TUCSON, Ariz. — After Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained a Venezuelan refugee family legally residing in the United States, Rep. Alma Hernandez released a press statement calling for greater accountability and humanity from ICE agents operating in Tucson, saying the actions have spread fear throughout the community.
Hernandez said Tucson residents are increasingly fearful of “detention, deportation, and criminalization simply for existing,” particularly in immigrant neighborhoods targeted by federal enforcement actions.
In a press release issued Jan. 23, 2026, Hernandez said ICE conducted enforcement actions across the street from her home. She said the actions occurred “in front of an elementary school while children were playing outside.”
According to Hernandez, ICE detained three of four family members during what agents described as a routine operation outside the elementary school in South Tucson. The family is in the asylum process after recently traveling from Venezuela.
The family was traveling to a doctor’s appointment and had proper documentation demonstrating the legality of their stay in the United States, Hernandez said, noting that the husband and the driver had been granted asylum. Hernandez said ICE agents were aware of these facts and still detained four of the five family members.
Kristi Noem, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, announced Sept. 3, 2025, that the department terminated Temporary Protected Status for Venezuela. In a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services statement, USCIS spokesman Matthew Tragesser said, “It’s clear that allowing Venezuelan nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is not in America’s best interest.”
“The Trump administration has slashed TPS for nearly 1 million people and ended humanitarian parole for half a million more,” the Tucson Sentinel reported. In March 2025, the Trump administration deported 240 Venezuelans to El Salvador without due process, sending them to the CECOT prison.
Hernandez said this disregard for humanity and due process is affecting not only the safety of immigrants and refugees in the United States, but also public trust in the federal government.
Hernandez argued in her press release that ICE’s actions “demonstrate a blatant disregard for public safety.” She said masked agents operating without accountability or transparency are undermining public trust while failing to make communities safer.
Hernandez said she stands in “full solidarity with our Tucson community, particularly our immigrant neighbors who are being targeted, profiled, and dehumanized.” She argued that legally documented families are being taken without explanation, rather than the dangerous criminals elected officials claim to be targeting.
Data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse show that as of Nov. 30, 2025, 73.6% of the 65,735 people held in ICE detention centers had no criminal convictions.
Hernandez concluded her statement by saying her community “will not be complicit in systems that dehumanize our residents and erode public trust.” She said, “We deserve safety rooted in dignity, accountability, and humanity, not fear.”
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