The Range just learned that Tucson immigrant rights activist Raul Ochoa was taken into custody today by five U.S. Border Patrol and three Tucson Police Department officers. Ochoa’s friends and fellow activists are urging supporters to call Border Patrol at 514-4700 to demand his release. The Range has calls to Border Patrol and TPD to get more information on why Ochoa was arrested and will post updates.

UPDATE: The Range talked to a public information officer with U.S. Border Patrol. A statement will be released as soon as it is approved. Immigrant rights organization Corazon de Tucson is also expected to release a statement soon, too.

Ochoa was reportedly arrested after trying to intervene on behalf of a father of five who was stopped by TPD. Although TPD has said in the past that it doesn’t call and will not Border Patrol, it in fact called Border Patrol. A march is being planned downtown tomorrow at 4 p.m. More details soon.

UPDATE: The Range just talked to Pastor Allison Harrington of the Southside Presbyterian Church who provided some information on why Ochoa was arrested today. Ochoa is a coordinator at the Southside Worker Center located at the church.

The incident occurred near Ninth Avenue and 23rd Street. As we reported earlier, Ochoa was trying to intervene on behalf of a father of five who was stopped by TPD and Border Patrol was called to the scene.

Reportedly Ochoa laid under a Border Patrol vehicle. Border Patrol responded by pepper spraying Ochoa before he was taken into custody. Currently, attorney Isabel Garcia is still trying to locate Ochoa.

The march downtown tomorrow was confirmed. It will take place at 4 p.m. in front of Tucson Police Department headquarters at 270 S Stone Ave. There will also be a press conference.

FINAL UPDATE FOR THE NIGHT: The Range received the statement and press release from Corazon de Tucson, which you can read after the jump. We will continue to follow this story tomorrow and provide updates when we receive more information. Border Patrol has yet to release a statement on Ochoa’s arrest.

Press Release From Corazon de Tucson:

February 17, 2013

South Tucson — At approximately 2:30 pm this afternoon, Raúl Alcaráz Ochoa, a community organizer with the Southside Worker Center and Corazón de Tucson, placed himself under a Border Patrol (BP) vehicle to prevent
officials from detaining and deporting Tucsonan Rene Meza Huertha. He was subsequently detained by BP officials.

At approximately 1:30pm the Tucson Police Department (TPD) pulled over Meza Huertha, along with his expectant wife and six children. TPD, in direct contradiction of previous statements promising to be more “immigrant
welcoming,” called Border Patrol to take Mr. Huertha into custody. Mr. Alcaráz Ochoa, a long time advocate against massive deportations in our community and country, placed himself underneath the vehicle in which Mr. Huertha was detained. At the time of his detainment, there were at least six Border Patrol Agents and four TPD officers on the scene. Border Patrol officials proceeded to repeatedly pepper spray Mr. Alcaráz Ochoa, who suffers from asthma, before dragging him out, handcuffing him, and taking him into custody.

Corazón de Tucson and the Southside Worker Center are calling for a protest and press conference tomorrow, Monday, February 18 at 4:00pm outside the Tucson Police Department at 270 S. Stone Ave. They are demanding the immediate release without charges, of both Raúl Alcaráz Ochoa and Rene Meza Huertha. Furthermore, they demand an end to all deportations and to stop the assault on families by police and Border Patrol. They call for an immediate halt of the cooperation between Tucson Police Department and Border Patrol. As Alma Hernandez of
Corazón de Tucson, who herself has experienced detention and separation from her three young children shared, “We must end this attack on families. Deportations and detentions are destroying our community.”

For further information regarding the protest and press conference please contact: Alma Hernandez of Corazón de Tucson at (520)304-8332; Stephanie Quintana of Southside Worker’s Center at (939)579-3534

This article appears in Feb 14-20, 2013.

15 replies on “UPDATE: Border Patrol Arrests Tucson Activist Raul Ochoa”

  1. Please March, but leave the Illegals at home. I’d hate you to force the ICE to actually have to do what we’re paying them to do for a living.

  2. MARI HERRERAS,

    Please, why don’t you post the truth and tell the readers why Mr. Huertha was really placed under arrest. For some reason you didn’t quit mentioned that in your article. Hmmm, I wonder why?

    Please, tell the facts and stop making this seem like some poor innocent men was being harassed by TPD and the Border Patrol!

    Shame on you!

  3. It would really help to know why Mr. Huertha was stopped and arrested. Ochoa’s action
    was knee jerk and instead should have follwed legal procediure.

  4. live here the right way..stop breaking the law and wanting freedom,,we as us born people don’t get a break when we break the law…stop crying…you broke the law!!

  5. Huertha was probably arrested for driving while brown in AZ. In any case, how legit is it to detain a man with a wife whose baby is on the way? If Mr. Huertha really were seriously a suspect in a real crime, TPB could follow him to the hospital. There was no need for Border Patrol.

    Despite the bad arrest, it was foolish for Mr. Ochoa to throw himself under the Border Patrol vehicle. I’m not sure what he expected to accomplish and when you do something like that you run the risk of the consequences.

  6. It’s a shame that men of good intentions can’t be civilized and agree on a productive posture in dealing with emotional issues of the heart. Civil disobedience and hot headed idealism leads to pain and suffering on all sides. How do you think the Border Patrol agents feel about destroying the lives of their kind? Can’t blame the fellow for wanting to better the lives of his children. But, this talent drain in Mexico has its consequences also. Mexico needs the efforts of all its citizens to stay there and produce a quality of life as good as any. If the father of five had no prior arrests, in my opinion, let him go. If he had felony convictions, send him to devil’s island.

  8. ABC123,

    Expectant only means that she is pregnant, not that she was in labor and there is nothing in the opinion piece to suggest that or to suggest that they were on their way to the hospital.

    I hope that there was a legitimate reason to pull Rene Meza Huertha over, but either way I respect the gumption and gall that Raul Ochoa has shown in supporting the cause he believes in. He knew he would be arrested and something tells me he is probably a little disappointed that all he got was pepper sprayed; a police beating would have been much better for his cause, even better if it were caught on a digital.

  9. How ’bout this… six children and two adults in the car. Seat belts and car seats for everyone. I doubt it. Hugely irresponsible anyway you look at it. How can anyone afford SEVEN children. Is this guy a U of A professor making $300,00.00 a year. I am not a bigot but I hate stupid. This could as easily be an idiot in Louisiana. Stupid is stupid.

  13. Just because his country borders the U.S. didn’t give him the automatic right to violate our laws and move here. Sorry to see him deported now, and if our laws were enforced he might not have been lured into breaking them, but he still has no one to blame but himself.

  14. Let’s start from the beginning. Obviously Huerta was being stopped for some apparent reason. If not, why would TPD stop him in the first place? I’m assuming it is because he had six children in a car with no seat belts on!! Secondly, if he is illegal, we can presume that our tax money is paying for his six children and now pregnant wife to eat and receive health benefits…right? What about all the people in Mexico that are going about things the right way and actually paying to get a Visa legally to be in the U.S. and work the right way. By paying taxes as well. Not coming to the U.S. to have “anchor” babies. He broke the law, and that is why Border Patrol was called. Border Patrol agent’s get paid for a reason! They are not breaking up families, the people themselves crossing illegally are running the risk of being separated from their families when they decide to cross illegally and have their kids here. I’m sure Civilians do not see what TPD And Borer Patrol has to see, which is deal with the criminals and drug runners and even Child Rapists!! When you’ll deal with a criminal alien, then you’ll be calling up TPD and Border Patrol. Ochoa was in the wrong preventing the agents from doing their job!! I’m sure he was only peppered sprayed AFTER he was given SEVERAL commands to come out from underneath the vehicle. GET the story straight before you accuse and start jumping to assumptions. ALL IN ALL…..STAY IN FREAKIN MEXICO….PAY FOR YOUR VISA AND COME HERE LEGALLY! I’m all for TPD and BP…Thank you for risking your lives to protect OUR families!

  15. child rapists? You care about child rapists? ask arpiao the pig how much he cares about the 436 raped children. asshole

Comments are closed.