On Thursday Nov. 5, rapid response observer Steven Davis got an alert while he was eating dinner: a report of several agents, possibly federal immigration agents, about six blocks from his house.
Davis, a retired professor who for the past two years has been part of the loose network of Tucson residents responding to alerts of federal immigration arrests in an effort to observe and document them, interrupted his dinner and drove over.
Two people were handcuffed on the curb and, after checking with Tucson Police Department officers on the scene, Davis determined it wasn’t an immigration arrest and left. As he was crossing the street to leave, he said a sergeant on the scene began yelling at him, and detained and handcuffed Davis.
After an increasingly tense interaction, Davis was let go, but says the incident is just the latest troubling engagement he has had with Tucson police while attempting to watch for immigration activity in Tucson communities.
“I am concerned how he might respond in future encounters with rapid response observers,” Davis told Arizona Luminaria. He has since filed a formal complaint about the incident.
Tucson Police Department Public Information Officer Frank Magos told Arizona Luminaria that Davis had failed to follow instructions at the scene.
“An individual at the scene was directed multiple times to move out of the way and stop but failed to follow those instructions, interfering with officers and agents attempting to apprehend the fleeing suspect,” Magos said.
As the Trump administration has continued its immigration enforcement efforts in Tucson communities, with growing national documentation of aggressive and often dangerous tactics, rapid response groups here have been answering community calls for nearly two years.
Five rapid response observers who spoke with Arizona Luminaria, on and off the record, said they have experienced a series of concerning interactions with Tucson Police Department officers, from one-off interactions with tense officers to police helping federal agents leave a scene.
The Tucson Police Department said it does not participate in federal civil immigration enforcement operations, but they do respond to requests for assistance that involve public safety, regardless of who makes the call.
“We recognize that increased federal immigration enforcement activity has created concern and uncertainty within the Tucson community. We hear those concerns and understand that these encounters can be unsettling,” Magos said. “Responding to a request for assistance from a federal agency does not mean TPD is participating in that agency’s underlying operation.”
Observers described three encounters in particular.
In January, observers went to the El Super grocery store on Tucson’s south side after reports of multiple immigration agents waiting in cars there. Two observers said Tucson police and South Tucson police arrived and escorted the federal agents out of the parking lot, away from observers.
Magos said TPD officers were responding to a request for assistance from ICE agents. “The agents requested assistance so they could safely exit the parking lot,” he said. “TPD did not participate in the underlying immigration enforcement activity.”
In October, Davis responded to a report of a vehicle outside an apartment complex on the south side of Tucson that appeared to belong to a federal agent, based on its make and model. He said Tucson police threatened him with arrest and “aggressively questioned” him while the vehicle drove away.
Several days later, a rapid response observer going by James, who asked that Luminaria not use his full name due to concern of federal surveillance, said he was following a federal immigration vehicle when Tucson police stopped him. He said officers asked what he was doing and why. They told him they stopped him because he was following federal immigration officers, he said. Officers then arrested him on an unrelated warrant he was not previously aware of, effectively stopping his efforts to observe the immigration vehicle.
A Tucson Police Department order on constitutional issues lays out how officers are expected to conduct stops, including stopping someone from leaving, and in what circumstances.
“Officers must be able to articulate a specific crime for which they have reasonable suspicion to justify a stop,” the directive says.
Speaking to someone does not constitute a formal stop, the document says: “The purpose of a field interview is to assist in the investigation and prevention of crime.”
Tucson police have also arrested protesters at anti-ICE demonstrations. But TPD isn’t the only law enforcement agency rapid response observers in Tucson have encountered as they seek to document U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity and stop arrests where possible. In February, state troopers arrested an observer while following a federal immigration vehicle, and in April observers say immigration agents pepper-sprayed them during an encounter with immigration authorities in South Tucson before South Tucson police escorted them away. South Tucson police have not responded to a request for comment on the incident.
But rapid response observers say it is the Tucson Police Department that many are having regular contact with. They also raise concerns about the stakes of their organizing work in this moment when federal immigration agents have shot and killed other observers, and recent reports show a broad surveillance operation of rapid response members in Minneapolis.
The Tucson City Council has passed an ordinance blocking ICE’s use of city property, and mayor Regina Romero has spoken against the arrest of Tucson community members like DACA recipient Karla Toledo, who continues to fight her case. The county has also passed a similar policy.
A statement from the mayor’s office, on behalf of Romero, notes that Tucson police have directives to protect all Tucson residents, regardless of immigration status. “As Mayor, I take seriously my responsibility to keep all Tucson residents safe while protecting everyone’s constitutional rights,” Romero said in the written statement.
How to contact Tucson’s rapid response observers
Tucson Community Rapid Response runs a hotline at 520-221-4077 that will send observers to the location of an immigration enforcement action.
Tucson residents can join a WhatsApp group where neighbors share federal immigration agent sightings.
Read more about what demonstrators should know about their rights in a protest
A city webpage with “know your rights” information directs people who want to report misconduct by federal immigration agents to file a complaint with the Arizona Attorney General’s office.
Observers have specific ideas for how Tucson police could better protect their right to observe, and how officers should engage with federal immigration agents.
José, a rapid response observer who declined to share his full name at a time when rapid response groups have been surveilled by the federal government, wants the police department to document the complaints of people who have been hurt while exercising their constitutional right to observe. José also wants Tucson police to stop responding to immigration calls. “They rescue ICE where they get themselves in a situation where they are surrounded by community members,” José said.
Davis wants Tucson police to more actively protect observers’ right to be present and observe.
“It’s a constitutionally protected right, and I would expect law enforcement to protect us in exercising that right,” Davis said.
Tucson police say they support the constitutional rights of individuals to protest, assemble, observe and document law enforcement.
“Our officers routinely work to facilitate safe spaces for demonstrations and individuals exercising those rights,” Magos said. “Blocking vehicles, obstructing officers, or interfering with active law enforcement operations creates legitimate public safety concerns and may require police intervention.”
Tucson police also said they will respond to all members of the community, including people working for federal agencies, if they get a call.
“The department will continue to facilitate safe spaces for peaceful demonstrations, respond to public safety concerns, and serve all members of our community with professionalism and respect, regardless of who is involved or which agency requests assistance.”
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