HSI agents detain a person outside a Mesa Food City during an Election Day enforcement operation on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (Courtesy: Daisy CR / Video screenshots)
MESA, Ariz. - Federal agents arrested five people during a targeted criminal operation outside a Mesa grocery store on Election Day, setting off fierce backlash from community advocacy groups who accused federal authorities of voter intimidation near polling locations.
The Tuesday operation unfolded outside the Food City near Southern Avenue and Mesa Drive.
What we know:
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed that special agents carried out the enforcement action on Nov. 3 as part of an active criminal probe.
"Special agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) conducted a targeted enforcement operation that resulted in the arrests of five illegal aliens," Fernando Burgos, a public affairs officer for ICE in Arizona, told FOX 10. "These arrests are part of an ongoing criminal investigation."
The operation occurred at the supermarket located about a half-mile from a vote center at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and less than a mile from a second polling site at Progressive Baptist Church on Horne.
‘Direct attack on immigrant communities’
What they're saying:
Civil rights organizations, including the San Francisco-based Asian Law Caucus and Arizona Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders for Equity, sharply condemned the federal action, describing it as an immigration raid that netted between six and eight people.
"This took place less than a mile away from two polling sites," the groups said in a joint statement under the campaign banner This is Our Mesa! Keep ICE Out of Our Streets! "For the last year, the Trump administration has threatened communities across the nation with ICE’s presence at the polls. This action is a direct attack on immigrant communities and sends a message of intimidation for voters and residents of Mesa."
Advocates argued that the timing of the bust was meant to chill voter turnout.
"Mesa voters have the right to vote without the fear of ICE’s interference and intimidation," the statement continued. "We demand accountability from ICE and the City of Mesa on why this raid occurred on Election Day."
The coalition also called on the Mesa City Council to terminate its 287(g) Jail Enforcement agreement with ICE — a voluntary cooperation framework in place since 2009 that permits local officers to check an individual's immigration status after an arrest.
The other side:
The Mesa Police Department firmly rejected claims that local officers helped coordinate or execute the arrests, captured on video by a witness and later shared with FOX 10.
"The Mesa Police Department was notified that HSI was in the city today," Detective Jose Aguirre said on Tuesday. "There was no other contact with HSI nor did PD provide operational support to their activity."
Department officials directed the public to the city's immigration transparency page, which states local police do not enforce federal civil immigration law on patrol.
What we don't know:
Federal officials have not released the names, ages or nationalities of the five individuals taken into custody. ICE has also declined to disclose the specific criminal allegations at the center of the probe, noting only that "no additional information is available for release at this time."
Map of where the ICE raid occurred:
The Source: Information in this report was gathered from official statements provided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Mesa Police Department, and the Asian Law Caucus on behalf of AZ AANHPI Advocates, and cellphone video provided by Daisy CR.