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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed the operation in a Wednesday email.

"ICE Homeland Security Investigations special agents are executing a federal search warrant near Flowing Wells and Miracle Mile related to cabotage violations and unlawful labor practices," ICE spokeswoman Yasmeen Pitts O'Keefe wrote. "This is an ongoing investigation."

ICE has not confirmed which trucking business was targeted. 

Cabotage laws regulate the transportation of goods or passengers between two points within the U.S. by foreign drivers or carriers, according to a November from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

"These laws are designed to ensure that domestic transportation services are reserved for U.S. companies and workers, preventing unfair competition from foreign entities," the release said. "The enforcement of cabotage laws is vital to protecting the U.S. economy and ensuring fair competition within the domestic transportation industry. By enforcing these laws, Border Patrol agents help preserve opportunities for U.S. truck drivers and transportation companies, ensuring that American workers remain competitive in the marketplace."

HSI agents told Rapid Response members on the scene Wednesday morning that agents were serving a warrant as part of a long-term, multi-agency investigation into a trucking company, said Bennett Burke, an organizer with Defend Tucson/Tucson Se Defiende, a coalition of local groups.

ICE did not respond to the Star’s email asking whether anyone was arrested in the operation Wednesday.

Alba Jaramillo, community organizer with Tucson’s Coalición de Derechos Humanos, said she was the first observer at the scene this morning, where she saw at least 20 agents.

As she filmed the area on her phone, one agent stood directly in front of her with his camera phone in her face, she said. 

"He was following me, as if to intimidate me," said Jaramillo, who is also co-executive director of the Immigration Law and Justice Network, which provides free or low-cost legal counsel and support to immigrants.

An ÃÛÌÒÓ°ÏñAV reporter also witnessed HSI agents filming community members and journalists outside Taco Giro's location on Valencia last Friday. 

The agents' behavior also could have been an attempt to identify community members using facial-recognition technology, Jaramillo said.

Trucking industry targeted

The Trump administration has been cracking down on the trucking industry for immigration violations and what it calls lax trucking-school standards. That includes enforcing existing regulations on how far north drivers with visas, rather than U.S. passports, can drive into Arizona, said Jaime Chamberlain, president and CEO of Nogales-based Chamberlain Distributing, a produce distributor.

Most foreign drivers on visas are limited to staying within 21 kilometers of the southern border, which is around Rio Rico, he said. But for decades, some drivers have taken advantage of the system once in the U.S., making deliveries to cities further from the border, like Phoenix and Las Vegas, he said.

In the November release CBP said border agents stopped two Mexican tractor-trailer drivers at the I-19 checkpoint for being "in violation of multiple federal regulations, including cabotage laws. … The drivers were returned to Mexico and were informed that their border crossing cards would be processed for revocation due to violations of their visa terms." Their vehicles were towed.

Chamberlain said his company relies on its larger food-service and retail clients to provide their own drivers, so he’s not significantly impacted by the crackdown. But the heightened enforcement will likely cause an increase in freight prices, due to a shortage of truck drivers, he said. Eventually that could trickle down to food prices.

"There's a lot of domino effects before you get your food to your table," he said.

Trump’s Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has also been focused on enforcing standards, like English proficiency, for commercial drivers' licenses. Federal efforts to target immigrant drivers intensified after a fatal traffic accident in August, caused by a driver whom Duffy said was not authorized to be in the U.S., the Associated Press .

For Chamberlain, the short-term pain that will likely result from driver shortages is worth the payoff in terms of safety.

"Highway safety is paramount in our industry," he said. "It’s the right thing to be doing. Unfortunately, it (the enforcement) is affecting our industry in a big way. But at the end of the day, we have to have a secure transportation system and we have to have drivers that can speak English. … I'd rather have a driver shortage than have drivers that don't know what they're doing on the road."

Jaramillo said federal investigations of businesses are nothing new; but under the Trump administration, what may be a legitimate law enforcement activity has become a way to “terrorize� communities through an unnecessary show of force, she said.

“It doesn’t take 20 ICE officials to carry out their warrants, even if they have valid warrants,� she said. “The fact that they’re bringing that much federal presence into our neighborhoods — it is for the purpose of intimidating. ... It’s making our communities feel as if we are under attack by the government. It puts activists at risk, it puts immigrants at risk. It hurts our community in so many ways.�

As part of the Taco Giro operation last week, 46 people from Mexico were arrested at restaurant locations or at their home on Dec. 5 for “administrative immigration violations,� ICE said.

No criminal criminal charges have been announced yet against Taco Giro management.

ICE data shows more than one-third of immigrants arrested by ICE since January — 75,000 people — have no criminal record or pending charges.

Only one-quarter of ICE arrestees had a criminal conviction on their record, mostly for non-violent crimes, ICE data compiled by the Deportation Data Project show.

Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, a Democrat, urged any potential protesters to remain peaceful, in an Instagram post.

"Federal agents are currently active on Miracle Mile," Romero posted Wednesday morning. "You have the right to protest and document these activities. It is very important to remain peaceful while you do so. The Trump administration wants to create fear and chaos in our community. Please stay safe and do not physically engage with federal agents."