Congresswoman pepper-sprayed while protesting ICE raids at Tucson Mexican restaurants

TUCSON – Multiple coordinated immigration raids were conducted in Tucson on Friday morning, leading to an outpouring of support from local activists, leaders and politicians, including recently sworn-in U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-AZ, who was pepper-sprayed by federal agents.

Federal immigration agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) conducted the raids that led to dozens of arrests at two Taco Giro locations, one on Grande Avenue in Barrio Hollywood and another on Valencia Road. A separate Taco Giro location in Casa Grande was raided at 6 a.m., marking the start of multiple enforcement actions across southern Arizona.

DHS confirmed in a statement that they were executing 16 search warrants in collaboration with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) related to immigration and tax violations across southern Arizona. 

On Friday evening, Fernando X. Burgos, a spokesperson with ICE's Phoenix Field Office, said that a total of 46 undocumented people "were arrested at several residences and restaurants in southern Arizona this morning. HSI Arizona conducted the operation with several law enforcement partners to include the IRS, ERO, U.S. Border Patrol."

In late November, an ICE spokesperson told CALÓ News that recent operations were a result of increased immigration enforcement activity in Arizona and across the U.S.

Community confronts ICE outside Taco Giro

Protestors gathered at the Grande Avenue location, where dozens of masked and unmasked ICE agents were conducting the raid. Protestors gathered at the Grande Avenue location, where dozens of masked and unmasked ICE agents were conducting the raid.

Protesters were met with pepper spray and rubber bullets and two were arrested. Video showed Grijalva was also pepper-sprayed, even after identifying herself. 

According to Grijalva, a number of community members were also pepper-sprayed and confronted by agents. “I was sprayed in the face by a very aggressive agent, pushed around by others when I literally was not being aggressive,” she said in a video shared on social media.

She introduced herself and assumed that sharing this information would calm the situation, “but there was literally one person who was trying to speak to me in a civil tone and everyone else was being rude and disrespectful.”

In her statement, Grijalva defended community members for seeking answers and an end to the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda.

“Our residents deserve to know whether these raids are targeting genuine public safety threats – or law-abiding neighbors who have called our communities home for decades. ICE has become a lawless agency under this Administration – operating with no transparency, no accountability, and open disregard for basic due process. No family in our community should live in fear, and I will not rest until we get clear answers and accountability,” she said.

Maria Eugenia Carrasco, responsible for the Rapid Response Tucson line, says that the phone began ringing nonstop as early as 6 a.m. with reports of various ICE sightings. 

Rapid Response Observers reported that an employee of Taco Giro was arrested at his home, along with seven other people, on Columbia Avenue and Colorado Street, near the restaurant. Carrasco said that, according to community reports, four people working the early morning prep shift were detained at the Taco Giro on Grande Avenue. Agents also seized documents and computers from both locations, she said. 

DHS had yet to confirm arrests and specifics of their operations at the time of publication.

According to the Tucson Police Department, agents from the Rapid Response Team were present in the area after federal agents requested emergency support to help them exit the area. “No detentions, arrests, munitions, or force was deployed by TPD personnel at this incident during our response,” Officer Frank Magos, a spokesperson with Tucson police, said in an emailed statement to CALÓ News.

'This is just the beginning'

Organizers are urging the community to call the Community Rapid Response line at 520-221-4077 to report any other ICE or DHS sightings.  

“This is just the beginning,” Carrasco said. “We're going to be bombarded with all the money that was given to Homeland Security. Border states like ours are going to be in a very bad situation.”

In a statement posted to social media, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero denounced the “disproportionate use of force, smoke grenades and pepper spray against the public.” She also clarified that the Tucson Police Department was not involved in the use of force against community members. 

“Under the Trump administration, unidentified federal agents often intentionally wear clothing with vague words like ‘police’ to purposefully confuse the public,” she wrote. She encouraged people with videos or photos to save them for potential investigation and follow-up.  

The IRS has been collaborating with ICE since early April, when they finalized a memorandum of understanding with ICE to share sensitive taxpayer information to aid in deportation efforts, a shift away from its longstanding commitment to taxpayer privacy. 

While the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 made it illegal for an employer to hire anyone without work authorization, it does not prohibit people without citizenship from seeking work.  

In a statement shared on social media, the Consulate General of Mexico in Tucson provided the local phone number for CIAM, a call center where family members can receive information on detained relatives and guidance. 

“The case will continue to be monitored in coordination with the relevant federal and local authorities,” the consulate said in the statement. “We reaffirm our commitment to ensuring timely access for all persons who are detained in order to guarantee due process in their respective cases and, where appropriate, to facilitate the legal assistance they require.”

After the demonstration at Grande Avenue, protestors moved to the ICE Field Office at 6431 S. Country Club Road, where community members reported pepper spray being deployed. 

Susan Barnett is an independent journalist in southern Arizona covering the immigrant and Latine community. She is a recent graduate from the University of Arizona, where she received her Master of Arts in Bilingual Journalism. She previously worked at La Estrella de Tucson and co-founded Tucson Spotlight.