A group with ties to the terrorist organization Hamas, CAIR-AZ, was invited as honored guests of the Arizona Senate on Tuesday.
CAIR-AZ attended Senate proceedings for a proclamation honoring the deaths in Palestine, Sudan, Congo, and Lebanon.
“This is a historic step for the Muslim community and CAIR-AZ, as we have worked tirelessly to get this proclamation passed,” stated the organization in an Instagram post.
The proclamation, SR1001, declared Arizona’s recognition and mourning of the loss of lives in Palestine, Lebanon, Sudan, and Congo due to the ongoing humanitarian crises. The proclamation declared February to be “a month of remembrance and solidarity” for those countries.
Preceding the proclamation was a prayer from Omar Al-Tawil, an imam at the Islamic Community Center of Tempe and a chaplain for Muslim students at Arizona State University.
SR1001 was introduced by Senator Analise Ortiz and co-sponsored by Sens. Bravo, Diaz, Miranda, and Sundareshan. Ortiz later appeared in photos with the CAIR-AZ activists celebrating the proclamation’s passage.
Those present included Khaled Beydoun, a pro-Hamas activist and Arizona State University associate law professor; Azza Abuseif, executive director of CAIR-AZ, lead organizer of Women’s March Phoenix, and Arizona State Director of NextGen America; Tarteel Alimam, executive administrator at CAIR-AZ; Zakir Siddiqi, co-chair of the Arizona Green Party and co-owner of the WhereUBean Coffee; and former lawmaker Martín Quezada, now the lawyer for CAIR-AZ.
Also present were representatives for the activist organizations AZ AANHPI for Equity, Our Instituto, AZ PACC, Progress Arizona, One Arizona, Comunidad Maya Pixan Ixim, and CHISPA Arizona.
In a press release, CAIR-AZ took credit for SR1001’s passage.
“At a time when the world bears witness to immense suffering and injustice, it is crucial to recognize and remember those who have perished due to violence, conflict, and humanitarian crises,” said Abuseif.
The inclusion of the group resulted in ire from Arizonans witnessing the display.
“Who’s bright idea was it to let terrorist-simps spread their propaganda on the AZ Senate floor?” asked one Arizonan.
Nice job by the @AZSenateGOP to let CAIR (a Hamas-linked group per US government) to hijack the floor of the Arizona Senate today!
Who’s bright idea was it to let terrorist-simps spread their propaganda on the AZ Senate floor?🤢🤮
In addition to advocating for Hamas, CAIR-AZ has taken to protesting against immigration enforcement efforts. The group participated in a protest against SB1164, or the “Arizona ICE Act.” This legislation allows the U.S. Attorney General to enter into agreements with state and local law enforcement for the purpose of enforcing federal immigration laws. This would enable Arizona law enforcement to investigate, apprehend, and detain illegal aliens.
CAIR-AZ also advocated against Proposition 314, the “Secure the Border Act” approved by voters last November. The proposition requires state and local agencies to verify immigration status prior to giving out government benefits, makes it a crime for illegal aliens to apply for government benefits with false information, and enhances punishments for selling fentanyl produced outside the U.S. A portion of the proposition directing law enforcement to arrest illegal aliens remains unenforceable due to court orders in other states.
The national affiliate for CAIR-AZ, CAIR, is an entity of the Muslim brotherhood linked to Hamas activities.
CAIR leaders celebrated the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel.
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Arizona’s former secretary of state, state senator, and 2020 election auditor, Ken Bennett, will serve as chair of AUDIT USA.
AUDIT USA — Americans United for Democracy, Integrity, and Transparency in Elections — is a nonprofit dedicated to public oversight of elections that best deters election fraud. Bennett, a Republican, will lead AUDIT USA, though it maintains a bipartisan cohort and its co-founder is a self-described “progressive Democrat.”
AUDIT USA’s current efforts focus on establishing Auditable Ballot Examination (ABE), an audit system independent of the Election Management System enabling officials and voters to verify election outcomes through access to anonymized digital ballot images. ABE reportedly boasts the capability of sorting by race, precinct, overvotes, undervotes, and write-in candidates promptly.
AUDIT USA offers a version of ABE that operates as a beta to showcase its capabilities.
AUDIT USA worked on ABE-prompted bipartisan legislation in 2023 that gained the support of Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes.
“In an era where democracy faces unprecedented challenges, every vote must be verifiable, and every citizen must have access to clear, trustworthy election data,” stated Bennett in a press release.
Fontes, in a statement, said he welcomed the proof of clean elections that the proposed audit system would afford.
“[This tool would] get rid of the election fraud nonsense,” said Fontes. “Get rid of the lies and the conspiracy theories once and for all.”
Other goals of AUDIT USA include email-enabled excel spreadsheets hyperlinked to securely stored, cloud-based ballot images; optimizing platforms to become more user friendly; and improving verification systems to increase the accuracy and speed of cross-check examinations of election results.
Bennett served as the Arizona Senate’s liaison during the audit of Maricopa County’s 2020 election results conducted by private data firm Cyber Ninjas. Around that stint in elections oversight, Bennett served in the State Senate from 1999 to 2007 and then 2023 to 2025.
Bennett capitalized on that latter return to the Arizona legislature to advocate for election integrity improvements. He was the lawmaker who led on the ABE-inspired legislation in 2023, and in 2024 he attempted to realize the proposal again through a $2 million designation from the budget to pay for the creation of the analytical tool.
In that 2023 proposal, SB1324, Bennett’s pitch to lawmakers cited the close loss endured by now-Congressman Abe Hamadeh in the attorney general’s race. Bennett argued that voters would have more confidence if they could see for themselves that the 280-vote lead by Mayes was truly owing to thousands of voters declining to vote in that race.
Governor Katie Hobbs ultimately vetoed the bill after it was substituted for HB2560 with its similar provisions. Hobbs claimed the bill would create problems with anonymity and both misinformation and disinformation.
AUDIT USA co-founder John Brakey served under Bennett as deputy liaison for the 2021 election audit. Brakey currently serves as the organization director. Other members: secretary and treasurer Arlene Leaf, and board members Bill Risner, Bennie Smith, Lynn Bernstein, and Susan Pynchon.
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“Due to the recent executive order issued on January 28, 2025 Phoenix Children’s is indefinitely pausing gender-affirming medical care for children under the age of 19,” read a notice issued by the hospital to patient portals involved in their gender transition program.
Like Trump’s other executive orders, the president’s mandate ending gender transitions for children quickly faced legal challenges.
As a result of its pause on the gender transition program, Phoenix Children’s Hospital arranged for its pharmacists to wean program children off of any puberty blockers or hormones.
On Monday, parents also received letters from providers Vinny Chulani and Ashish Patel advising of the end to puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy.
The hospital marketed its Gender Support Program as the most comprehensive in the state. The program offered consultation for parenting strategies, endocrinology consults, and referrals to mental health providers and specialists for various procedures.
These consultations would explore the use of puberty-suppressing medications as well as masculinizing and feminizing hormonal therapies. The hospital also provided support and advocacy for social transition endeavors in schools and the public through legal name and gender marker changes on identifying documents.
At one time, the hospital affiliated its Gender Support Program with the Arizona Trans Youth and Parent Organization.
Public details of the program in recent years became less available. After AZ Free Newscovered Phoenix Children’s Hospital’s gender transition program at length, the hospital scrubbed more public information of its program from its website.
The extension of transgender ideology to children offered a sort of community for parents affirming the gender dysphoria of their children. Parents of children who underwent gender transition procedures offered by Phoenix Children’s Hospital would join the Gender Proud Patient and Family Advisory Council.
Activist groups issued a statement lamenting Phoenix Children’s Hospital’s decision as a “betrayal” to their cause.
“Gender-affirming care has been shown to significantly improve the mental, emotional, and physical health of transgender youth,” said the coalition. “To remove access to this care in Arizona is a direct attack on the trans community and the families who have fought tirelessly for their children’s well-being.”
Those who signed onto the statement: Tami Staas, the Arizona Trans Youth and Parent Organization; Carol Tappenden, the Education Action Alliance (formerly GLSEN Arizona); Brandie Reiner, NASW Arizona; Dustin Griswold, Family Planning Associates Medical Group; Jeanne Casteen, Secular AZ; Civia Tamarkin, National Council of Jewish Women Arizona; Nate Rhoton, one-n-ten; Grace Chenal, SIGA Therapy; Darrell Hill, ACLU of Arizona; Lynn Davis, Rabbi Joseph H. Gumbiner Community Action Project; Lori Shepherd, Tucson Jewish Museum & Holocaust Center; Athena Salman, Reproductive Freedom for All Arizona; Maria Ingalla, psychiatric mental health nurse and practitioner; and Jodi Liggett, Arizona Center for Women’s Advancement.
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Attorney General Kris Mayes joined a secret compact with 21 other attorneys general to resist President Donald Trump’s efforts to end birthright citizenship.
The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project obtained the secretive agreement, dated a little over a week after Trump won reelection.
🚨SECRET BLUE STATE RESISTANCE AGREEMENT OBTAINED – BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP🚨
We have obtained a secret agreement between 22 blue states, DC, and San Francisco, signed beginning on November 8, 2024. This agreement, just 3 days after President Trump's landslide election win,… pic.twitter.com/7AsqgCjlcX
Per the agreement, the 22 attorneys general agreed to engage in collaborative legal and communicative efforts to resist Trump’s immigration enforcement initiatives, including those deemed confidential and/or privileged.
Per the agreement, all shared information would be used for the development of processes such as pre-suit investigations, litigation strategies, complaints, dispositive motions, merits briefs, and amicus briefs. The agreement prohibited third parties from accessing any of this shared information. The agreement extended its definition of shared information to include all documents, materials, information, and communications exchanged between the attorneys generals’ offices prior to the agreement.
The agreement did allow for public records access to the shared information, but required the attorneys general to give five days’ notice, minimum, to the other attorneys general about the request before it was due.
“The Parties have agreed that they have a common interest in developing potential litigation to challenge executive action related to ending or curtailing birthright citizenship,” stated the agreement.
The other attorneys general to enter the secretive agreement oversaw California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, as well as Washington, D.C.
The city and county of San Francisco, California also joined the agreement last month.
Trump issued an executive order ending birthright citizenship during his first day in office. The order extends to children born of illegal immigrant parents in the U.S. It prohibits the federal government from issuing or accepting citizenship documents from persons born under those circumstances after its effective date, which is scheduled to take place later this month.
“[T]he Fourteenth Amendment has never been interpreted to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the United States. The Fourteenth Amendment has always excluded from birthright citizenship persons who were born in the United States but not ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof,’” read the order.
The order flies in the face of longstanding court precedent on the matter.
That precedent led three federal judges in separate cases to block Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship. The first two occurred in Washington and Maryland, with the third occurring on Monday in New Hampshire.
Mayes joined Arizona to the case blocked in the Washington district court earlier this month. Based on the timeline of the secretive agreement and the filing of their lawsuit, it appears the case emerged directly from that agreement.
“The court’s decision to block this illegal executive order nationwide protects the basic right to birthright citizenship guaranteed by the 14th Amendment,” said Mayes. “I will keep fighting to protect the Constitutional rights of all Arizonans from the Trump administration’s illegal actions.”
Several of those states signed onto the secretive agreement — Washington, Oregon, and Illinois — were partnered on the lawsuit with Mayes.
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Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap lacks key elections powers, thanks to late decisions by his predecessor and the former Maricopa County Board of Supervisors (BOS).
Reportedly, Heap is operating without a full budget, staff, IT support, access to county buildings, and confirmation of his deputy recorder selection. State lawmakers with the Arizona Freedom Caucus blamed BOS Chair Thomas Galvin for these ongoing limitations to Heap’s authority.
State Senator Jake Hoffman urged Maricopa County residents to contact Galvin over the changes.
“Supervisor Thomas Galvin has STRIPPED Recorder Justin Heap of his control over our Elections and is REFUSING to reinstate it,” said Hoffman.
🚨ELECTION INTEGRITY ALERT
Corruption in Maricopa County!
Supervisor @ThomasGalvin has STRIPPED Recorder @azJustinHeap of his control over our Elections and is REFUSING to reinstate it
Email & Call him now! Thomas.Galvin@maricopa.gov (602) 506-7431
Much of these developments occurred back in October, when the outgoing BOS members and former Recorder Stephen Richer approved changes to the powers of the recorder’s office. The changes took effect in December.
Under that agreement, the BOS assumed control over the recorder’s $5 million budget and IT staff.
Additionally, the BOS appoints the early ballot processing board. Prior to that agreement, the recorder oversaw early ballot processing.
In a statement issued at the time of the agreement, a county spokesperson said the county made changes to make the recorder’s office more efficient.
“In Arizona, elections are administered by the County Board of Supervisors and the County Recorder. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and Recorder’s Office have had agreements in place to manage these administrative functions since the 1950s,” said the spokesperson. “The update to the current agreement will adjust administrative responsibilities to create efficiencies, most notably in Information Technology-related services.”
Ultimately, Arizona law empowers county boards of supervisors with authority over election administration.
Despite these limitations, Heap has continued to work around the restrictions on his position.
Last week, Heap announced his office’s policy change allowing bipartisan election observers into the signature verification room.
Heap has done more than that his first month in office. In an update issued on Friday, the recorder recapped other accomplishments from his first days: removing a record number of inactive voters from voter registration rolls, preparing for impending upgrades to the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) process for military personnel on deployment, and eliminating the salaries and positions of six external communications officers to free up resources for elections databases and systems.
In that update, Heap addressed the allegations against Galvin and his predecessor. Heap disclosed that he anticipates a new agreement with the BOS will emerge soon reinstating his authority.
“I am currently working with the members of the Board of Supervisors to replace this agreement with one that serves the people and the mission they gave me to ensure future elections in Maricopa County are fully secure, efficiently operated and, above all, accurate. I am hopeful that we will have a new agreement in the near future that helps us all achieve those aims,” said Heap.
Had a great first month at the Recorder’s office with exciting initiatives leading to more transparency and confidence in our election processes!
There is a lot more planned, and this update is a great summary of our accomplishments and challenges facing the office: https://t.co/LCMJELAawB
— Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap (@azjustinheap) February 8, 2025
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