Emmanuel Uwayezu with Tucson African Music performs with some of his students at a World Refugee Day event in Tucson on June 28, 2025.At an event in support of the local refugee community on Saturday, Mayor Regina Romero said that Tucson is a welcoming community to refugees and immigrants and that Tucson Police were at the event to reiterate that commitment.
About 300 were in attendance at the event that was held at the Freedom Park Center, many of them refugees.
Romero noted that the Tucson Police Department reiterates that sentiment.
“These are the words of our chief,” Romero said. “We are not going to do the work of any federal agency or ICE.We are going to do the work of public safety to protect you.”
The Trump administration ended the refugee resettlement program with an executive order the day he took office, leaving many refugees who had recently arrived, without the proper services to help them get settled.
Refugees go through a process that takes years to gain admittance into the United States.
“We see the news every day; we see our immigrant community and our refugee community scared and terrorized, and we want to alleviate that concern and add comfort,” Romero said. “Tucson is an immigrant welcoming community, and we will always be an immigrant welcoming community.”
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