Arizona Veterans Plan Convoy to Highlight Government Shutdown Impacts

As the nation prepares to celebrate Veteran’s Day, a group of Arizona veterans is organizing a bus and car convoy to highlight the effects of the recent government shutdown. The initiative, known as the People’s Deployment, will make stops at key locations over the weekend.

The convoy will visit the VA Medical Center in Tucson on Saturday, followed by a Sunday stop at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Sierra Vista, and will conclude at the Arizona Capitol in Phoenix on Monday morning.

Ricardo Reyes, who leads VetsForward, one of the organizations spearheading this event, shares his concerns regarding the shutdown’s impact on essential services. Reyes recalls his own past as a junior Marine, where his family depended on food stamps and the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, both of which are now under threat.

“To them, the people that are being affected are, you know, just like these lazy people that are taking advantage and aren’t willing to work. Well, like I said, a lot of those people that are being affected are active-duty military members that they claim to love,” Reyes said.

Statistics provided by the organizers indicate that approximately 31,000 veterans in Arizona rely on SNAP, or food stamps. This benefit is currently embroiled in a legal dispute involving Arizona and other states against the Trump administration.

Beatriz Topete, Arizona organizing director for Unite Here Local 11, a union representing hospitality workers in southern California and Arizona, also supports the convoy. She reflects on her post-Army experience in the 1980s when she was advised to take up federal employment.

“Another way of serving, right? Just without a uniform. However, it feels like another broken promise,” Topete remarked.

Topete notes that one-third of Arizona’s veterans are in federal employment, a sector heavily impacted by recent layoffs from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

State Rep. Aaron Marquez and U.S. Congresswoman-elect Adelita Grijalva will be joining the convoy to lend their support. The People’s Deployment also aims to address broader issues, including the deportation of veterans and the uncertain status of Afghan nationals who served alongside U.S. forces.