Tucson, Arizona —
For years, immigration attorney Rachel Wilson has relied on her local congressional office to help untangle bureaucratic knots that threaten her clients’ ability to live and work in the United States.
That aid used to come from the staff of longtime Rep. Raúl Grijalva, until his death in March. When his daughter, Adelita Grijalva, won a special election on September 23 to replace him, Wilson expected a seamless handoff.
Instead, more than a month later, the local congressional office in Tucson is shuttered and the phones ring unanswered. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has refused to swear in Grijalva, a Democrat, while the government is shut down, leaving the residents of her sprawling southern Arizona district without a vote in Congress — or help back home.
“Here I am paying taxes to the federal government,” Wilson said from her Tucson office this week, “and not only is it closed but I don’t have a representative either.”
Grijalva spent much of the week in Washington unable to access government email and federal systems. While most congressional offices are buzzing with activity, her suite on the Hill remains mostly quiet and many desks sit empty.
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