Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva says she was pepper-sprayed and shoved by federal agents during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in Tucson, Arizona — the latest flashpoint in the Trump administration’s escalating immigration crackdown.
In a video posted Friday, Grijalva described arriving at a demonstration outside Taco Giro, where roughly 40 masked federal officers pulled up in multiple vehicles for what officials later described as a raid tied to a years-long investigation into immigration and tax violations. As she approached the officers, she said, “a very aggressive agent” fired pepper spray directly at her and several others in the crowd.
Video she shared shows a heavily armored officer firing into the crowd as she repeatedly tells agents, “you need to get out.” Another clip appears to show a pepper round striking near her feet. Grijalva, who had been sworn into office just 50 days earlier after a special election, said only one officer spoke to her respectfully after she identified herself as a member of Congress.
“I literally was not being aggressive. I was asking for clarification, which is my right as a member of Congress,” she said. “If they’re going to treat me like that, how are they treating everyone else?”
Federal officials have charged at least 190 people in the area with immigration-related offenses in the past week, most accused of entering the country without legal authorization. Tucson’s mayor and vice mayor condemned the agents’ conduct, calling the use of pepper balls and smoke grenades “disproportionate force,” especially against a sitting congresswoman.
But Homeland Security leadership pushed back hard. Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin denied that Grijalva was pepper-sprayed at all. “If her claims were true, this would be a medical marvel,” she said in a statement. McLaughlin argued instead that Grijalva was “in the vicinity of someone who was pepper sprayed,” and said two federal officers were seriously injured by “the mob that Rep. Grijalva joined.”
“Presenting one’s self as a ‘Member of Congress’ doesn’t give you the right to obstruct law enforcement,” she added.
Grijalva dismissed DHS’s account, saying the Trump administration has abandoned due process while accelerating mass deportation operations. “They’re literally disappearing people from the streets,” she said.
Over the past year, immigration enforcement operations have intensified across the country, often sending masked ICE and CBP teams into neighborhoods with large Latino populations. Civil rights groups have documented widespread fear, with residents avoiding public spaces, and numerous U.S. citizens mistakenly swept up in raids.
Protests in major cities — from Chicago to Los Angeles — have erupted in response. In Chicago, a lawsuit by press groups and faith leaders successfully barred agents from using chemical munitions on demonstrators after officers were accused of firing tear gas and pepper balls indiscriminately and at close range.
