TUCSON, Ariz. (KVOA) – More than 60 people gathered on Tucson’s south side on Friday night for a vigil against ongoing deportations and detentions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Attendees rallied against federal immigration policy outside an ICE facility on South Country Club and E Valencia Road. The event featured prayer, song, and a poem, as organizations and residents came together to show support for those affected by ICE operations.
“Arizona has always been suffering all of these laws, and we have always been struggling, trying to protect our communities, but this is, the budget is coming next month, and you know it’s the same budget but on steroids,” Maria Carrasco, a member of the nonprofit group Derechos Humanos, told the crowd. and
Carrasco told News 4 Tucson she is also part of Rapid Response Tucson, which provides 24/7 support for immigrants facing arrest.
A spokesperson for the vigil took aim at the Trump administration and ICE in a written statement released Friday:
“The Trump regime continues to order masked and unidentifiable ICE agents to terrorize immigrants, individually as well as across entire communities, ignoring due process, violating the requirement for judicial warrants, and using other unlawful, unconstitutional, and deceptive tactics that are tantamount to kidnapping.”
News 4 Tucson reached out to ICE for a response.
An ICE spokesperson said the statements are false, adding the following:
“ICE officers identify themselves with badges, insignia, or other identifiers during arrests. Masks are worn for safety, not secrecy, as ICE officers and their families face increasing threats and assaults, which have risen by over 1,000% since last year due to dangerous rhetoric and demonization, like those made by the vigil spokesperson.
ICE uses law enforcement intelligence to identify criminal illegal aliens and immigration violators. We are not out terrorizing or ignoring due process. ICE’s mandate is clear: enforce U.S. immigration law, remove criminal aliens, and protect the American people. The individuals in ICE custody are foreign nationals who violated U.S. law—many with criminal convictions. They are afforded an immigration due process. Many of them have been ordered removed in federal courts by immigration judges. Attempts to recast them as victims while ignoring their violations of law are misleading.
For those without status, pathways exist to make choices about their future, including resources available through the CBP Home app, which offers transportation, stipends, and opportunities to potentially return legally later.”
Vigil attendee Megan Martin expressed hope that events like the vigil will raise awareness and encourage more participation. She says many young people are not participating in such events.
“They’re busy working, and they’re going to whatever they’re doing aside from this, but they’re not here. And we need people to show up and say ‘That this isn’t something we’re going to stand for,’ all over the country, outside of ICE field offices and outside places of injustice, all over,” Martin told News 4 Tucson.
Young activists like Martin inspire Carrasco.
“You guys give us hope. I’ve been here in this struggle for 23 years…I’m 65, and I’m getting old and I see young people who have the same passion as I, when I started,” Carrasco said.
The vigil remained peaceful, with several law enforcement officers present, including some on a nearby roof. The Tucson Police Department taped off access to businesses at the strip mall in front of the ICE facility as a precaution.