by Corinne Murdock | Sep 17, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Pima County is backing an event celebrating illegal immigrants and advocating to equip them with taxpayer-funded legal defense. Pima County Attorney’s Office has sponsored the event, as well as Pima County Board of Supervisor Adelita Grijalva’s special staff assistant, Marjava Ramirez, while Tucson Mayor Regina Romero announced her support for the event on Thursday. In addition to their sponsorship, the county attorney’s office will offer information about marijuana expungement and gun locks at the event.
The “We Are Home Celebration” will begin with several hours of voter outreach for a ballot initiative to allow illegal immigrants access to public defenders for their deportation cases, also known as “universal representation”. This portion of the event will be led by PIMA County Justice For All – Justicia Para Todos. They need at least 75,000 signatures by next summer to appear on the 2022 ballot. Currently, they have around 6,000 signatures.
According to campaign manager for the ballot initiative, Martha Reyes, illegal immigrants often lack the funds for adequate representation, raising the likelihood of their deportation.
“We want to establish a legal office for undocumented folks in deportation proceedings. These are typically poor people who don’t have money to get a lawyer,” Reyes said. “They’re people who have been here for years, and the only thing they want is a better life and a better future for their kids. A simple [traffic] stop can change their whole lives.”
The ballot initiative has attracted the attention of some of Hollywood’s elite. Last month, Lin-Manuel Miranda, the director made famous by his Broadway hit, “Hamilton,” donated $25,000 to the ballot initiative.
Other sponsors for the event include Mi Familia Vota, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, Tucson Jobs with Justice, LUCHA – Living United for Change in Arizona, Arizona Center for Empowerment, International Painters Union Local 86, Corazon Arizona, AzCOSH, Moms Clean Air Force, Arizona Dream Act Coalition ADAC, Care in Action US, Jahmar International, and Healthcare Rising Arizona.
In addition to Romero, several other elected officials and tribal leaders have also endorsed the initiative. Representatives Raul Grijalva (D-AZ-03) and Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ-02); State Representative Andres Cano (D-Tucson); Tucson City Councilmembers Lane Santa Cruz, Paul Cunningham, Paul Durham, and Richard Fimbres; Pima County Supervisor and Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) Board Member Sadie Shaw; Pascua Yaqui Tribe Chairman Robert Valencia; and Tohono O’odham Nation Chairman Ned Norris.
The government-backed event will take place Saturday at Mission Manor Park, from 9 am to 3 pm. The event will also offer free COVID-19 vaccinations and immigration services.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com
by Corinne Murdock | Sep 16, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Maricopa County Board of Supervisors have chosen State Representative Raquel Terán (D-Phoenix) to take over the State Senate seat vacated by alleged child sex abuser Tony Navarrete. Terán is also the chairwoman of the Arizona Democratic Party, elected at the beginning of this year. The board announced their decision Wednesday.
Terán will serve out the remainder of Navarrete’s term, which expires January 2023. Her transition will also leave a vacancy; the board now must find someone to serve out the remainder of her term, which also expires in 2023. They haven’t indicated who they are considering to fill Terán’s seat – the board is awaiting Terán’s official resignation to commence the replacement process.
As a state representative and chair of the state’s Democratic Party, Terán has fallen in line with mainstream Democratic beliefs: universal health care, abortion rights, tuition-free college for Arizona students, the Green New Deal and similar climate change policies, permanent early voting and same-day voter registration, new pathways to citizenship for illegal immigrants, and stricter gun control to name a few.
Most recently, she’s expressed her support for President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Supervisor Steve Gallardo went on the record to express his support for Terán’s appointment.
“It was my pleasure to nominate Raquel Terán,” said Gallardo. “I know Raquel will do a tremendous job in her continued public service for the constituents of LD-30.”
Terán was one of three finalists. The two not chosen were Isaac Elementary School District Governing Board Member Harry Garewal Jr. and Arizona Democracy Collaborative Director and state representative candidate Flavio Bravo.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Sep 15, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
The Air Force says there’s a “high chance of disapproval” for COVID-19 vaccination religious exemptions, according to documents obtained by AZ Free News. This predetermination was issued in a BLUF statement – military communications jargon for “bottom line up front” to indicate key points of information.
“In the case of a religious accommodation for the COVID-19 Immunization, there is a high chance of disapproval,” read the BLUF. “Of the five reasons to disapprove a religious accommodation this meets three. Adverse impact on: mission accomplishment, military readiness, [and] the health and safety of the member or unit.”
Accompanying the BLUF was a comprehensive instructional guide on the religious exemption process. Service members must compile a “religious accommodation request package.” In addition to their initial request, service members must include documentation from counseling by their unit commander, military medical provider, and a chaplain. Once those are submitted, a staff judge advocate will submit a written legal review on the case.
All documents compiled in the religious accommodation request package at that point will be handed over to a “Religious Resolution Team” (RRT) for review. RRT members may include the Chaplain Corps, Judge Advocate Generals (JAG), Public Affairs Office, and a medical provider.
The guide also inserted some counterpoints to possible concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine within critical thinking prompts. In response to one question about whether the service member could finish their military commitment without this accommodation, the critical thinking prompt equated the safety and efficacy of other vaccinations proven by years of research and trials to the COVID-19 vaccine.
“I have every other vaccination under the sun in my body already, I think I can handle one more,” read the prompt.
The critical thinking prompt also equated concerns about the experimental nature of the COVID-19 vaccine to the annual flu shot.
“If in a year from now the same shot is mandatory, but has full FDA approval would I be willing to take it? (The flu shot has been experimental every year for the past however many I have been in the military,)” read the prompt.
It appears that the Air Force may not be the only branch that may severely restrict religious exemptions for COVID-19 vaccinations. A press release from the Army alluded that they were considering religious exemptions based on similar criterias: military readiness, unit cohesion, good order and discipline, and health and safety.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Sep 14, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
So far this year, Pinal County police have seized over 1.1 million M30 fentanyl pills. “M30” is a stamp on pills sometimes used to disguise a synthetic drug as the painkiller oxycodone, manufactured by pharmaceutical companies. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reported last year that a majority of fentanyl comes from the Mexican border.
Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb summarized the significance of these drug seizures. Lamb explained how the number of M30 fentanyl pill seizures jumped from zero in 2018, to around 700 in 2019, and over 200,000 in 2020.
Lamb explained that meth and fentanyl are being trafficked in pill form because people, especially kids, are more likely to take a pill than a needle in the arm.
“Not only are we dealing with the human trafficking issue, we’re also dealing with drug trafficking into this country. What the cartel has started doing is producing synthetic drugs, like methamphetamine and fentanyl. They can produce them in a lab 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” explained Lamb. “Folks, this is a problem. What starts in my backyard today will be in your front yard tomorrow.”
In the post, Pinal County Sheriff’s office added that most of their deputies had never seen a fentanyl pill three years ago.
https://twitter.com/PinalCSO/status/1437458063821213697
Fentanyl was one of the key drugs found in George Floyd’s system after his death. Floyd had approximately 11 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml). Fatalities may occur at around 7 ng/ml of fentanyl when one or more other drugs are used conjunctively.
Floyd also had 19 ng/ml of meth in his system. The initial autopsy report added that deaths have been determined due to fentanyl at levels as low as 3 ng/ml.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid drug that is 50 to 100 times more potent than its most comparable drug – morphine. This drug accounts for the majority of opioid overdose deaths in the United States, according to the National Institute of Health (NIH).
Since President Joe Biden took office, reports of increased drug trafficking have coincided with the historic surge of illegal immigrants. The situation worsened to the point where non-border states were lending their law enforcement to the southern border; South Dakota recently brought their National Guard home after Texas gained a handle on their end of the crisis.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Sep 14, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Last Friday, Congressman Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) asked Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Director Xavier Becerra to answer for the thousands of migrant children that were lost upon release from custody. These illegal immigrant youths, classified by the federal government as unaccompanied alien children (UAC), were supposed to be tracked after release from federal custody.
In a letter, Biggs asked Becerra to answer for how many UACs have been placed with sponsors; how many sponsors are illegal immigrants, aren’t the child’s parent, legal guardian, or relative, haven’t responded to HHS communications, have failed to attend Legal Orientation Program for Custodians, and/or have had their sponsor agreement terminated for failure to attend the legal orientation and/or ensuring their UAC attended immigration proceedings; if HHS places conditions on the release of UACs to sponsors; how many follow-up calls to sponsor families have been conducted since January 20, and what protocols are in place for unresponsive sponsors; and how HHC vets its sponsors.
Biggs lambasted Becerra’s HHS spokespersons for essentially shrugging off their department’s failure of oversight. An HHS spokesman told reporters that they didn’t have legal oversight once UACs left their custody.
“This cavalier and dismissive response to questions regarding the Department’s inability to ascertain the whereabouts of UACs whom it has placed with sponsors is appalling,” stated Biggs. “Instead of dismissing questions about whether HHS knows the whereabouts of children that it has placed with sponsors, your spokesperson should be able to provide the American people with assurances that HHS is taking its responsibility for placing children with responsible sponsors seriously.”
Biggs cited HHS policy that requires government personnel to check in on any UACs released to a sponsor within 30 days.
“If sponsors are unable or unwilling to answer the phone when HHS calls, then HHS should not be approving them as sponsors in the first place,” asserted Biggs.
Placing UACs with adequate sponsors has long been an issue for the federal government. An Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) policy already urges government workers to place UACs with sponsors as quickly as possible. The historic surge of illegal border crossings only places further strain on that system: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has encountered nearly 100,000 UACs to date.
Total UACs for 2019 reached just over 76,000, and then over 30,500 with the 2020 pandemic.
According to a 2018 testimony from Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) previous executive associate director, Matthew Albence, nearly 80 percent of UACs go to sponsors that are illegal immigrants themselves or already have illegal immigrants in their homes.
“From our data that we’ve seen just recently, you’re looking at close to 80 percent of the people that are sponsors or household members within these residents are illegally here in the country,” stated Albence.
In his letter to Becerra, Biggs accused HHS of shoddy work jeopardizing UAC safety to keep their number of open cases low.
“HHS appears more focused on releasing UACs to sponsors as quickly as possible and closing the case file than ensuring that sponsors are complying with their agreements and that the children are safe. The concern that HHS is placing UACs with sponsors who are using the children as forced labor or otherwise abusing the children is not hypothetical,” criticized Biggs.
HHS hasn’t issued any press releases in the last month discussing the state of UACs. The last reports issued concerning sexual harassment or abuse involving UACs was released in 2017.
Becerra’s deadline for responding to Biggs’s letter is Friday, September 24.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
