Unconfirmed reports of immigration-enforcement activity have circulated in Tucson this week, as immigration arrests and operations ramp up across the U.S. and as Tucson organizers brace for heightened activity locally.
But the Arizona Daily Star has confirmed a couple of recent rumors are false.
Dozens of government vehicles parked at a Tucson hotel this week don't belong to immigration agents, but to officers from the Arizona Department of Public Safety who are attending a long-planned conference there, an agency spokesperson said Wednesday.
Some observers had spotted the government vehicles in a parking lot under the "Graduate" hotel, a Hilton property on East Second Street, and spread the word about a possible ICE presence near the University of Arizona.
While ICE may be operating in the area, the vehicles at the Graduate hotel belong to attendees at a "leadership summit" for command-level officers from DPS's highway patrol and agency-support divisions, said Bart Graves, public information officer for Arizona DPS.
"The agency is aware of recent rumors circulating on social media regarding federal immigration enforcement activity at a hotel in Tucson," Graves said in a Wednesday email. "Those claims are inaccurate. ... There is no connection between this AZDPS leadership summit and federal immigration enforcement operations."
Additionally, a Tuesday Facebook post with more than 200 shares falsely reported a shooting outside a Peter Piper Pizza on Tucson's south side, which the Facebook user incorrectly attributed to ICE.
In fact, it was a Drug Enforcement Administration narcotics operation that was carried out Tuesday, near the Peter Piper Pizza on South 12th Avenue. Neither ICE nor Homeland Security Investigations — ICE's criminal investigative arm — were involved, said Jodie Underwood, a DEA spokesperson in Phoenix. The investigation was unrelated to Peter Piper Pizza.
No firearms were discharged during the DEA operation, but observers may have heard a "noise/flash diversionary device" or another type of non-lethal round being deployed, Underwood said.
Multiple people were detained in the operation, and agents seized "kilogram-quantities" of narcotics and a half-dozen firearms, Underwood said. The operation "concluded successfully," and the case is still ongoing, she said.
Many community members, including organizers, are experiencing heightened outrage, fear and anxiety, due to the nationwide surge in aggressive and at times violent immigration enforcement, advocates say. Tensions are also rising following an ICE agent's fatal shooting of an unarmed mother of three, Renee Good, in Minneapolis last week.
DEA agents outside Peter Piper Pizza Tuesday were confronted by members of the public who seemed to think they were ICE agents, Underwood said.
"It does make our jobs harder," she said. "The DEA's priority is to make our community safe, and when we're conducting drug-trafficking operations and these types of situations occur, it causes a distraction."
In December, federal agents carried out a targeted enforcement operation at multiple Taco Giro restaurants in Southern Arizona, prompting a spontaneous protest in front of the Taco Giro location on Grande Avenue in Tucson.
Some Tucson journalists, as well as U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-Tucson, were affected by the pepper spray and tear gas federal agents deployed that morning.
The Dec. 5 operation, carried out by HSI agents, was the result of a years-long investigation into immigration and tax violations, federal officials said.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona has not announced any criminal charges stemming from the operation. ICE said 46 immigrants from Mexico were arrested on suspicion of "administrative immigration violations."
In a video statement posted Dec. 16, Pima County Attorney Laura Conover urged the public to try to differentiate between indiscriminate ICE raids, such as the high-visibility raids in Chicago and Minneapolis, and targeted enforcement operations, such as the one at Taco Giro.
"All evidence and public sources seem to indicate those were long-term, federal criminal investigations, where federal judges signed off on federal search warrants for evidence or persons," Conover said. "Apples and oranges. Sweeps and ... lawfully authorized searches. This distinction is critical."
But some community organizers say the onus is on law enforcement and ICE to identify themselves clearly, so the public can safely exercise their right to protest and observe.
Activist Maggie Carswell has been routinely showing up to act as an observer, in response to reports of ICE activity in Tucson. Considering the massive increase in federal funding for immigration enforcement, the stakes are higher than ever, she said.
Activists can’t hold back for fear of responding to an incorrect report, she said Wednesday.
"If I was an undercover cop and a bunch of protesters ruined my bust, I’d be pretty pissed. I totally get that," she said. "But how are we supposed to tell the difference? We see a flock of SUVs and pick-ups with tinted windows, and obviously we think it's ICE. … Maybe they should stop using unmarked vehicles."
