed our $300,000 year-end fundraising goal. **All we can say is thank you.** Thank you for choosing to invest in a local newsroom rooted in San Francisco’s communities — one that listens first and reports deeply. If you haven’t yet had a chance to give, it’s not too late to be part of this community. **Your contribution today helps sustain the reporting our city relies on all year long.** We’re grateful you’re here — and we’d be honored to have you join our donors. Donate ## Latest on Immigration enforcement ### Inside San Francisco’s hollowed-out immigration court, where asylum is ‘essentially over’ ### Her partner deported, S.F. mother of four copes with fear and loss in a sanctuary city ### S.F. activists axe Zuckerberg name from General Hospital in favor of ICE victims ## Follow Us * X * Instagram * YouTube * LinkedIn * Mastodon