Barbara Stone didn’t expect her peaceful presence at the San Diego immigration courthouse to end in handcuffs. But the 71-year-old grandmother and U.S. citizen became the center of a growing firestorm Tuesday after a video surfaced showing her being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents — not for protesting, not for obstructing — but for watching.
Stone, a longtime volunteer with Detention Resistance, had gone to the courthouse as she often did: to observe and document ICE enforcement practices and advocate for the rights of detained immigrants. She never thought she would become the story.
“I have a large bruise there,” Stone said quietly, pointing to her arm during a Wednesday interview with NBC 7. “I feel mentally and physically traumatized.”
According to her family, Stone was held in federal custody for nearly eight hours. Her cell phone was confiscated, and though no formal charges were filed, the impact of the incident was chilling.
Video of the arrest shows an ICE officer accusing Stone of pushing her. Stone adamantly denies the claim. Her husband, Gershon Shafir, a professor and human rights advocate, was stunned.
“She is a soft-spoken person who was there to protect innocent refugees,” Shafir said. “She is the last person in the universe who would hit an agent or interfere with their work.”
ICE has yet to comment on the arrest and instead referred media inquiries to the Federal Protective Service — a separate agency responsible for courthouse security — which also has not responded to requests.
The incident has rattled the activist and volunteer community in Southern California. Ruth Mendez, a coordinator with Detention Resistance, said what happened to Stone has cast a long shadow over their work.
“The fear is very, very real here,” Mendez said. “And the volunteers showing up now understand that they might risk detention themselves.”
The First Amendment protects the right to observe and document public actions by law enforcement, especially on public property. For Stone, standing quietly outside an immigration court was not only a right — it was a calling. She had seen too many people swept into detention without due process and too many families torn apart.
Yet, the message from the arrest was unmistakable.
In the video, an officer can be heard suggesting that other volunteers might also face detention. Mendez sees it as an intimidation tactic. “The message that it sent was very clear,” she said. “Be afraid. Don’t come back. Don’t bear witness.”
It’s a chilling escalation in what immigrant rights groups say is a broader pattern under the Trump administration’s second term: increased surveillance, legal gray zones, and a willingness to treat even citizens as suspects.
“All Americans should know this is how their taxpayer money is being spent,” Mendez said. “It’s a crying shame. The people who are actually suffering are the asylum seekers, and now the people who stand beside them are being targeted too.”
Still, despite her physical and emotional wounds, Barbara Stone remains defiant.
Would she volunteer again?
“Yes,” she said without hesitation. “This isn’t just about immigrants. This is about what kind of country we want to be. If they can do this to me, a grandmother, a citizen — what’s next?”
As the video of her arrest continues to circulate, Stone’s quiet courage may become a rallying cry. For now, she hopes her story inspires others not to look away.