Government leaders in Tucson are attempting to prepare residents for possible deployments of federal law enforcement here.
Tucson Mayor Regina Romero says large-scale ICE operations in other cities are "spreading fear and chaos in cities across our country." There's been no federal announcements from federal officials about Tucson-specific operations, but earlier this month, advocates in Phoenix warned of a spike in federal immigration enforcement efforts there.
"The actions that we’ve seen ICE take are hurting innocent people and not making us any safer," Romero said Tuesday in a news release. "The City of Tucson will prioritize community safety and protect the legal and constitutional rights of every Tucsonan regardless of status."
Romero directed city staff to create an informational website for the public to know their rights. It can be found at: http://tucne.ws/1tqm.
The page includes information on local legal services for immigration, what to do if immigration authorities come to your workplace, family preparedness plans, rights available to those who are arrested or detained and rights for those in the midst of immigration raids.
Similarly, Pima County Attorney Laura Conover asked that Tucsonans avoid "recklessness" during interactions with federal immigration agents.
"Here in Pima County, we expect our community members and our own local police to be safe from recklessness. And to that end, I am urging our community not to meet recklessness with more recklessness. We must be smart and fight fire, not with more fire but with water," Conover said Monday in a statement.
"We must move in ways that are wise and pray that keeps us all alive," she said.
Dozens of Tucsonans clashed with agents from Homeland Security Investigations Special Response Team last month during an operation last month on the city's west side. City and county officials are preparing for a potential escalation in enforcement.
Throughout last year, several ICE actions in Tucson have been documented.
In February, three federal agents visited longtime Tucson restaurant La Indita to verify the legal status of its employees, which the owner called an attempt at “intimidation.” In May, an undocumented migrant who has lived in Tucson for over 15 years was arrested by immigration agents outside St. Joseph’s Hospital after his wife said hospital staff extensively questioned a relative whom he was accompanying about his legal status.
In June, an undocumented man from Honduras narrowly avoided being picked up by immigration agents who posed as utility workers.
Plain-clothes immigration agents arrested Tucson physical therapist Vone Phrommany in August due to a non-violent crime he committed 35 years prior, as a teenager. Phrommany was deported to Laos, the country he fled his family at age 6 in the 1970s, after spending three months in immigration detention.
Fear of federal raids in Tucson reached its height in early December, when agents with Homeland Security Investigations arrested 46 people at multiple Taco Giro restaurants in connection to a years-long investigation into immigration and tax violations. Days later, HSI special agents served a search warrant on a Tucson trucking business on West Miracle Mile.
Conover, in her statement, asked residents to "stay cool, calm, and collected so that you do not rush to judgement and mistake criminal investigations with warrants signed by judges with an 'ICE sweep' that has yet to occur here," seemingly referencing the HSI investigation.
But fears of an amped-up federal presence in cities across the nation have hit a fever pitch in the past week, following the shooting death of Minneapolis resident Renee Good by an ICE officer last week.
City and county agencies "have developed a protocol and response if the National Guard is activated by the president without being requested by the City or the State," this week's release said.
"Evidence from activations in other U.S. cities indicates that federalized troops may have been encouraged to engage in security, traffic, and crowd control activities in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act," the city says. "If deployed to Tucson, the City would observe and document such troop activities. The City is prepared to file legal challenges to any improper troop deployment or activity with authorization from Mayor and Council."
"The Tucson Police Department does not participate in the enforcement of federal civil immigration laws but will respond for the safety of Tucson residents and to keep the peace if protests or demonstrations develop," the city says. "However, federal officials do conduct operations in our city related to drugs, violent crime, human trafficking and other critical issues, and TPD may be involved in these operations."
The city says that, in the event of a federal deployment to Tucson, a "Joint Information Center" or JIC will be established so that communications from the city to residents "is unified and clear." If such a deployment happens, the city says it will make "accurate and timely information" on the city's website (https://www.tucsonaz.gov), on its social media accounts, including X and Facebook, as well as news conferences live-streamed to the city's YouTube page when needed.
