Immigration Agents Detain Multiple Cruise Workers in San Diego, Activists Demand Transparency

On April 23, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents arrested several crew members from a Disney Cruise Line ship immediately after disembarking in San Diego. The arrests, captured on video by passenger Dharmi Mehta, showed crew members still in their work uniforms being loaded into an unmarked van. Mehta recognized one of them as the head server who had been attending to her family just an hour earlier.

Nearly two weeks later, local immigrant rights activists are pressing for transparency about these detentions. At a news conference held at the B Street Cruise Terminal, activists questioned CBP about the identities of those arrested, the reasons behind their detention, their current whereabouts, and whether any warrants were presented. Mehta voiced concerns shared by many: “What will happen to them, where will they go, how do they go home, do they still have a job, and do they know what resources are available to them?”

Attempts to locate one crew member through the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) database yielded no results, deepening fears about the detainees’ fates. Both CBP and Disney have remained silent, declining to comment on the incident. The Port of San Diego also stated it was unaware of the federal operation and emphasized that its Harbor Police do not engage in immigration enforcement, in compliance with California’s SB 54 law.

The arrests are not isolated. Two days later, CBP agents detained four crew members from a Holland America Line ship, according to Benjamin Prado of Unión del Barrio. These workers, reportedly from the Philippines, face the threat of deportation, though their status remains unclear. The Philippine Consulate in San Diego has yet to respond to inquiries.

Disney’s own employment criteria require workers to have proper visas and pass background and medical checks, raising questions about how these arrests fit within broader immigration enforcement patterns targeting vulnerable workers in their workplaces.

This unfolding situation underscores a disturbing pattern of immigration raids aimed at cruise ship workers, who often live in precarious conditions far from public view. The lack of transparency from federal agencies only fuels anxiety and mistrust among immigrant communities and advocates demanding accountability and humane treatment.