Democrat Rep Adelita Grijalva Caught Lying About ICE After Obstructing Deportation Raid

Newly confirmed Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) is spinning a tall tale after she took to the streets on Friday with anti-ICE rioters in Tuscon, Arizona.

Rep. Grijalva posted on social media that she was “pepper sprayed” and “pushed aside” by federal agents after identifying herself as a member of congress, but her shared video debunked her own claims.

WATCH:

ICE is a lawless agency under this Administration – operating with no transparency, no accountability, and open disregard for basic due process.

No family in our community should live in fear, and I will not rest until we get clear answers and accountability. pic.twitter.com/Z2mUuRxHuX

— Rep. Adelita Grijalva (@Rep_Grijalva) December 5, 2025

Many on social media have called for her arrest after the video reveals she disobeyed orders and actively obstructed federal agents from conducting arrests.

🚨 BREAKING: Newly released video PROVES Democrat Rep. Adelita Grijalva was LYING about being pepper sprayed by ICE agents

It wasn’t even CLOSE.

In fact, the video shows her ACTIVELY OBSTRUCTING agents from conducting arrests@Rep_Grijalva should be ARRESTED for obstruction!… pic.twitter.com/eerWQze3xu

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) December 5, 2025

Additional video of the “protest” shows that federal agents were met with violence during the anti-ICE riot Grijalva attended.

🚨 HOLY CRAP! Dem. Rep. Adelita Grijalva was at THIS anti-ICE RIOT where federal agents got ambushed by leftists

Grijalva is engaging in this behavior not only as a member of Congress, but one who was sworn in just a few WEEKS ago.

She MUST be stripped of her committees and… pic.twitter.com/SjZocTDfJB

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 6, 2025

Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin met Grijalva’s political theater with receipts, noting that while Grijalva was joining the anti-ICE riot, two law enforcement officers were seriously injured.

If her claims were true, this would be a medical marvel.

But they’re not true. She wasn’t pepper sprayed.

She was in the vicinity of someone who *was* pepper sprayed as they were obstructing and assaulting law enforcement. In fact, 2 law enforcement officers were seriously… https://t.co/U0zspIuGxQ

— Tricia McLaughlin (@TriciaOhio) December 5, 2025

McLaughlin wrote:

If her claims were true, this would be a medical marvel. 

But they’re not true. She wasn’t pepper sprayed. 

She was in the vicinity of someone who *was* pepper sprayed as they were obstructing and assaulting law enforcement. In fact, 2 law enforcement officers were seriously injured by this mob that @Rep_Grijalva joined. 

Presenting one’s self as a “Member of Congress” doesn’t give you the right to obstruct law enforcement. 

More information forthcoming.

Republican Arizona state representative Rachel Keshel (LD-17), whose legislative district overlaps Grijalva’s congressional district took aim at Grijalva and her father, former Democratic Congressman Raul Grijalva, stating:

So you’re telling me this spoiled little entitled brat, who is only a Congresswoman because of who her loser of a daddy was, just happened to be at the exact location that ICE raided by happenstance? 

This is so obviously a pathetic ploy for attention by someone who has spent her first few days in Congress showing her constituents that her entire mission is exactly that. 

Absolutely asinine.

So you’re telling me this spoiled little entitled brat, who is only a Congresswoman because of who her loser of a daddy was, just happened to be at the exact location that ICE raided by happenstance?

This is so obviously a pathetic ploy for attention by someone who has spent… https://t.co/HFh3FENyog

— AZ Representative Rachel (Jones) Keshel (@RJ4arizona) December 6, 2025

In a joint statement Friday night, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero and Vice Mayor Lane Santa Cruz, both Democrats, said the federal immigration raid “rapidly escalated into violence against the public.”

“Under the Trump Administration, unidentified federal agents often intentionally wear clothing with vague words like “police” to purposefully confuse the public,” the statement said. “Their disproportionate use of force, smoke grenades and pepper balls against the public, including our own Representative Adelita Grijalva, is not justified and cannot be tolerated.”

On MSNOW, formerly MSNBC, Grijalva amplified her claims telling host Jen Psaki that she was “shot at” by federal agents:

“I think we’re all okay. It was, it was really scary, very jarring. I mean, it’s one thing to hear about these things happening in communities. It’s another thing to have it happen directly to you. I really did go, you know, with the assumption that I’m just trying to understand what’s happening. And so I went up, I introduced myself, I let them know who I was. One agent said, ‘I don’t care who you are, you need to get out of the way.’ We were pushed. We were shot at. And it’s really scary. It was very frightening and very jarring.”

Another jarring note: during the first four months of fiscal year 2024, Border Patrol recorded more than 250,000 migrant apprehensions in the Tucson sector, the most of any region patrolled by the agency, according to federal government statistics.

Since ICE has launched President Trump’s mass deportation directive, McLaughlin announced that federal agents are facing an 8,000 percent increase in death threats due to the smears and hoaxes that Rep. Adelita Grijalva and her Democratic colleagues are actively engaging in and coordinating.

We will continue to update the story with any new developments.