ICE Arrested Disney Cruise Workers in San Diego and a Passenger Filmed Her Server Being Loaded Into a Van
Nobody's vacation is a sanctuary zone anymore.
ICE just proved it by boarding a Disney Magic cruise ship in San Diego and arresting ten crew members while passengers watched from the dock.
The agents didn't stop at Disney – they came back the next day and pulled four more workers off a Holland America ship.
California Sanctuary Law SB 54 Does Not Apply to Federal Agents at a Federal Port
Dharmi Mehta's server had been refilling her drinks for four days when federal agents put him in restraints.
Forty-five minutes to an hour after his last table, he was in handcuffs on the dock at San Diego – blazer, tie, name tag still on.
She filmed the whole thing, and now the country is asking how ICE walked onto a Disney ship like California's sanctuary laws didn't exist.
The Port of San Diego Harbor Police confirmed they had zero involvement in either operation.
"In accordance with California law, including SB 54, Harbor Police does not participate in immigration enforcement activities," the port said in a statement.
That's the line Gavin Newsom's party never finishes.
SB 54 tells local cops to stand down.
It says nothing about what federal CBP and ICE agents can do at federal ports of entry, on vessels under federal maritime jurisdiction, or anywhere else federal law applies.
Federal agents boarded the Disney Magic on April 23 and arrested ten crew members while passengers were still walking off the ship.
Two days later they came back to the same terminal and arrested four more workers from a Holland America vessel.
Fourteen arrests. Two ships. Two days. One port California told its officers to ignore.
CBP Has Been Arresting Cruise Ship Crew at US Ports Since 2025
The San Diego operation wasn't a new idea – it was the continuation of a campaign that's been running since spring 2025.
CBP launched what it called a "cruise ship crackdown" starting at Port Canaveral and the Port of Galveston in May 2025.
In July, agents boarded Victory Cruise Lines ships on the Great Lakes – removing five crew from one vessel in Detroit and eight from another two days later.
By the time CBP hit Carnival Sunshine in Norfolk, Virginia, the total had exceeded 100 Filipino cruise workers deported across at least six ships from four cruise lines: Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Victory, and Viking.
The Trump administration put the policy in plain language in August 2025 when it confirmed it was reviewing all 55 million current U.S. visas – not just at the southern border, not just at airports, but wherever visa holders could be found.
A Disney ship docked in San Diego is a federal port of entry.
Every port call is a checkpoint now.
What CBP Has Not Said About the Disney Magic Arrests
Union del Barrio organizer Benjamin Prado told reporters the arrests were "not an isolated incident" and "a growing pattern."
Tom Homan said it himself in December at the San Diego border: enforcement would keep escalating into 2026, and valid paperwork would not automatically shield anyone from review.
"The Trump administration has sent a clear message: we're going to enforce immigration law without apology," Homan said.
The immigration advocacy groups want you to focus on the server in the blazer and feel something.
Here's what they didn't mention.
CBP has been specifically targeting cruise ships in connection with child sexual abuse material investigations – acting on cyber-tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children – at ports from Florida to Virginia to the Great Lakes.
CBP hasn't disclosed the specific basis for the Disney Magic arrests.
What they have disclosed, consistently, is the standard: found inadmissible, you're removed.
No Disney uniform changes that.
No California law changes that.
No amount of passenger video changes that.
The server Dharmi Mehta filmed had been on that ship long enough to become a familiar face to a family on vacation.
Federal agents had been watching long enough to be waiting on the dock when it landed.
Sources:
- Gustavo Solis, "Activists say immigration agents arrested several cruise workers in San Diego," KPBS, May 5, 2026.
- "U.S. Deports More Cruise Ship Crewmembers as Visa Review Expands," The Maritime Executive, August 22, 2025.
- "Great Lakes Immigration Sting Impacts Multiple Cruise Ships in July 2025," VisaVerge, July 17, 2025.
- "Port Canaveral Conducts Crew Deportation Following CSEM Enforcement," CruiseMapper, November 20, 2025.
- "Making America Safe Again," Department of Homeland Security, dhs.gov.
- "Immigration Arrests Gripped San Diego This Year. Here's What to Expect in 2026," Times of San Diego, December 30, 2025.
