by Ethan Faverino | Sep 4, 2025 | Education, News
By Ethan Faverino |
The Phoenix Union High School District (PXU) is set to vote on a proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC), an Arizona-based nonprofit, at its upcoming school board meeting.
The agreement, effective from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2027, aims to provide substance abuse prevention and mental health services to students at Carl Hayden High School, Bostrom High School, and Maryvale High School.
However, the proposal sparked debate among board members and community advocates, with concerns about the scope of services and their alignment with student needs.
The MOU outlines CPLC’s role as a subgrantee of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) under the federal Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant (SABG). The SABG targets groups such as pregnant women, drug users, and individuals with HIV/AIDS, alongside primary prevention services for substance abuse.
Under the proposed agreement, CPLC would deliver primary substance abuse prevention services and counseling to referred PXU students, with a specific mention of “Health Masculinity Services for Self-Identified Males.”
The proposed MOU has drawn criticism from some PXU board members, notably Jeremiah Cota, who announced via X his intent to vote against the contract.
Cota expressed concerns that the agreement prioritizes services for self-identified males and potentially includes abortion-related support under the guise of “wrap-around” services, labeling CPLC a “leftist activist group.”
His stance has been amplified by Arizona State Representative Teresa Martinez, who praised Cota’s advocacy while criticizing PXU for ignoring student safety, particularly in light of recent discussions about reinstating school resource officers (SROs).
The SROs were removed from PXU campuses in 2020 following concerns about police interactions with minority students.
Despite recommendations from the district’s student safety committee in March 2023 to reinstate SROs, the board postponed the decision, opting for further study sessions and maintaining an off-duty officer model.
No SRO vote is scheduled for the upcoming meeting, intensifying the frustration among advocates, who argue student safety is being pushed aside.
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Matthew Holloway | Sep 4, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
On Saturday, in a video recorded at the ICE Eloy Detention Center, Arizona Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ03) again falsely described the illegal aliens held there as her “constituents.”
In the political spectacle, a repeat of Ansari’s controversial visit in July, the congresswoman accused the facility of holding her “constituents, who are trapped inside,” claiming there is “dehumanizing, racist, unacceptable treatment happening inside the Eloy Detention Center that is run by a private company called Core Civic.”
Ansari cited the ongoing case of a foreign national known as ‘Yari,’ identified by ABC15 as Arbella Rodríguez Márquez. Yari is a U.S resident whose green card was revoked after being denied parole on human smuggling charges in July and suffers from Leukemia.
Ansari claimed that Rodríguez Márquez has not received “proper medical treatment,” however, these allegations have been repeatedly refuted by the Department of Homeland Security DHS. Assistant Secretary of the DHS Tricia McLaughlin stated in a post to X:
In her remarks, Ansari said that “the accusations against [Rodríguez Márquez] are egregious,” and that she “was a green-card holder.” But she continues to refer to the foreign national as a “constituent,” despite a statement from a DHS spokesman in July that firmly rejects Ansari’s allegations and Rodríguez Márquez’s misrepresented status as the congresswoman’s “constituent.”
After Ansari claimed that she was denied access to the Eloy Detention Center in July, a DHS spokesman told 12News:
“Allegations that Congresswoman Ansari was denied access to the Eloy Detention Facility are FALSE. After being told that Ansari would be unable to speak with detainees—illegal aliens, not constituents—she did not even show up or have the courtesy to send a cancellation notice to ICE.
“While ICE law enforcement officers face an 830% increase in assaults against them, Congresswoman Ansari is has demonized ICE law enforcement in the past—calling them a ‘military force hell bent on terrorizing immigrant communities.’
“Any claim that there are subprime conditions at ICE detention centers are FALSE. All detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers. Ensuring the safety, security, and well-being of individuals in our custody is a top priority at ICE. ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens.”
As a legal resident in the United States and not a citizen, even before the revocation of her residency, Rodríguez Márquez was unable to vote in U.S. federal elections legally. Following the revocation of her residency, her legal status reverted to that of a foreign national in the U.S. illegally or an illegal alien and a detainee.
Libs of TikTok observed the discrepancy in a post to X writing, “Rep Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ) says she has ‘many constituents’ who are in ICE detention facilities[.] Why do you have ‘constituents’ who are in our country illegally @RepYassAnsari?? Does @RepYassAnsari care this much about her actual constituents who are American citizens?”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by AZ Free Enterprise Club | Sep 3, 2025 | Opinion
By the Arizona Free Enterprise Club |
If Katie Hobbs is thinking about what to do after her time as Governor is up, one option would be to test her skills in the Hide and Seek World Championships. After all, she proved during the 2022 gubernatorial election campaign that it’s what she’s best at.
After dodging any request to debate her opponent Kari Lake during her campaign, Hobbs also ducked reporters who dared to question her about it. She even hid in a restaurant bathroom after another reporter asked her why she didn’t like discussing politics.
All this hiding should have resulted in a simple decision. According to long-standing Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission (AZCCEC) rules, an opponent (in this case Kari Lake) should have been provided with airtime when a candidate (in this case Katie Hobbs) refused to debate. And the AZCCEC planned to do just that. But hours before Kari Lake’s interview was scheduled to take place, the AZCCEC learned that Arizona PBS went behind their back to schedule an exclusive interview with Katie Hobbs—moving them to postpone Lake’s interview.
If you think all this reeks of collusion, you’re right. And now, a public records request has made it clear. Katie Hobbs wasn’t playing hide and seek alone. She was purposefully aided by leadership at Arizona State University (ASU) and at PBS…
>>> CONTINUE READING >>>
by Ethan Faverino | Sep 3, 2025 | News
By Ethan Faverino |
The Trump administration announced that it has successfully located over 23,000 unaccompanied immigrant children who were previously unaccounted for during the Biden administration, marking a significant step in addressing the crisis.
This figure represents approximately 7% of the estimated 300,000 unaccompanied children that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported as untraceable under the prior administration.
Border Czar Tom Homan, a key figure in the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts, criticized the Biden administration’s handling of the issue.
“The last administration wasn’t even looking for them,” said Homan. “We’re not going to stop until we find every one of them.”
The administration is prioritizing resources in sanctuary cities like Chicago, where local policies limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities, to ensure the safety and accountability of these vulnerable children.
The Biden administration’s Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) was unable to contact approximately 85,000 unaccompanied children by phone after their release to sponsors between January and May 2023. A later DHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report in August 2024 further highlighted systemic failures, estimating around 300,000 unaccompanied children remained unaccounted for.
The report noted that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) failed to monitor the location and status of these children after their release from federal custody, with over 32,000 failing to appear for immigration court hearings between fiscal years 2019 and 2023.
Additionally, 31,000 children were released to sponsors with invalid or incomplete addresses, enhancing the risk of losing track of them.
The DHS OIG report also revealed that ICE failed to serve Notices to Appear (NTAs) to over 291,000 unaccompanied children as of May 2024, meaning these children had no scheduled immigration court dates.
The report shows the heightened risk of trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor for children who did not appear in court, raising serious concerns about their safety.
In response, the Trump administration launched an aggressive initiative in May 2025 to conduct welfare checks on the estimated 450,000 unaccompanied children who entered the U.S. under the Biden administration.
By June, approximately 500 children were taken into government custody due to unsafe living conditions or immigration enforcement actions against their sponsors.
The issue was a focal point during a November 2024 Homeland Security Committee hearing, where congressional leaders examined the breakdown in government processes under the Biden administration that led to the disappearance of these children. The Trump administration’s proactive measures stand in contrast to the previous administration’s shortcomings, as evidenced by the historic low of 4,598 total apprehensions along the southern border in July 2025—the lowest ever recorded—compared to over 10,000 daily apprehensions under the Biden administration.
Additionally, ICE has arrested over 160,000 illegal immigrants within the U.S., primarily those posing public safety and national security threats.
“We have the most secure border in the history of this nation, and the data proves it,” said Homan. “President Trump has been a game changer, and his leadership makes the country safer every day. Promises made. Promises kept. Promises proven.”
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Matthew Holloway | Sep 3, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Xin Lui, a Chinese national and former U.S. resident, was convicted in Nevada in 2022 of involuntary manslaughter and child abuse after throwing her three-month-old baby from a second-story window. An immigration judge has since ruled her removable, and she will be deported from the United States.
Xin, who served a 48-month sentence in connection with her two-felony conviction, was arrested by Yuma Sector Border Patrol Agents working together with Las Vegas law enforcement authorities last month after her sentence was reduced to probation, according to Chief Patrol Agent (CPA) of the U.S. Border Patrol Tucson Sector Sean McGoffin.
McGoffin wrote in a post to X, “As a result of her felony convictions, Lui was subject to removal under 8 USC 1227. On Tuesday, an immigration judge found Lui to be removable/inadmissible and ordered her removed to China, revoking her LPR status.”
Reporting on the crime differed slightly from border patrol’s account, with the Las Vegas Review-Journal reporting that the baby, Stanley Shah, was thrown from a second-floor staircase and was fatally injured after striking the tile floor below on Sept. 1, 2020.
According to KLAS, Xin pleaded guilty by reason of insanity in January 2022. The outlet cited an initial arrest report, which described a woman saying Xin had intentionally dropped her baby from the second floor to the first, and the baby was not breathing. Family members later told Las Vegas Metropolitan Police that she suffered from depression, suicidal and homicidal ideation, and that they had tried to hire a nanny to care for Stanley.
Additional reporting from the Las Vegas Sun indicated that Xin had allegedly told a friend that she attempted to smother her son but “woke up” when she heard him crying and stopped. Xin was a stay-at-home mother, and her husband worked.
Xin’s husband had reportedly hired a babysitter and taken his wife for medical treatment after noticing her hands would shake and she would lapse into a “daze” when the baby cried. Although medication and the babysitter seemed to improve her condition, Xin reportedly started having disturbing visions and nightmares, refused food, and was unable to sleep. On September 1st , after the babysitter placed Stanley in his crib and left to wash his clothes in the bathroom, Xin reportedly took the baby from his crib and dropped him from the stairwell.
Stanley was found unresponsive on the floor below, having sustained a severe head injury with no pulse. He was transported to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
