Immigration enforcement activity at Taco Giro on Grande Avenue.

Agents with Homeland Security Investigations carried out targeted enforcement operations at multiple Taco Giro restaurants in Tucson early Friday, which federal officials said was the result of a years-long investigation into immigration and tax violations.

The HSI operation at a Taco Giro restaurant at 610 N. Grande Ave., in Barrio Hollywood on Tucson's west side, later led to a clash between protesters and federal agents, who deployed pepper spray and flash-bang grenades against the crowd.

U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva talks to agents who apprehended a protester outside of Taco Giro, 610 N Grande Ave., Friday morning.Β Homeland Security Investigations carried out targeted enforcement operations at multiple Tucson restaurants, the agency said.

Starting around 6 a.m. Friday, witnesses reported seeing scores of federal agents and a helicopter along Grande Avenue near West St. Mary's Road.Β Multiple Taco Giro workers who live near the restaurant were arrested at their home, according to a neighbor who said he witnessed the arrests.

Authorities haven't announced any criminal charges, but U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a Friday night email that across Southern Arizona, 46 immigrants from Mexico were arrested at residences and restaurants Friday morning for "administrative immigration violations," in a multi-agency operation.

"HSI Arizona conducted the operation with several law enforcement partners to include the IRS, ERO (ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations), U.S. Border Patrol," the email said.

HSI is ICE's investigative arm, pursuing federal criminal investigations such as financial and cyber crime, drug and weapons smuggling, human trafficking and fraud.

The restaurant and its parking lot were blocked off with yellow tape by mid-morning Friday, and agents were seen removing boxes, apparently containing paperwork, from the restaurant as protesters and community organizers gathered at the scene.

The enforcement activity was part of a larger operation, including 16 search warrants, executed across Southern Arizona Friday morning, ICE spokesman Fernando X. BurgosΒ said in a Friday emailed statement.

"Special agents and officers from ICE Homeland Security Investigations, IRS Criminal Investigation, and other federal partners, are executing 16 search warrants in southern Arizona as part of a years-long investigation into immigration and tax violations. Multiple individuals are in custody," the statement said. "As soon as the number is confirmed, we will share more details."

Taco Giro's owner could not be reached for comment Friday.Β The chain has nine Arizona locations, and one in Nogales, Sonora, its website says.Β Arizona Corporation Commission filings list the statutory agent for "El Giro LLC" as Javier Ramos Mora.

It's unclear how many Taco Giro locations were targeted Friday, but among them was the restaurant at 2750 W. Valencia Road, on the city's southwest side near South Cardinal Avenue.Β 

Federal agents posted outside Taco Giro's Valencia and Grande locations, which were both closed Friday, would not share any details on the operation, nor identify themselves. They directed media to ICE for comment.

Agents also targeted the Taco Giro in Sierra Vista and made arrests at a Sierra Vista home on Friday, Herald/Review MediaΒ reported. The Taco Giro in Casa Grande was also hit, PinalCentral reported.

By mid-morning Friday, dozens of protesters and community organizers had gathered at Taco Giro on Grande, blowing whistles and holding anti-ICE signs outside the restaurant's parking lot, where federal agents β€” including many wearing masks β€” and their vehicles were waiting.

Some protesters, as well as journalists reporting on the HSI operation, were hit by pepper spray after some activists tried to prevent Department of Homeland Security vehicles from leaving the parking area,Β around 11:15 a.m.Β 

U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva said she also was pepper-sprayed by "a very aggressive agent" as she tried to get information on the operation.

Grijalva, a Tucson Democrat, said in a videoΒ postedΒ on social media that she and two staff members were hit with pepper spray when they approached federal agents on Grande Avenue.

"ICE just conducted a raid by Taco Giro in TucsonΒ β€” a small mom-and-pop restaurant that has served our community for years," Grijalva wrote in the post. "When I presented myself as a Member of Congress asking for more information, I was pushed aside and pepper sprayed." In the video, she said, "There was literally only one person that was trying to speak to me in any kind of civil tone, and everyone else was being rude and disrespectful. I just can only imagine, if they're going to treat me like that, how they're treating everybody else."

An officer with Homeland Security Investigations tries to detain a protester outside of the Taco Giro restaurant at 610 N. Grande Ave. on Friday.Β 

HSI agents arrested at least one person during the confrontation on Grande Avenue, and called Tucson police for support. A Tucson Police Department statement said TPD personnel were all in uniform, and did not make any arrests nor deploy force against protesters.

"After deploying chemical munitions at this incident location, federal agents requested emergency support from the Tucson Police Department to assist in exiting the area," TPD spokesman Frank Magos said in an email.

Police briefly restricted vehicle traffic on Grande Avenue "to allow federal special agents to exit the area safely," Magos said. "... The Tucson Police Department remains committed to supporting our community by ensuring both public safety and the protection of everyone’s ability to peacefully exercise their rights."

Officers with Homeland Security Investigations carry boxes out of the Taco Giro restaurant at 610 N. Grande Ave. on Friday.Β 

'Unnecessarily armed'

A Barrio Hollywood resident, who asked that his name not be used, said that around 6 a.m. Friday, he witnessed what appeared to be a SWAT team and immigration agents arresting restaurant workers at their homes. The workers lived about one block away from Taco Giro's Grande location.

The neighbor said he saw law enforcement take five or six men and one woman into custody. He believed all but one worked at Taco Giro. The woman has children back home in Mexico whom she supports with her earnings in Tucson, the neighbor said.

Officers with Homeland Security Investigations Special Response Team push protesters back after throwing tear gas to clear Grande Ave. on Friday.Β 

On Friday morning Manuel Moreno, 35, said he and his wife Veronica were heading to eat breakfast at another restaurant on Grande Avenue, when they saw dozens of federal agents gathered outside Taco Giro, around 9:30 a.m.

"They were heavily armed, I think unnecessarily armed," Moreno said. "They're scaring people."

Tucson Mayor Regina Romero and Vice Mayor Lane Santa Cruz condemned federal officers' "violence against the public" in a joint statement issued Friday.

"We share the fears in our community created by President Trump's immoral and inhumane immigration policies," the two Democrats' statement said. "Under the Trump administration, unidentified federal agents often intentionally wear clothing with vague words like 'police' to purposefully confuse the public. Their disproportionate use of force, smoke grenades and pepper balls against the public, including our own Representative Adelita Grijalva, is not justified and cannot be tolerated."

Officers from the Tucson Police Department stand along Grande Avenue as a protester yells out after others clashed with Homeland Security Investigations Special Response Team outside of the Taco Giro restaurant at 610 N. Grande Ave. on Friday.Β 

The mayor and vice mayor's statement emphasized that TPD was not involved in use of force against the public. People with video or photo information about the incident should hold onto it for potential investigation and follow up, the statement said.

Existing Internal Revenue Service privacy laws allow information-sharing with law enforcement in narrow circumstances, to help in certain criminal investigations.

But the Trump administration has been pushing for broad access to confidential taxpayer information β€” including taxpayers' addresses β€” as part of its mass deportation campaign.Β Advocates say the move blurs the line between criminal investigations that could justifiably warrant IRS data-sharing, and civil immigration enforcement.

In April, the IRS and DHS finalized an agreement to share confidential information about taxpayers suspected of being in the U.S. illegally, prompting the acting commissioner at the time to resign in protest.

The IRS data-sharing agreement was blocked in November by a federal judge who said the agreement violated taxpayers’ privacy, the Washington Post reported.

The Taco Giro investigation β€” which ICE said has been years in the making, and carried out in partnership with the criminal investigative arm of the IRS β€” would have preceded the April IRS-DHS agreement on sharing individuals' taxpayer information.

Become a #ThisIsTucson member! Your contribution helps our team bring you stories that keep you connected to the community. Become a member today.

Contact reporter Emily Bregel at ebregel@tucson.com. On X, formerly Twitter: @EmilyBregel