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A month after Zipps Sports Grill raids, there have been no additional arrests

A masked agent sits inside Zipps Sports Grill near 48th Street and Warner Road in Phoenix
Tim Agne
/
KJZZ
A masked agent sits inside Zipps Sports Grill near 48th Street and Warner Road in Phoenix on Jan. 27, 2026.

Thursday marks one month since federal authorities raided more than a dozen sports bars and restaurants in metro Phoenix.

The investigation led by a division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement has continued, but there have been no more arrests.

Federal agents arrested nearly 40 people on suspicion of being in the country illegally. But only four employees are accused of crimes.

The owner of Zipps Sports Grills has not been charged.

Muzaffar Chishti, senior fellow for the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., said employers rarely go to jail in connection with worksite raids.

“And in almost all cases of employment enforcement, the price is paid by the worker. And the employers typically get away with a slap on the wrist,” he said.

Chishti also said to commit a crime, employers have to knowingly hire undocumented people. And the system they use to check if employment documents are valid does not also check if the identity matches the person using them.

More Immigration News

Matthew Casey has won Public Media Journalists Association and Edward R. Murrow awards since he joined KJZZ as a senior field correspondent in 2015.