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Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Phoenix Indian Center holds annual Rainbow Gathering for Two Spirit LGBTQIA+ community
The Phoenix Indian center hosted its annual Southwest American Indian 2SLGBTQIA+ Rainbow Gathering on June 12, 2025, at South Mountain Community College. Photo by Shondiin Silversmith | Arizona Mirror In a time of uncertainty and continuous attacks on the rights of LGBTQ+ people in Arizona and beyond, the Phoenix Indian Center wanted to offer the community a safe space for individuals to share resources and stories that highlighted Indigenous experiences. 'Visibility is more important now than ever before,' said Levi Long, a communications specialist with the Phoenix Indian Center, due to the ongoing attacks on the rights of this community. For many Indigenous people, the acronym primarily used is 2SLGBTQIA+, which includes Two Spirit people. The term Two Spirit acknowledges the traditional roles and identities of Indigenous people who lived outside the binary of male and female within many Indigenous communities, and is an identity that predates the colonization of North America. Two Spirit Diné trans woman Trudie Jackson has been a prominent advocate for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community for decades and is an Indigenous scholar with research and work that focuses on the Two Spirit community. When she placed the 2S before LGBTQIA+, she said she had people constantly trying to correct her. 'Two Spirit existed before colonization and the Stonewall Riot,' Jackson said. 'My ancestors were here before the colonizers.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX President Donald Trump's administration has pushed anti-2SLGBTQIA+ policies since he took office, including a rollback on health care services, implementing policies recognizing only two genders and banning trans people from the military and playing sports. In Arizona, several officials have pushed the same rhetoric by introducing and advancing a slate of anti-2SLGBTQIA+ bills, including a sweeping anti-trans 'biological sex' bill that Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed in April. At the Phoenix Indian Center, Long said that they are very intentional with centering Indigiqueer voices, especially in a time of uncertainty with the political landscape and the consistent challenges to their rights. He said he hopes that more organizations from the Indigenous community will step up for their 2SLGBTQIA+ relatives to let them know that there are safe spaces for them — and they're not going anywhere. The center hosted its annual Southwest American Indian 2SLGBTQIA+ Rainbow Gathering on June 12 at South Mountain Community College, providing a safe space for Indigenous people to share resources and stories. The theme for this year's Rainbow Gathering was 'Weaving Tradition: Past, Present and Future for Native People.' The Phoenix Indian Center is the oldest nonprofit organization serving the Indigenous community in the United States, offering a range of services including workforce development, peer support and youth development. Phoenix Indian Center CEO Jolyana Begay-Kroupa said the Rainbow Gathering is always rooted in Indigenous teachings of respect and a space that honors 2SLGBTQIA+ relatives as sacred healers, leaders and community caretakers. 'This gathering celebrates this diversity that weaves our Indigenous community together and makes us collectively stronger,' she said, adding that it's essential to look at the cultural teachings to guide the framework for a future that ensures all Indigenous people can thrive and have access to equitable lives. 'We gather here right now to find strength, to find solidarity and weave a stronger fabric so that we can hold on together,' Begay-Kroupa said. The gathering featured multiple speakers from the 2SLGBTQIA+ Indigenous community, who focused on topics related to Two Spirit health care, the history of Two Spirit people within Indigenous communities, body image, personal experiences and resources available. One experience shared during the event was by Charlie Amáyá Scott. She said she was 13 when she told her mother she is queer. She wrote it down on a note and slipped it into her mother's lunch bag. 'I was a scared little queer, and I was like: 'I'm queer. Love me, please,'' Scott said. 'Later that day, after I told her in a note, she told me that she loves me.' Scott, now 30, said she is proud to be her mother's oldest daughter. She was the keynote speaker for the Rainbow Gathering, and she shared with the crowd some of her life experiences as a queer, trans Diné woman and Indigenous scholar, emphasizing the importance of stories and storytelling. 'Through stories, we learn who we are, where we come from, and what we could be,' Scott added. 'We exist because of stories.' A story Scott shared reinvents the Diné creation story, going beyond the strict gender binary of the original creation narrative. 'First Woman noticed that all creatures had a choice about who they could be and who they could love,' Scott said. 'First Woman wanted this for her people, the Diné, too.' The story shares how the First Woman's gift to the Diné people was a choice, and that is how Scott would have written the creation story. Scott wrote that story over a year ago, and she said it was to share a creation story that included honoring queer, trans and intersex relatives, 'unlike the popularized versions that dictate a colonizing sex binary and heterosexuality.' Scott said she shared the story because she dreams of a better future, world and life. 'There's something very freeing when we rewrite our stories,' she said, because it provides people the ability to dream and imagine a world of possibility, liberation and freedom. 'A world that we write for ourselves and our cherished loved ones,' she added. 'Stories are not just stories, they are memories, they are lessons, they are guidance from generations before.' Scott said she has rewritten four traditional creation stories, including one about Spider Woman, who was responsible for teaching the Diné people how to weave. 'Our traditions are meant to evolve and change in time,' she said. 'To keep them static is to kill them off.' Scott said that Indigenous people are losing part of themselves if traditions do not evolve or change because they are 'meant to live and reflect who we are and where we're going.' 'What remains is the teaching, not the specificity,' she added. The Rainbow Gathering has been held in the Phoenix area since 2011. Jackson established the event and it is now hosted annually by the Phoenix Indian Center. During the gathering, Jackson shared her work on the state of Two Spirit health in North America, which later became a chapter in the book 'A History of Transgender Medicine in the United States.' The book features 40 contributors and Jackson is the only Indigenous author. Jackson talked about the impact of colonization on Two Spirit health, which includes stigma, self-confidence, self-worth, health, well-being, homophobia, transphobia and historical trauma. She said that is why, within Indigenous communities, health care workers and facilities must be inclusive of their intake assessments. Before she changed her name, Jackson said that she still remembers what it felt like when the hospital would call her by her birth name. She said she often contemplated what to do in the waiting room, wondering if she should get up. However, even after she changed her name, the stigma persisted. Jackson said that her doctor would anger her because they would go through her entire medical history pointing out that she was born male and is now passing as female. 'Our community is often viewed as less than,' she said. Jackson said it is vital for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community to tell their stories and assert their importance within the cultural, ceremonial and spiritual traditions of their communities. 'Listening to these voices, we can create medical institutions that recognize and meet our unique healthcare needs,' she said. As part of the gathering, the Phoenix Indian Center presented two community awards, the Basket and Dream Catcher awards. Jackson said she created the awards to be Indigenous, reflecting the identity of Indigenous people. The Basket award is given to an individual or organization recognized as an ally of the Two Spirit community who has provided support for programming and services targeting the Two Spirit community in the southwest. Jackson said the basket reward reflects the time and work that goes into preparing and weaving a basket within many Native cultures. 'The intent was to identify an individual who went down the same journey as the basket by creating that weave within the community,' she added. The 2025 Basket Award was presented to Tara Begay, a Diné board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner and co-owner of TL Family Nurse Practice, LLC in Phoenix. She is actively involved in Arizona's Rapid Start Initiative, which ensures access to HIV treatment upon diagnosis, according to the Phoenix Indian Center. 'Health care is a fundamental human right,' Begay said. Some of the services her practice provides include sick visits, physical exams, HIV prevention and management, gender affirming care and chronic care. The Dream Catcher award is presented to an Indigenous person who identifies as Two Spirit and has demonstrated a lifetime commitment and services to the Indigenous 2SLGBTQIA+ community in the southwest. 'We see you, we see your work, we see what you're doing out in the community,' Jackson said, adding that the Dream Catcher Award is similar to having a vision out in the community, they see something is needed and they go out and 'plant that seed. The 2025 Dream Catcher award was presented to Rita DeMornay, who is Akimel O'odham from the Gila River Indian Community, where she began her 2SLGBTQIA+ advocacy journey. DeMornay currently serves as Miss Phoenix Pride 2025, she is the first Indigenous winner of the title since 2007. 'My journey has just begun, it is not over,' DeMornay said. 'I will continue to open these doors for our Native Two Spirit LGBTQIA+ community.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mirror wins 3 awards for covering Arizona's Indigenous communities
Photo via Getty Images Shondiin Silversmith and the Arizona Mirror took home three awards in the Indigenous Journalists Association's annual journalism contest. Silversmith, who began working for the Mirror covering Arizona's Indigenous communities in 2021, was honored on June 12 for her work covering the continuing fallout from the state's sober living home fraud crisis, the challenges that Indigenous voters face when heading to the polls and the role that tribal culture plays for 2SLGTBQ+ people. She was awarded first place for Best Editorial in the IJA contest's professional category for her reporting on the Election Day challenges that Navajo voters had to overcome in order to cast their ballots in 2024. Through the course of her reporting on the day's activities, Silversmith spent nearly 10 hours in her car and logged more than 250 miles as she visited just 10 polling locations. 'On average, the polling stations within the Navajo Nation are about 20 to 30 miles apart, depending on the part of the reservation you live in. But there are places where people may have to drive up to an hour — one way — just to vote,' she wrote. Silversmith also earned a second place for Best Longform/Magazine Story for her continued coverage of the challenges Native people and communities are facing because of the massive Medicaid fraud that victimized tribal members and that state leaders turned a blind eye to for years. For the story, she followed volunteers who scoured the streets of Phoenix to find people who had been displaced after the sober living homes they were living in were abruptly shut down when officials cracked down on the Medicaid fraud. 'We're going through genocide,' one of the activists told her about how bad the crisis has gotten. And she was honored with another second place award for Best Two-Spirit Coverage — an Indigenous term that broadly encompasses LGBTQ+ people — for her reporting on Pride celebrations in tribal communities across Arizona, from the large Navajo Nation to the tiny Hualapai Tribe. 'It's really good to be able to see our own people coming together, not only to celebrate pride but to celebrate their own people that live and work in their community,' one Tohono O'odham celebrant told her. The Indigenous Journalists Association, which was formed in 1983 and originally known as the Native American Press Association, serves and empowers Native journalists through programs and actions designed to enrich journalism and promote Native cultures. Its annual journalism contest recognizes excellence in coverage of Indigenous communities and issues that directly affect Native peoples. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
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Arizonans will host ‘No Kings' protests across the state as Trump escalates military force in LA
A sign held by a protester at the Arizona Capitol on April 5, 2025. The protest was one of more than 1,300 across the nation aimed at galvanizing people against President Donald Trump and his administration, which has sought to expand executive power to enact sweeping changes to the federal government and the fabric of America. Photo by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy | Arizona Mirror As President Donald Trump orders the U.S. military into Los Angeles to confront protesters there and more than 100 tanks and other heavy-duty military vehicles are staging to roll through the nation's capital in an unprecedented parade that the president ordered, thousands of Arizonans are preparing to join pro-democracy rallies planned for Saturday. Arizona will be home to at least 40 'No Kings' protests, with events planned from Yuma to Page to Douglas and everywhere in between, including 15 in the Phoenix metro area and five in Tucson and the surrounding communities. The largest event is planned for the state Capitol at 9 a.m., and most are scheduled for the morning, before temperatures climb into the triple digits. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Nationwide, there are more than 2,000 rallies scheduled, and organizers say they expect millions of people to turn out to protest the Trump administration and celebrate American democracy. 'The protests come in response to President Trump's escalating use of military force in American cities and a federal agenda that would strip health care from 16 million people while expanding ICE raids targeting immigrants and protestors,' the No Kings organization said in a written statement. 'Two things remain true in this country: we have no kings, and no president can stop people from peacefully speaking out. On Saturday, millions across the nation will come together to make that message clear.' 'This military escalation only confirms what we've known: this government wants to rule by force, not serve the people,' the No Kings coalition added. 'From major cities to small towns, we'll rise together and say: we reject political violence. We reject fear as governance. We reject the myth that only some deserve freedom.' Groups organizing No Kings protests across the country include Indivisible, American Federation of Teachers, ACLU, Public Citizen, MoveOn, 50501, Stand Up America, Common Defense, Human Rights Campaign, League of Conservation Voters and more than 100 others. 'We're seeing the damage to our community with local federal workers losing their jobs, and veterans worrying about their access to benefits and services. We're showing up to say we're not having it,' said Susan Shapiro, the director of Indivisible Northern AZ, which is sponsoring a No Kings rally in Flagstaff on Saturday afternoon. Anti-Trump activists previously rallied during the Hands Off! and 50501 protests earlier this year. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Politics
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Valley father detained by ICE while driving to work sparks protest for release
Around 100 people gathered in central Phoenix on June 8, 2025, at an event organized by the Phoenix chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation to call for the release of Joel Gutierrez, an undocumented man taken by ICE agents last week, and to protest Trump's immigration policies. Photo by Emily Holshouser | Arizona Mirror In the early hours of June 4, 48-year-old Joel Gutierrez was driving his coworker to a home they were renovating in Phoenix when their work van was stopped by U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement officers. Agents pulled Gutierrez and his coworker out of the van and arrested them. ICE agents scattered Neatly stacked papers and a packed lunchbox throughout the car. Gutierrez was taken to the Central Arizona Florence Detention Center, where he remains today. His coworker was arrested, too. Both men are undocumented. On June 8, around 100 people gathered at University Park on Van Buren Street just west of downtown Phoenix at an event organized by the Phoenix chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation to call for Gutierrez's release and protest the Trump administration's sweeping and aggressive immigration policies. 'My dad is honestly the best person there is,' Gutierrez's daughter, Denise, 19, told the crowd. 'He is the sweetest, most understanding person, and he truly does not deserve to be where he is right now.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Gutierrez's detention comes at a time when the Trump administration has ordered ICE to boost deportation numbers by focusing their efforts on largely law-abiding immigrants, which has spurred a slew of workplace raids and targeting people seeking relief in immigration courts. During his campaign, President Trump promised to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, calling it the 'largest domestic deportation operation in American history.' The administration's plans have ramped up throughout the year, with a new plan taking shape in recent weeks to deport 'the worst first' in the first 100 days of the Trump administration. Since January, according to federal data, ICE has arrested over 26,000 people. The agency says 995 of those arrests have taken place in Phoenix. Across the country, ICE has carried out raids at workplaces and immigration courts. On June 7, a workplace raid at a Home Depot in the working-class Los Angeles enclave of Paramount set off a weekend of intense and chaotic protests. Trump has since seized operational control of the California National Guard and deployed 4,000 soldiers to the city, as well as several hundred U.S. Marines. Denise said that her father believes he was profiled because of his work van. Joel told his family later that he noticed ICE officers following him before he was stopped. 'He has one of those big white vans that you see everywhere, and they simply stopped him because they saw the van,' Denise said at the protest. 'They assumed that there's probably someone in there who doesn't have legal status.' Gutierrez unsuccessfully attempted to earn citizenship several times, but remained in the country with his family, Denise said. Joel came to the United States from Mexico with Denise's mother in 2000, when they were in their early 20s. They settled in Mesa to start a life. Joel and his wife had four children — two immigrated from Mexico, but two were born here and are United States citizens. Their youngest is a nine-year-old boy. 'My nine-year-old little brother and my dad are very close, because that's his only boy,' Denise said. 'They play soccer almost every day, and right now, this is a situation that we never thought we would have to live in.' The crowd marched from the park to the Arizona Capitol building, Phoenix Police Department cars and motorcycles lurking around every corner. The group eventually arrived back at the park. 'I'm just sick and tired of seeing my people be taken away for no reason,' said Marilyn Ramos, 24, as she marched with the crowd. 'I feel like, if they're really criminals, why are they going after people out at the workplace? … It's giving Hitler, and I don't like that.' As these raids ramp up in other cities including Miami, Chicago, and New York, local advocacy groups are concerned that Phoenix could be next. On Monday, several local groups announced that ICE raids were planned in Phoenix throughout the week, and warned immigrant communities to be on alert. 'Community organizations have received credible information that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) may be conducting mass workplace raids in the Phoenix area this week,' Puente Arizona said in a written statement. 'Particularly targeting businesses that have previously been audited for employing undocumented workers.' In January, Trump signed an executive order that greatly expanded the expedited removal process, reviving a 2019 program that fast-tracked deportations for immigrants, oftentimes without any due process. In late May, ICE agents detained more than a dozen people outside the Phoenix immigration court across two days as part of the Trump administration's crackdown. Denise said on Sunday that Joel is being held in an overcrowded facility with poor treatment and little food. 'They're moving my dad to a different part of the facility because of how insanely crowded it is,' Denise told the Mirror on June 9. 'They don't get any time outside. It's really terrible, and that's what makes it really hard on my dad.' There is no publicly available data on the Florence facility's capacity and current population. A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not answer emailed questions. Several of the rally-goers spoke about their personal experiences with immigration and expressed deep concern that Phoenix could be targeted. 'This system is barbaric, yet it is exactly how it's designed,' said Dania Duran, an organizer with PSL. 'Both Republicans and Democrats have demonized immigrants as a tool to incite fear in people and a tool to make themselves richer.' A GoFundMe for the family has raised over $5,000, which will go towards legal fees and paying bills that Joel was primarily responsible for. 'My sisters and I have been doing everything possible to kind of get our story out there, because this really is terrible, and it's not just happening to our family,' Denise said. 'It's happening all over the United States right now, to multiple families, people with different stories than ours.' Phoenix-area immigration advocacy groups were advising community members on Tuesday to avoid areas that may be targeted for deportations and to know their legal rights. 'We are asking people at risk of deportation to stay away from places where confirmed raids are happening and other high risk areas if they can,' said Casey Clowes, a spokesperson for the nonprofit advocacy group Progress Arizona in a written statement. 'We are calling on allies to report ICE activity to the Phoenix Hotline by calling or texting (480) 506-7437 and get trained in Migra Watch so you can safely and peacefully bear witness and document ICE's actions.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Protesters clash with police as ICE raids surge across Phoenix metro area
Protesters and media gather in a Peoria neighborhood on June 10, 2025, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided a house near 69th Avenue and West North Lane. Photo by Gloria Rebecca Gomez | Arizona Mirror Tensions erupted between immigrant rights advocates and Peoria police officers on Tuesday, amid a surge in Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity across the Valley. Federal officials with Homeland Security Investigations, a division within ICE, descended on a Peoria neighborhood Tuesday morning. A neighbor told the Arizona Mirror they witnessed multiple agents use flash bangs and a battering ram to enter the house. Yasmeen Pitts O'Keefe, a spokesperson for HSI, said the case involved narcotics and human smuggling, and that one person was arrested on federal charges and another was turned over to immigration officials. Peoria Police Department vehicles blocked off both ends of the street and officers kept watch as protestors, drawn by social media alerts, lined the sidewalks nearby. A confrontation between Peoria PD and opponents led to one person being subdued with a Taser and arrested. Chantil Martinez, who has lived in nearby Glendale her whole life, said she sympathizes with local police officers who likely had no choice in their assignments. But she was quick to say that, while she has some level of trust in local police officers, that same trust doesn't extend to federal officials. The raids carried out by ICE agents, she said, are comparable to discriminatory arrests carried out in Nazi Germany. 'It's almost like knocking on the doors back in the day and saying: 'Are you a Jew?' It's not OK,' she said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Another protester, Erika, told the Arizona Mirror that she heard about the presence of federal agents on her way back from a doctor's appointment via a Tiktok livestream, and drove to the area to offer her support. Her three children, ranging in ages from 1 to 16 years old, stood next to her on the sidewalk in the blistering, triple-digit heat. Erika, who was unwilling to give her last name because she feared retaliation, said she's been monitoring the Los Angeles ICE raids and she worries about the same happening in Arizona. 'We all have family members, or people we know, who would be affected,' she said. A spokesperson with the Peoria Police Department said the department only managed traffic control in the area while federal officials conducted a drug-related investigation, and that 'false narratives' about it being related to immigration enforcement led to the protest. Immigrant advocacy organizations in Phoenix have been on red alert in the wake of ICE's workplace raids in Los Angeles, which have seen more than 40 people detained, and the subsequent protests. The Trump administration has increasingly sought to ramp up deportations, with Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller pushing for 3,000 arrests a day. While enforcement actions in Phoenix have recently centered around migrants attending hearings at the city's immigration court, pro-immigrant groups were alarmed by information that ICE raids are expected to be conducted across the Phoenix metro area this week. That information appeared to bear out: Over just the past few days, ICE agents have been spotted in multiple locations across the Valley. And hours before the arrests in Peoria, three men in a truck carrying construction materials were detained at a gas station at 27th Avenue and Indian School Road, according to the Phoenix New Times. Roughly 50 protesters, including members from pro-immigrant groups, gathered to oppose the HSI operation in Peoria and were particularly critical of Peoria PD's presence. As the Trump administration's hostility towards undocumented people has reached new heights, scrutiny about the relationship between federal immigration officials and local law enforcement departments has increased. One protester yelled 'You're a traitor, you betrayed your community,' at a Peoria police officer, while another shouted, 'This isn't what our taxes are for!' into a bullhorn. Erika noted that she was upset about Peoria PD's collaboration, saying it gave her doubts about calling them for help in the future. 'It makes me have less trust in them now,' she said. 'It makes you question where to turn when you need help.' In a statement issued shortly after the protest ended, the Phoenix Police Department sought to distance itself from ICE's increased activity in the Valley while at the same time encouraging peaceful demonstrations. Donna Rossi, a spokeswoman for the department, said Phoenix PD is not involved in the federal government's recent enforcement actions. Rossi also acknowledged that the actions of federal immigration authorities can 'evoke fear or other strong emotions,' but urged protesters to express those emotions in peaceful ways. 'The Department fully recognizes and respects the constitutional rights of all to peaceably assemble and exercise free speech,' Rossi said in a written statement. 'We encourage all community members to express their views in a peaceful and lawful manner, and we remain committed to supporting safe and respectful demonstrations.' The Phoenix City Council is currently considering an initiative proposed by immigrant rights advocates for the Phoenix Police Department to stop working with ICE. According to reporting from the Arizona Republic, the majority of arrests in the metro area that end in deportations are conducted by Phoenix police. At one point during the protest, a scuffle broke out between police officers and the crowd. Three officers surrounded a protester, who ended up on the ground after officers deployed a Taser. The scene was chaotic, with some in the crowd converging on the officers as the detained protester was escorted to a police vehicle while other activists urged them to hang back. At least half of the group stayed apart from the altercation. In a video posted to social media, a water bottle can be seen flying past the police officers who surrounded the protester on the ground. At least one immigrant advocate, Clarissa Vela, the co-founder of the People First Project, was struck by a rock in her leg. 'This is what they want — they want us to be criminals,' Vela shouted through a bullhorn as she tried, unsuccessfully, to convince the crowd to calm down. According to a statement issued by the Peoria Police Department, an officer was intentionally blocked by two protesters and assaulted by another, who was then subdued and arrested. In a post on social media site X, formerly Twitter, Gov. Katie Hobbs criticized the alleged assault and said her office has directed the Arizona Department of Public Safety to ensure local law enforcement agencies have the support they need. 'I have directed @Arizona_DPS to reach out to local law enforcement to ensure needs are met and we maintain order in the community. The State of Arizona is prepared to assist the City of Peoria and any other local law enforcement entities with necessary resources to keep our communities safe,' she wrote. 'Violence is completely unacceptable, and I urge any protesters to remain peaceful.' Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell, too, denounced the incident. 'An attack on a police officer is never appropriate,' she said in a written statement. 'These men and women risk their own lives and safety to do the job we've asked them to do.' As law enforcement on the ground clashed with the crowd, a Department of Homeland Security Blackhawk helicopter circled above. The helicopter is primarily used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection where it has been flown for a variety of missions, including conducting security for the Super Bowl. The helicopter later landed at the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway airport, the operational headquarters for ICE Air and where deportation flights are taking place. The helicopter also circled the Arrowhead Towne Center in Glendale as well as the Peoria Sports Complex prior to making its way to the area near 69th Avenue and West North Lane. ***UPDATED: This story has been updated with additional information. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
