Tucson mom of 3 detained by ICE after going to county court on noise complaint

A Tucson woman was in ICE custody Tuesday after she went Downtown to resolve a citation for a minor noise ordinance violation. A spokesperson for the family said she has lived in the U.S. since she was a young child.

Alma Guadalupe Nuñez Quijada appeared at the Pima County Consolidated Justice Court for a hearing scheduled for 9 a.m.

By late morning, Nuñez had been taken into custody just outside the courthouse at 160 S. Stone Ave., and her name appeared on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s online detainee locator Tuesday afternoon.

Immigration attorney Luis Campos, who said he cannot represent Nuñez due to his current caseload but could act as a spokesperson, said her family told him she had had no prior criminal history.

A check of area court records showed a number of minor citations. A woman with the same name and birth month and year was found guilty of driving without a license, vehicle registration or insurance several times in the past two decades, and was put on probation for 9 months for a 2004 domestic violence misdemeanor. She was also cited for parking on the sidewalk in 2016 and being part of an “unruly gathering” in 2020.

Campos said Nuñez came to the United States in the mid-1980s, making her about four or five years old at the time. ICE records indicate she was born in Mexico.

Her social media profiles indicate she has three adult children, with the youngest being a recent high school graduate.

“It’s been chaotic. They’ve been getting a ton of phone calls,” Campos said of her relatives.

He said he was notified Nuñez’s was taken into ICE custody by members of the Tucson Community Rapid Response Team, a local group that aims to track ICE activity in the region.

She went to the courthouse to deal with a ticket for a June noise ordinance violation when she was arrested by ICE agents, he said Tuesday afternoon.

“How did they even know she was there?” Campos said. “They apparently called out to her. They knew who she was.”

Tucson Mayor Regina Romero said she and Tucson Police Chief Monica Prieto were working together to find out more about Nuñez’s case.

“This is yet another attack by the Trump administration to focus their cruel and inhumane policies on working people — not violent criminals,” she wrote in an online post. “They are spreading fear and chaos, not keeping us safe.”

Pima County Attorney Laura Conover said she notified family members she was available to help if possible.

“Both the family and the attorney are aware from me personally that if I can lift up extraordinary facts that would help, I am ready to do so,” she wrote in a text message to a Tucson Sentinel reporter.

In February, the Pima County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution meant to prohibit ICE officers from performing civil immigration enforcement on county property. The largely symbolic measure still provides for ICE to use county property if they have a warrant issued by a judge.

The resolution noted that “civil immigration enforcement activities have historically undermined community trust, spread fear, and created barriers to accessing essential county services.”

Its scope lays out that “nothing in this resolution shall be construed as… limiting or restricting the enforcement of federal immigration laws to less than the full extent permitted by federal law.”

It’s unclear if Nuñez was arrested on the grounds of the court on North Stone Avenue, or on a nearby sidewalk.

U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva, whose congressional district includes the courthouse site, said Tuesday evening in a news release she was “deeply troubled” to learn of Nuñez’s arrest.

She called for the Congress to pass the Protecting Sensitive Locations Act, a pending bill that would limit immigration enforcement acts by Department of Homeland Security officers or agents within 1,000 feet of “sensitive” locations, including schools, healthcare facilities, places where children gather, places that provide social services and government buildings.

Since 2011, DHS had operated under a such a policy about sensitive locations, which also limited immigration enforcement in places geared that provided services necessary to a person’s well-being.

But in January 2025, President Donald Trump rescinded the policy.

Grijalva said the Protecting Sensitive Locations Act would “ensure courthouses, schools, hospitals and other essential community spaces remain safe and accessible.”

“When people fear they may be detained for showing up to court, seeking medical care or taking their children to school, everyone is less safe,” she said. “My office is in touch with her family and is working to provide assistance.”

Campos said he was working to connect Nuñez with an attorney who can take her case, but was able to offer the family legal advice in the meantime. He said she was seen walking with a man around the time of her arrest, and his account of what happened may be helpful for Nuñez’s case.

When Nuñez gets an attorney, he said, that person will likely have to try and ensure she is granted a bond, enabling her release, and build a solid defense for her.

Attempts to reach Nuñez family Tuesday for more details were unsuccessful. One of her daughters stated through a Ring doorbell she and her family felt overwhelmed and she was not yet ready to speak about her mother’s case.

DHS officials would not provide further information about Nuñez, including why she was taken into custody at the county courthouse.