Pima County Supervisor Jen Allen and City Council member Kevin Dahl were among bystanders and a few of the company’s workers watching agents search Noemi Transportation, which transports goods such as fresh produce.
Allen is concerned about another ICE operation on the heels of raids across Southern Arizona Friday, which included tear gas sprayed into a crowd.
“What we saw last week was an incredible amount of excessive force, and my concern was that we were going to see that again. While there was no force directed at any of the group of observers, they come ready for it,” Allen said.
“There was an agent that was already ready with his pepper gun, tucked around the corner. So things could turn south quickly, and they’re ready to move on that.”
After agents left, a contract driver showed AZPM that the windows of at least seven vehicles — semi-trucks and personal pickups — had been freshly broken, including his own while he was waiting to start work.
ICE did not respond to questions about the broken windows. A spokesperson said ICE Homeland Security Investigations special agents executed the federal search warrant near Flowing Wells and Miracle Mile in relation to unlawful labor practices and cabotage violations — federal rules that restrict who can transport goods within the U.S. They said it is part of an ongoing investigation.
Federal authorities say they executed 16 search warrants in southern Arizona related to immigration and tax violations last Friday, which led to 46 arrests of people from Mexico who were charged with administrative immigration violations, which are civil infractions.
