A new wave of lawlessness is hitting America’s southern border.
Last week, Fox News reporter Bill Melugin shared a memo from the U.S. Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector Intelligence Unit about “stolen/altered Guinea passports being encountered” in the region.
NEW: Per an internal alert sent out by Border Patrol’s Tucson, AZ sector intel unit, some illegal immigrants from Guinea are using fraudulent/altered passports to change their age & masquerade as unaccompanied minors in an effort to get into the U.S. The notice says agents have… pic.twitter.com/nV0vOmaEq4
The Border Patrol’s alert revealed the following information from intelligence gathered in the field:
Officials from the Guinean government may be advising people obtaining new passports they can change their age for them to have a better chance of entering the United States as minors. (most encounters are from adults claiming to be UAC’s)
Another migrant claimed an illicit group stole many blank passport books from the ministry in Conakry and has been selling and issuing the passports without the proper procedures.
It’s suspected that Guinean passports issued in Conakry after June of 2023 are most likely fraudulent or altered.
Melugin added that “hundreds of adult men from Guinea have been crossing illegally in the Tucson sector every day.”
The Fox News journalist also communicated a story from a couple of weeks ago, when he was in Lukeville, Arizona, and came across a Guinean man, who had just illegally entered the United States. Melugin posted that this man had told him that “he planned to go to Philadelphia” – likely based on an address that someone had procured for him.
When I was in Lukeville, AZ a couple weeks ago, I met this man from Guinea who had crossed illegally and said he was from the municipality of Conakry. He told me he planned to go to Philadelphia. When I asked him why, he didn’t know, and pulled out a piece of paper w/ address. pic.twitter.com/4zBNowQBsq
This week, Ali Bradley, a National Correspondent for NewsNation, reported that out of 806,000+ illegal immigrants who have crossed into the United States since October 1, almost 206,000 of those encounters have occurred in the Tucson Sector, where Lukeville lies. For a number of months, the Tucson Sector has led the country in apprehensions, leading to an unprecedented closure of the Lukeville Port of Entry in recent weeks. ‘Gotaways’ are not factored into the number of registered encounters from CBP.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
This week, the Arizona State Senate Republicans Caucus announced that it had joined an amicus brief in federal court to help challenge California’s Assault Weapon Control Act.” The brief, which was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, was led by the attorneys general of Idaho, Iowa, and Montana, and co-signed by almost two dozen additional States.
We're proud to join 26 other states in protecting your constitutional right to bear arms by challenging California’s so-called “Assault Weapon Control Act.”
The Second Amendment doesn’t allow California to force its liberal policies on the rest of the country and outlaw… pic.twitter.com/Nc4zN3ylMK
The Caucus’ “X” account wrote that “the Second Amendment doesn’t allow California to force its liberal policies on the rest of the country and outlaw hundreds of semiautomatic rifles and handguns commonly used by law-abiding citizens for self-defense.”
In their brief, the attorneys general and legislators asserted that the California gun law “reflects a starkly contrasting view of the Second Amendment.” They added that “instead of protecting the right, the Act attacks its core. It disregards a fundamental liberty that belongs to all law-abiding Americans. The Act further encourages other governments to experiment with the people’s rights. In many ways, States are laboratories of democracy. But when it comes to the Bill of Rights, States cannot experiment. All States must respect and defend all Americans’ rights. Unless enjoined, the AWCA’s eroding impact will not be confined to California.”
The action from the Arizona’s legislators follows another brief they joined with a coalition of attorneys general from around the country. In December, Petersen and Toma joined a public comment letter to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to address its newly proposed rule, Definition of “Engaged in the Business as a Dealer in Firearms.”
By co-signing the ATF letter, the Grand Canyon State lawmakers concurred with the arguments that the proposed rule “violates the Second Amendment, is arbitrary and capricious, and is bad public policy.” Petersen told AZ Free News that “in the absence of our Arizona Attorney General defending our citizens’ constitutional rights, I believe it’s imperative state lawmakers push back against this bureaucratic infringement on lawful gun ownership.” Toma said, “Arizona Attorney General Mayes has not expressed any interest in safeguarding Arizonans’ gun rights protected by the Second Amendment.”
Over the past month, the two Republican legislative leaders have signaled a more aggressive shift in taking the reins from Mayes to defend the law and Constitution. Attorneys general are not usually joined by outside parties on their amicus briefs, yet two coalitions of Republican state prosecutors have included Petersen and Toma on these two major filings. Before those instances, the legislators filed their own briefs on several cases in 2023. One of those was in Garfield County v. Biden, supporting the State of Utah in a challenge to Biden’s recent federal land grab. Another was in City of Grants Pass v. Gloria Johnson and John Logan, asserting that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals erred in deciding “it was better at making policy than elected state legislatures and city councils” in a matter of homeless encampments. Yet another was in Doe v. Horne, defending Arizona’s Save Women’s Sports Act.
In another case where they intervened in federal court, Mayes v. Biden, the Republican leaders recently won a significant legal victory, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an order against the Biden administration’s Contractor Vaccine Mandate, vacating its earlier opinion for mootness.
MAJOR win this week for Arizona Legislative Republicans in protecting you against a FORCED COVID-19 VACCINE!!⁰⁰Earlier this year, Biden issued a mandate that anyone who is employed by a federal contractor (which includes state government workers) is required to get the… pic.twitter.com/3Raect5TjE
Petersen and Toma are expected to continue their legal fights through this pivotal election year, while also navigating, what is expected to be, a very contentious legislative session with the state’s Democrat Governor, Katie Hobbs.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Arizona Republicans continue to lay out their agenda as the legislative session fast approaches.
Over the past weekend, two Arizona Republican state senators, David Gowan and Janae Shamp, revealed snapshots of their plans for the upcoming legislative session.
Senator Gowan, who represents a southern Arizona district, shared his thoughts on the border crisis affecting the state, saying, “President Biden’s border crisis continues to set records in Arizona. New data released from U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows the Tucson sector continues to have the dubious distinction as the busiest area in the nation with encounters of illegal aliens for a fifth month in a row! 64,638 immigrants were recorded in November alone. This is horrendous! These aren’t just innocent people looking for a better life. They include dangerous criminals, child sex traffickers, human smugglers, rapists, and terrorists invading our state and country.”
Gowan revealed that he had designated an earmark of $10 million “towards this year and last year’s budget for anti-human trafficking laws to help fight against these heinous crimes.” He again blamed the president for the border crisis, stating that Biden “continues to turn a blind eye to what’s really happening at our border, and in particular, in my district.” The southern-Arizona Senator promised to look into “creating legislation to help law enforcement fight this crisis in the upcoming session.”
Senator Shamp, who represents a district in the southwest Valley, expounded on her plans to “address Arizona’s doctor shortage.” The inspiration behind this idea, according to the legislator, came from a projection “that Arizona has a shortage of nearly 600 primary care physicians right now and around 2,000 more physicians will be needed to meet healthcare demands in the state by 2030 due to increases in retirements, higher rates of chronic diseases, and an aging population.” Shamp pointed to a “lack of residency slots” as a major reason for the existing shortages. She noted that “all medical school graduates must complete a period of GME, or residency training, to be licensed to practice medicine in the United States,” adding that only “around 20% of medical school graduates find themselves unable to attain the residency slot necessary for them to complete their training.”
The Valley-based lawmaker championed her state as having “taken steps to help address this issue,” with “an additional 200 residency position (going) into effect July 1, 2024.” She cautioned, however, against becoming complacent with these additions, leading to her pledge to “identify and establish more ways to help” in the 2024 legislative session.
The Second Regular Session of the 56th Arizona Legislature begins on Monday, January 8, with opening ceremonies for both chambers and the Governor’s anticipated State of the State address.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
One Arizona Republican Senator continues to hold the Biden administration accountable over the recent closure of a port of entry at the border.
On Wednesday, State Senator T.J. Shope, reacted to news of the Lukeville Port of Entry reopening, calling the initial move to close the vital border crossing “irresponsible and reckless.”
In his statement, Shope said, “Not only did this create financial turmoil for border communities within Arizona who rely on the tourism traffic to and from Rocky Point to support their families, but the closure of the Lukeville Port of Entry also put unnecessary stress and strain on our citizens and commerce who depend on a safe and direct route to this popular destination.”
Over the past few months, the border crisis has deteriorated considerably, forcing the Biden administration to take rather unprecedented measures in a frenzied attempt to mitigate public perception of the massive influx of illegal immigrants into the country. One of those actions was the closure of the Lukeville Port of Entry, which is the main thoroughfare to the popular tourist destination of Rocky Point, forcing families or commerce operators to detour hours to the east or west. A local business owner recently told an Arizona outlet that, in the aftermath of the closure, Rocky Point “was like a little ghost town,” noting that “local business, restaurants, hotels, rentals, everything has declined.”
Shope continued to address the situation in southern Arizona in his lengthy statement, blasting the Biden administration for a severe lack of border security. He said, “While I’m glad Lukeville is reopening on Thursday, the official statement from the federal government includes an absurd claim that ‘CBP will continue to prioritize our border security mission as necessary in response to this evolving situation,’ which is a blatant lie. The American people aren’t dumb. Nothing has changed at the border to prompt the opening of Lukeville. Thousands of illegals, many of which are criminals and terrorists, continue to pour into our state on a daily basis, overwhelming our brave law enforcement personnel. This was purely a political move after Republican lawmakers put immense pressure on the Biden administration to open this critical artery for commerce and legal traffic.”
The lawmaker promised to persist in holding the president accountable to his responsibility to secure the border and to refrain from closing American ports of entry.
Though the border crisis appears to be worsening by the day, legislative Republicans have effectively made the point that the reality for Arizonans could be more daunting if not for their check on the Democrats in the state – especially Governor Katie Hobbs. When Hobbs signed the state budget compromise in May, Senate President Petersen highlighted that his members “prevented the Governor and Democrat Legislators from advancing their extremist agenda…we’re not getting rid of state funded border security resources to keep our communities safe.” In the upcoming session, starting next week, expect Republicans to continue to introduce bills and policies that would give the Grand Canyon State more ability and resources to combat the many scourges of the border crisis.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Mere days before the start of the 2024 Arizona legislative session, the state’s Democrat governor is finally telegraphing her primary plan for the months ahead – though her proposal is likely dead on arrival with the Republican-led House and Senate chambers.
On Tuesday, Governor Katie Hobbs issued a press release to reveal “her plan to increase accountability and transparency in the ESA voucher program.” The governor’s plan has eight elements, including “increasing student safety, protecting rights for students with disabilities, requiring accountability for taxpayer dollars, expanding auditor general authority, prohibiting price gouging, raising educational standards, establishing program transparency, reinstating eligibility requirements.”
The ESA program, which is projected to cost the state nearly $1 billion, lacks accountability and transparency.
Today, I’m announcing my plan to keep students safe, protect taxpayer dollars, and give parents and students the information to make an informed educational choice.…
In a statement, Governor Hobbs said, “The ESA program lacks accountability and transparency. With this plan, we can keep students safe, protect taxpayer dollars, and give parents and students the information they need to make an informed choice about their education. Arizonans deserve to know their money is being spent on educating students, not on handouts to unaccountable schools and unvetted vendors for luxury spending. My plan is simple: every school receiving taxpayer dollars must have basic standards to show they’re keeping our students safe and giving Arizona children the education they deserve.”
Hobbs’ announcement was followed by two volleys from leading Arizona Republicans. House Speaker Ben Toma immediately highlighted his opposition to the governor’s announcement, saying, “Empowerment Scholarship Accounts are wildly popular with Arizona parents because they leverage private sector solutions to offer the best educational opportunities for their children. Meanwhile, Governor Hobbs and Democratic Party legislators now seek to strangle ESAs and private education with bureaucracy and regulation. I won’t allow that to happen.”
The state’s schools chief, Superintendent Tom Horne, also issued his own statement, focusing on the governor’s proposition to mandate “accountability” for user purchases in the ESA program. Horne said, “One proposal stands out because it’s already in place: The governor recommends a manual review of ESA purchases over $500. My office already reviews all expense requests regardless of amount, unlike the previous superintendent who approved many frivolous requests. In 2023, we rejected several thousand ESA applications for lack of adequate documentation and suspended almost 2,200 accounts totaling $21 million because the student was enrolled in a public school. We’ve also rejected more than 12,000 ESA purchase order requests.”
Other legislative Republicans shared their sentiments against Hobbs’ proposals. Senator Jake Hoffman posted the following to his “X” account: “Let’s be very clear… Katie’s half cocked attempt to destroy an invaluable parental choice option via ‘death by a thousand cuts’ is DOA at the Capitol. The Arizona Freedom Caucus will make sure of it.”
Let’s be very clear…
Katie’s half cocked attempt to destroy an invaluable parental choice option via ‘death by a thousand cuts’ is DOA at the Capitol.
Representative Jacqueline Parker added, “Nothing lacks more accountability & transparency than the government school system. ESA’s are an extremely successful & equalizing solution, so of course democrats want to mess it up.”
Nothing lacks more accountability & transparency than the government school system. ESA’s are an extremely successful & equalizing solution, so of course democrats want to mess it up. 🤦🏻♀️ https://t.co/iZn9U0v23R
Arizona’s universal ESA program has long been a significant point of contention between members of the two major political parties in the state, though legislative Republicans scored a huge victory in 2023 when they negotiated a budget compromise with Hobbs that left the historic school choice opportunities completely unscathed. After news of the budget agreement hit the wires, many Democrats and education interest groups levied their disappointment and disapproval over the governor’s inability to extract any concessions with the program. Hobbs spent the rest of the year picking fights with Horne over the stewardship and leadership of ESAs in an attempt to win back political capital, leading to this announcement just ahead of the commencement of the upcoming session.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
