Reports say that ICE is in Maricopa, most likely on their way to Casa Grande.  

A line of marked and unmarked SUVs with police lights activated sped down John Wayne Parkway this afternoon shortly after 1 p.m. Social media lit up with rumors that ICE was in the area, looking for undocumented migrants and homing in on a gas station just off Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway.

ICE was spotted in Casa Grande this afternoon at the QuikTrip on Pinal Avenue, just past where MCG turns into Cottonwood Lane, said Maricopa resident Ellie Rivers. “Please be aware of your surroundings and those close to you,” she wrote on Facebook.

Speaking of immigration officials, she said, “Do not allow them in your homes or business.” 

Puente AZ, an immigration watchdog group that holds legal trainings for migrants, said it was sending observers to that QuikTrip location. It had separately gathered intel that ICE was operating there. InMaricopa reporters arrived at 2 p.m. but it was business as usual: no ICE agents, no dramatic arrests. “Just energy drinks,” said one Pinal County source when asked what was going on at the gas station. 

“When they pick someone up, it usually takes five to 10 minutes tops,” said a source at the Puente AZ hotline. “The arrests happen quickly.”

ICE’s fleeting presence in the area highlights the ongoing anxiety of immigration enforcement, as reported by InMaricopa in its March magazine.  

Phoenix New Times published this morning sourced reports that immigration officials were obtaining search warrants to be executed today at different locations throughout the state. The newspaper spotted ICE at three locations near West Phoenix today, reporting that “ICE has also been rumored to have appeared at other locations,” such as Maricopa and Casa Grande.

Further highlighting the fear and anxiety in the metro, in Peoria, neighbors tried to interrupt Homeland Security arrests this morning. Peoria Police Department released a statement that DHS was assisting in a drug raid, and it was unrelated to immigration actions.  

“This was not an immigration case,” said Peoria police.