Immigration raids underway across US, including Arizona – Arizona’s Family

PHOENIX (AZFamily/AP) — Federal officials touted hundreds of arrests as immigration enforcement ramped up across the country, including in Arizona.On Sunday, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Phoenix Division posted several photos on X (formerly Twitter) about its assistance with immigration efforts in conjunction with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and other Department of Justice partners. The agency did not indicate where the photos were taken in Arizona.In a follow-up post early Monday afternoon, the DEA confirmed that Arizona operations continued, adding that a team had arrested a person wanted for homicide in Mexico. Again, it’s unclear where the arrest was made in the state.THIS morning, Arizona operations continued, and the team apprehended a subject wanted for homicide in Mexico. We are #lawenforcementstrong @DeaPhoenix @HSIArizona @USAO_AZ @ATFPhoenix @FBIPhoenix @USMarshalsHQ @TheJusticeDept @DEAHQ @DHSgov pic.twitter.com/ZBox18fuZl“They’re not sweeps. They’re targeted enforcement operations,” said Stewart, a retired ICE agent who worked in Arizona.He said immigration agents are not showing up to random places, hoping to catch any undocumented immigrants.“Right now, as we’re speaking, they’re going after the worst of the worst. Like people who have very serious criminal histories,” he said. “ICE going in and arresting these criminals is helping secure those neighborhoods.”He explained that these raids could have what are called “collaterals,” meaning someone who is not the intended target of the operation but is undocumented could be detained or arrested if they’re in the area.“If you’re arrested and you’re just here illegally, you’re going to get an NTA. You’re going to go see a judge. You’re not getting deported,” he said.Juliana Manzanarez, an immigration attorney in Phoenix, said a judge decides if a person will be deported. However, she said they likely won’t be deported immediately.“I would say, out of all of the calls I had today, maybe about half of those were about questions about what to do if ICE comes to your house, or your work, or anything like that,” said Manzanarez.She said agents need a warrant to enter those places if the owner does not give them permission to go in. If they get a warrant, Manzanarez said undocumented immigrants still have some rights.“As long as you’re here in the United States, you do have certain rights which are kind of the same ones we’ve seen on TV shows. You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to call somebody and to talk to an attorney and to not answer anymore questions,” she said.Elsewhere, top Trump administration officials, including “border czar” Tom Homan and the acting deputy attorney general, visited Chicago on Sunday to witness the start of ramped-up immigration enforcement in the nation’s third-largest city as federal agencies touted arrests around the country.Few details of the operation were immediately made public, including the number of arrests. But the sheer number of federal agencies involved showed President Donald Trump’s willingness to use federal law enforcement beyond the Department of Homeland Security to carry out his long-promised mass deportations.Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it made 956 arrests nationwide on Sunday and 286 on Saturday. While some of the operations may not have been unusual, ICE averaged 311 daily arrests in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.Enforcement efforts continue here in Arizona as #DEAPHOENIXDIV stands side by side with @HSIArizona and our other @TheJusticeDept partners. @DHSgov @DEAHQ pic.twitter.com/3DLVK1jRTuActing Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove said he observed immigration agents from the DHS along with agents from the FBI, DEA and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He didn’t offer details on the operation, which came days after DHS expanded immigration authority to agencies in the Department of Justice, including the DEA and ATF.“We will support everyone at the federal, state, and local levels who joins this critical mission to take back our communities,” Bove said in a statement. “We will use all available tools to address obstruction and other unlawful impediments to our efforts to protect the homeland. Most importantly, we will not rest until the work is done.”Since Trump took office, similar immigration enforcement operations have been publicized around the country, which U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says are ongoing. Social media posts from other DEA and Homeland Security offices noted additional weekend operations in at least Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Nebraska and Texas.At least two agencies assisting ICE with the arrests have told personnel to “ensure their clothing clearly depicts their respective agency in case they are filmed by journalists,” according to CNN. Although it is common practice for officers to wear identifying clothing, sources said even agents on the “perimeter of operations” were specifically instructed to wear “raid jackets in view of media attention.”Meanwhile, deportation flights began last week, including in Tucson. Photos posted by the DOD showed CBP agents escorting people onto a C-17 GlobeMaster III destined for Guatemala.The Associated Press contributed to this report.See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.Copyright 2025 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.

Source: https://www.azfamily.com/2025/01/27/immigration-raids-underway-across-us-including-arizona/