Community-built Map Tracks Ice Activity Across Tucson

Tucson migrant advocates person designed a caller instrumentality to thief way immigration-related enforcement successful and astir nan metropolis arsenic arrests surge nether President Trump’s mass deportation initiative.

Tucson Migra Map allows group to archive and visualize enforcement activities by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and different national agencies. While revealing patterns, nan instrumentality besides raises questions astir safety, transparency and nan limits of nationalist search tools.

“It indicates nan level of chaos and really disruptive it is to our community,” activistic Lucia Vindiola said successful a statement. Vindiola launched nan communal assistance group La Bodega to supply groceries and different thief to group affected by accrued enforcement.

“We are seeing firsthand nan effect connected families, limiting them from shopping for groceries and supplies,” Vindiola said.

Since Trump took office, immigration-related detentions person much than tripled successful fiscal twelvemonth 2025 — surging from less than 200 successful precocious 2024 to much than 800 by June 2025. The consequence successful communities nationwide has been swift, pinch groups specified arsenic nan Tucson Rapid Response web organizing to show and way national migration action connected nan street.

Geographer Dugan Meyer, 1 of nan map’s creators, is simply a PhD student astatine nan University of Arizona who volunteers pinch Tucson Rapid Response and related organizations.

“This task came retired of nan archiving activity that Rapid Response is doing, but besides astir nan city,” Meyer said. “It is simply a organization investigation project, organization mapping project.”

The information are pulled from spreadsheets maintained since January 2025 that tracks and documents national enforcement actions successful greater Tucson specified arsenic raids, conveyance stops and aerial surveillance.

Included is nan December ambush astatine 1 of respective targeted Taco Giro locations wherever Democratic U.S. House Rep. Adelita Grijalva was pepper-sprayed by national agents.

Incidents connected nan representation are vetted and classified arsenic “confirmed” aliases “credible but unconfirmed” based connected nan level of evidence.

“If we person photographs of, say, an supplier wearing a tactical vest that says ‘ICE,’ that’s confirmed,” Meyer said. “Credible unconfirmed, we’re very assured thing happened.”

Meyer said a trained Rapid Response perceiver witnessing an event, moreover if they had not photographed it, would beryllium an illustration of a reliable unconfirmed event.

“Their grounds astir that would beryllium capable for us,” he said.

Hundreds of people, including noncitizens, person contributed their eyewitness accounts of migration enforcement to nan representation and nan database it draws from, according to nan Tucson Migrant Map website. Information from nan section news is included, on pinch reports collected by Rapid Response and different vicinity networks specified arsenic Migra Watch, and accusation shared connected societal media and successful WhatsApp groups.

Rapid Response personnel Steven Davis has documented 5 incidents, including 1 successful which he was pepper-sprayed by rule enforcement. He says having these incidents recorded and published furthers his efforts to amended show group what ICE is doing successful their community.

“The worth of nan study is that we return this retired of nan shadows and get it retired into nan public,” Davis said. “The Migra Map is simply a public-facing representation that makes visible this activity that is mostly down nan scenes.”

Davis said knowing nan information he collects will beryllium utilized for Migra Map makes it much important for him to archive diligently.

“There’s nan saying, garbage in, garbage out. I want to make judge that nan accusation that I’m providing is nan astir meticulous accusation that I tin perchance provide,” Davis said.

Meyer said that arsenic of precocious April, nan squad had reviewed astir 562 incidents, pinch astir 300 gathering nan period to beryllium included. The extremity is to reappraisal reported incidents wrong a week, past adhd qualifying cases.

“We cognize that nan representation is an undercount by immoderate estimation,” Meyer said.

The representation besides includes constabulary accommodation and migration detention facilities, on pinch formation paths of various national agencies’ surveillance flights.

The accuracy of nan reporting has been confirmed arsenic much information is gathered, said Meyer. For example, repeated conveyance reports often corroborate instances of surveillance.

Meyer said he hopes that nan representation will yet go a level for accusation accessible to nan public.

He said he thinks nan representation “can show successful a measurement that group whitethorn cognize intuitively already.”

“It really helps america deliberation astir straight erstwhile we tin spot these things successful narration to each other,” he added.

Meyer said that makes it easier to place trends and constituent retired hotspots for illustration El Super market shop connected Tucson’s southbound side, which is frequented by mostly Latino customers and has seen a precocious attraction of enforcement.

“It’s utilized arsenic a hunting crushed for that, but location are others arsenic well,” Meyer said, specified arsenic circumstantial flat complexes targeted by ICE aliases different agencies.

The Tucson Migra Map was not nan first of its kind.

Last year, an inaugural called People complete Papers was utilized nationally to way migration enforcement earlier being shut down by its big site, Padlet, for violations of its contented policy.

Federal officials person said specified search puts officers astatine risk, and different search sites, including ICEBlock, were antecedently taken offline aft nan Trump management called for their removal.

Meyer said that he hopes nan Constitution’s protection of free reside will protect Migra Map from a akin fate, and that group successful different places will beryllium encouraged to motorboat their ain initiatives.

Davis, nan observer, said that dissimilar nan earlier trackers, nan Migra Map doesn’t effort to alert group to events occurring successful existent time, but reports enforcement actions aft nan fact.

“It doesn’t show you wherever ICE is progressive correct now. It tells you wherever ICE has been progressive successful nan past months,” Davis said. “You could record a Freedom of Information Act for nan Tucson District Office and get nan nonstop aforesaid accusation that we’re providing connected nan map.”

Meyer besides noted that he and nan different developers person been nationalist astir nan project.

“It’s not a crime to cod this accusation and stock this information,” said Meyer.

Nonetheless, immoderate contributors opt to study anonymously retired of fear.

“I deliberation that anyone paying attraction is astatine nan very slightest concerned” astir nan existent administration, Meyer said. He said he feels privileged he tin publically subordinate pinch nan project.

But he allowed that Migra Map is acold from perfect.

“The important point is that it doesn’t show america a lot,” Meyer said. “While galore group would for illustration it to beryllium a real-time alert system, this representation can’t beryllium that.”

Cuellar writes for Arizona Luminaria, wherever this communicative was primitively published. It was distributed done a business pinch nan Associated Press.