Biden Sets All-Time Illegal Immigrant Record; Border Patrol Leader Says Cartels In Charge

Biden Sets All-Time Illegal Immigrant Record; Border Patrol Leader Says Cartels In Charge

By Corinne Murdock |

The federal government’s latest southern border data reveals that President Joe Biden set an all-time record for illegal immigrant encounters: over 2.1 million in one fiscal year. Under Biden, there have been over 3.6 million illegal immigrant encounters. That doesn’t include “gotaways,” which are illegal immigrants either directly or indirectly observed but not apprehended.

In all four years under former President Donald Trump, there were just over 2.4 million border encounters. If the border encounters under Biden continue at this rate — an average of over 183,300 a month — there will be over 8.6 million border encounters.

The National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) vice president, Art Del Cueto, told “The Conservative Circus” on Monday that the drug cartels, not Biden, are in charge of the border, and that Biden’s inaction makes him, essentially, their friend. 

“Everything gets coordinated through them,” said Del Cueto. “[The drug cartels] have a budget, and their best friend is sitting in the White House today.”

Del Cueto explained that the cartel keeps an eye on border gaps and plans human smuggling nearly a decade ahead.

Del Cueto further explained that the asylum process isn’t safe for the American people. He shared that those awarded asylum are only vetted for crimes committed in America, not their home country. 

“We don’t know what crimes they’ve committed in their own country,” said Del Cueto.

In response to the latest border data, Congressman Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) emphasized again that the border isn’t secure.

The Biden administration claims that the border is secure. 

Earlier this month, Vice President Kamala Harris issued that claim to NBC. “We have a secure border in that that [sic] is a priority for any nation, including ours in our administration,” said Harris. “There are still a lot of problems that we are trying to fix, given the deterioration that happened over the last four years. We also have to put in place a law and a plan for a pathway to citizenship.”

However, a group of about 100 illegal immigrants dropped off outside Harris’ Washington, D.C. home last Thursday told Fox News reporters that the consensus among illegal crossers is that there aren’t laws governing the border. The illegal immigrants also acknowledged that they and all the rest of their ilk understand that what they’re doing is illegal.

“Everybody believes that the border is open,” he said. “It is open because we enter. We come in free, no problem. We came illegally, not legally.”

Yet, that same day, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre backed Harris’ claim. 

“What we stand by is that we are doing everything that we can to make sure that we follow the process that’s been put forth,” said Jean-Pierre. “We agree that the border is secure, but there is still more work to be done.”

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.

Congressman Gosar Investigating Arizona Man Accused of Being January 6 Federal Informant

Congressman Gosar Investigating Arizona Man Accused of Being January 6 Federal Informant

By Corinne Murdock |

On Friday, Congressman Paul Gosar (R-AZ-04) requested that the Department of Justice (DOJ) turn over all records concerning an Arizona man accused of working as a federal informant: Ray Epps.

In a press release, Gosar said it was suspicious that Epps was never arrested or charged with a crime despite inciting illegal activity. Last January 5 and 6, Epps encouraged and directed protestors to breach the Capitol building.

“If the Department of Justice has nothing to hide and is genuinely interested in what happened on January 6, they should release every piece of information relating to Ray Epps’ involvement on that day,” stated Gosar. “Then and only then will the American people know what really happened.”

The first to question Epps’ January 6 involvement was Congressman Thomas Massie (R-KY-04) last October. Massie asked Attorney General Merrick Garland whether federal agents were present and encouraged protestors to go into the U.S. Capitol on January 6. 

Further details about Epps’ January 6 involvement were uncovered through investigative reporting by Darren Beattie, Revolver News founder and former White House speechwriter.

Epps appeared on the FBI Capitol Violence Most Wanted List within several days of the January 6 riot. The public and mainstream media identified him quickly. However, the FBI didn’t arrest or charge Epps. Last July, they removed Epps from their list. 

A year later, this July, The New York Times featured Epps in an article discussing how accusations of federal informacy ruined his life. Epps said that he and his wife plan to file a defamation lawsuit against those levying accusations of government collusion. Elsewhere, he cited Revolver News and Fox News’ Tucker Carlson as the main sources of many of his problems. 

Epps also claimed to the outlet that he avoided arrest because he reached out to the FBI on January 8, the day that the agency included his picture on their Most Wanted list. After less than an hour on the phone, and a March 2021 in-person interview with federal agents, the FBI reportedly cleared Epps of wrongdoing. 

In January, the House’s January 6 Committee revealed that they spoke with Epps. According to their account of the private interview, the committee said that Epps denied any involvement as a law enforcement informant or employee.

Epps was the former president of the Oath Keepers Arizona chapter. The Oath Keepers are a militia organization that believes the federal government is controlled by figures attempting to take away American rights. According to archives of the chapter website, Epps served as president from 2011 until at least 2014. Another individual, Gerald Rhoades, served as the chapter’s vice president.

Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was arrested for his role in the January 6 Capitol riot. Although 10 other Oath Keepers faced charges as well, Epps didn’t.

AZ Free News reached out to Epps for comment, and to ask him about his thoughts on the trials against January 6 participants. He didn’t respond by press time.

Extended Notes on the Timeline:

  • January 5-6, 2021: In one video, Epps advanced along the path where his group of fellow protestors pushed back the barricade around the Capitol. In another video, Epps declared that he and other protestors were “holding ground” while inside restricted Capitol grounds.
  • January 8, 2021: The FBI includes Epps in their Capitol Violence Most Wanted list, identified as the now-deleted Photograph #16. Epps claimed in a later interview with New York Times that “a family member” notified him that same day that “the FBI issued a be-on-the-lookout alert in his name.” The FBI never identified Epps by name. Epps told the outlet that he called the FBI tip line to turn himself in, and spoke with agents for less than an hour. Epps wasn’t arrested.
  • January 11, 2021: The Arizona Republic interviews Epps. At the time, Epps refused to comment on whether he knew he was on the FBI’s list. Epps denied that he wanted people to go “into the Capitol,” as he said in video evidence, but rather “go in the doors like everyone else. It was totally, totally wrong the way they [the protestors] went in.”
  • March 2021: Epps reportedly spoke again with federal agents, this time in person. He told them that he tried to calm down protestors, not incite them, as confirmed by a New York Times review of interview transcripts, which weren’t shared.
  • January 11, 2022: The House’s January 6 Committee discloses that they spoke with Epps, though they don’t publicize the interview. FBI official Jill Sanborn refuses to give details about Epps to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
  • March 29, 2022: The DOJ promises to provide a “disclosure” about Epps to several individuals facing charges related to the January 6 riot. An attorney for Epps, John Blischak, told Politico that Epps provided “a full disclosure” to the House January 6 Committee.
  • July 13, 2022New York Times features Epps in “A Trump Backer’s Downfall as the Target of a Jan. 6 Conspiracy Theory,” discussing how allegations of federal conspiracy ruined his life. 
  • August 30, 2022: Shortly after the Mar-a-Lago raid, former President Donald Trump posted a debunked claim about Epps’ wife previously working for Dominion Voting Machines on his Truth Social account. Epps’ wife worked for an unaffiliated company, Dominion Enterprises.

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.

Transgender Activist for Child Transgenderism Launching Private Phoenix High School

Transgender Activist for Child Transgenderism Launching Private Phoenix High School

By Corinne Murdock |

A Californian transgender woman on the board of an organization focused on normalizing child transgenderism plans to launch a private high school that grants college degrees in Phoenix next year.

Ella (née Daniel) Baker, the founder of Pathways Early College Academy (PECA) and board member of Gender Spectrum, also plans to have his students participate in “The Incubator”: academic and behavioral support through daily faculty check-ins that involve “tutoring, mentorship, and general guidance.” Over the past decade, there have been cases of children who grew distant from their parents and became suicidal after faculty challenged their gender identity or secretly aided in their social and physical gender transition.

It appears that Baker is establishing a Phoenix campus primarily to capitalize on the newly-universalized Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) Program. PECA advertises that it accepts ESA funds, noting that its tuition is $7,000 even — the exact maximum a student may receive under the universal ESA Program. However, tuition increases to $9,800 for the 2023-2024 school year.

“[PECA] is set at the expected state-funded amount so that most families can attend for free,” stated Baker.

Baker’s Gender Spectrum bio includes career highlights not mentioned by his LinkedIn. His professional networking account portrays him as, primarily, an educator: he notes that he managed several educational programs, taught and directed several programs at Maranatha High School in Pasadena, California, and taught at his alma mater, Azusa Pacific University.

However, Baker’s Gender Spectrum bio portrayed his career in education as one focused on transgender activism. He noted that his research focuses on “how institutional climates and policies impact belonging and engagement for transgender communities.” Additionally, he revealed that his education program management duties included serving on a Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) steering committee and overseeing initiatives to eliminate binary dress codes and establish gender neutral restrooms. The bio also disclosed that Baker leads transgender inclusion workshops for faith groups, schools, and businesses.

Baker also had brief stints working for mainstream media outlets: Huffington Post, PBS, and NPR. 

During his time at Maranatha High School, a Christian school, Baker was “Daniel” and proclaimed to be a Christian. He founded the Oliver Honors Institute while there, a selective Bible-based classics program (though he omitted any mention of Christianity or the Bible on his LinkedIn description of the school and institute). Although the high school fired Baker once he chose to identify as a woman publicly, Baker still contends that he is a Christian.

An organization claiming to be a Christian church, All Saints Church in Pasadena, California, held a ceremony affirming Baker’s transgender identity on Easter Weekend in 2019. 

Baker’s one other PECA colleague, Alden Kiertzner, will serve as the principal and senior director of operations at PECA.

PECA derives its college curriculum from Pathways College, whose Phoenix address is shared by Pathways in Education, a high school charter part of a network of public charter schools located in Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, and Tennessee managed by Pathways Management Group (PMG). Pathways College has another address in Pasadena, California that’s the same as the PECA address.

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.

ASU Launches Hate Speech Surveillance With Biden Administration’s Help

ASU Launches Hate Speech Surveillance With Biden Administration’s Help

By Corinne Murdock |

Last week, Arizona State University (ASU) launched a hate speech surveillance campaign with assistance from the federal government.

ASU’s McCain Institute received support from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP) Grant Program to launch SCREEN Hate, an effort to monitor youths’ online activity. The institute told parents and caregivers that it was only a matter of time before the minors in their lives were discovered and corrupted by hate online.

“Trusting that your family’s values will protect them is not enough,” warned the campaign site.

The campaign resources came from DHS and leftist organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), UNESCO, Common Sense Media, and the National School Boards Association (NSBA).

The NSBA coordinated with the Biden administration to investigate parents and community members for domestic terrorism based on their school board activism. When reporters discovered this coordination between the DOJ and NSBA, the NSBA issued an apology letter that they later backdated on their website weeks after our reporting pointed out the letter’s absence online. It was only when the NSBA uploaded and backdated its apology letter that they deleted their celebratory press release about the Biden administration heeding their petition to investigate parents. 

One of the SPLC resources insinuated that devout Christians constituted extremist beliefs.

“Extremist beliefs say that one group of people is in dire conflict with other groups who don’t share the same racial or ethnic, gender or sexual, religious, or political identity,” stated SPLC. “Extremists believe that this imagined conflict can only be through separation, domination, or violence between groups.”

One resource from UNESCO advises individuals on how to “stop the spread of conspiracy theories.” The organization asserts that the world can’t be divided into objective good or bad, and that no powerful forces with negative intent are secretly manipulating events. 

Another resource, from the ADL, framed the 2020 George Floyd riots as peaceful protests, and those opposed to the rioters as white supremacists and extremists. The resource, “White Supremacy Search Trends in the United States,” also claimed that white supremacy was behind the January 6 protest at the Capitol. 

Search trends that the ADL deemed “white supremacist” included any inquiries about the truth behind the Black Lives Matter (BLM) organization. The organization also declared that search trends reflecting concerns about the “great replacement theory” were rooted in conspiracy. ADL said that Arizona was the third in the top ten states it deemed to have the highest consumption of extremist content.

SCREEN Hate directs individuals to download the “Resilience Net” app in order to access a directory of practitioners who specialize in violence and terrorism prevention. It’s part of the One World Online Resilience Center (OWORC), a DHS-funded initiative from the Massachusetts-based organization founded by Boston Marathon survivors, One World Strong.

SCREEN Hate is the latest initiative of the McCain Institute’s Preventing Targeted Violence Program, which mainly focuses on combating right-wing extremists and white supremacy. The McCain Institute attributes the program’s focus to the DHS declaration that white supremacists were the biggest threat to the U.S., citing the 2020 Homeland Threat Assessment.

The Biden administration has labeled Americans supportive of former President Donald Trump as “MAGA Republicans” that present a “clear and present danger” to the country.

“Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic,” declared Biden. “MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution. They do not believe in the rule of law. They do not recognize the will of the people.”

During Sunday’s speech commemorating the 21st anniversary of 9/11, Biden alluded to his administration’s focus on rooting out present domestic terror threats at home.

That same day, Vice President Kamala Harris clarified Biden’s intent in a subsequent interview with MSNBC. The pair discussed the Biden administration’s focus on combating the “threat from within,” which Harris concurred was comparable to 9/11. 

“I think [that threat] is very dangerous and I think it is very harmful. And it makes us weaker,” said Harris.

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.