ICE raid tipoffs from Dem lawmaker could mean charges, says DHS rep: 'Looks like obstruction'

After Democratic Arizona state Senator Analise Ortiz admitted on social media to alerting her community about ICE movements, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin claimed in a statement to Fox News Digital that the lawmaker is choosing illegal criminals over American citizens.

"Arizona state Senator Analise Ortiz is siding with vicious cartels, human traffickers, and violent criminals over American citizens," said McLaughlin.

In response to Fox News Digital's question about whether Ortiz could face charges, McLaughlin answered, "This certainly looks like obstruction of justice."

She pointed to DHS statistics that ICE officers are currently facing an 830 percent increase in assaults.

This comes after popular conservative social media page "Libs of TikTok" blasted Ortiz for posting alerts on her account giving updates on ICE operations in the area. Libs of TikTok posted a screenshot, indicating it belonged to Ortiz, that warned in English and Spanish, "ICE is present." The post also gave the location of the federal officials' whereabouts.

In response, Ortiz admitted to alerting her community about ICE activity, saying, "Yep. When ICE is around, I will alert my community to stay out of the area."  

Seemingly in response to the Libs of TikTok's call for charges against her, Ortiz also wrote, "I'm not f*****g scared of you nor Trump's masked goons."

After the comment, Arizona Senate Warren Petersen, a Republican, issued a statement reprimanding Ortiz: "Public servants have a duty to uphold the law and respect those who enforce it, not undermine them."

Petersen said he had referred the matter to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona for investigation "as it appears she may be in violation of federal law."

Ortiz has remained defiant, writing in an X post, "I will not be intimidated. I will alert our community to avoid the area when Trump's masked thugs terrorize us all, regardless of citizenship. Trump doesn't respect our laws nor our constitution. My duty is to keep people safe from his unconstitutional and authoritarian actions."