On Saturday, footage shot in Peckham, south-east London, showed a crowd sitting on the ground in front of the vehicle, with members of the public yelling “Let him go.
According to reports, the man is Nigerian and was suspected of overstaying his visa.
He was granted immigration bail and released.
Officers were dispatched to Evan Cook Close shortly after 13:30 BST “in response to a report of protesters obstructing immigration officers,” according to Met Police.
Eleanor Janega, one of the protesters, said people came to demonstrate after hearing about a “immigration raid.”
“We’d been sitting here blocking the van, eating ice cream. They brought in more cops and tried to push their way through the crowd. “Everyone took a seat.”
Labour councillor Reginald Popoola claimed that people “encircled the van peacefully,” but that some people were shoved during the protest.
A woman identified only as Nicola, a Stand Up To Racism activist, said police “gave up” trying to arrest people at the scene.
“Police attempted to arrest a number of activists near the front, but they were held up by others who were also sitting down, and the police gave up,” she explained.
Finally, after much protest, the police announced that they would release him, and it took about half an hour for them to open the doors.
Blocking or obstructing immigration enforcement teams from doing their job is unacceptable,” a Home Office spokeswoman said. “Blocking or obstructing them will not deter them from carrying out the duties that the public rightly expects them to carry out.”
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