U.S. Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) reported today on social media that she was pepper-sprayed in the face by a “very aggressive” ICE agent. Grijalva visited a Taco Giro restaurant in Tucson — one she visits every week — where the community was “protecting their people” from approximately 40 ICE agents who arrived, “most of them masked,” in several vehicles.
Attesting that she was “sprayed in the face by one very aggressive agent,” Grijalva added that she was “pushed around by others, when I literally was not being aggressive, I was asking for clarification, which is my right as a member of Congress.”
ICE just conducted a raid by Taco Giro in Tucson – a small mom-and-pop restaurant that has served our community for years.
When I presented myself as a Member of Congress asking for more information, I was pushed-aside and pepper sprayed. pic.twitter.com/gPx0p3IXP2
— Rep. Adelita Grijalva (@Rep_Grijalva) December 5, 2025
She added that once she introduced herself as a Congresswoman, “I assumed it would be a little calmer, but there was literally only one person that was trying to speak to me in any kind of civil tone, and everyone else was being rude and disrespectful.”
Adelita Grijalva Outraged: KGUN’s Eddie Celaya is on the westside where Ice and IRS are serving 16 search warrants at Taco Giro. We spoke with the congresswoman, who also showed up. pic.twitter.com/tjfuQQxcC9
— KGUN 9 (@kgun9) December 5, 2025
Video (below) shot from outside another Taco Giro restaurant (at Cortaro & Thornydale on the NW side) showed HSI officers — unmasked — entering and searching the premises in what appeared to be a quiet scene.
*HAPPENING NOW*
I’m on the scene where federal agents are serving a search warrant at Taco Giro Mexican Grill & Seafood at Cortaro & Thornydale on the NW side. This isn’t the only location being raided ~ https://t.co/JsPbHpl6VT #Tucson pic.twitter.com/URT7Sy7EiF
— Dan Marries (@DanMarriesKOLD) December 5, 2025
The scene looks vastly different in video Grijalva shared in which the Congresswoman is shown telling ICE they have to “get out.”
ICE is a lawless agency under this Administration – operating with no transparency, no accountability, and open disregard for basic due process.
No family in our community should live in fear, and I will not rest until we get clear answers and accountability. pic.twitter.com/Z2mUuRxHuX
— Rep. Adelita Grijalva (@Rep_Grijalva) December 5, 2025
Grijalva later thanked Tucson Police Department “for coming and taking care of the space, making sure everyone was safe once ICE left.”
Tucson.com quoted a statement on the raids from Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Fernando X. Burgos, which said: “Special agents and officers from ICE Homeland Security Investigations, IRS Criminal Investigation, and other federal partners, are executing 16 search warrants in southern Arizona as part of a years-long investigation into immigration and tax violations. Multiple individuals are in custody.”