by Staff Reporter | May 28, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Democratic Rep. Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03) again demanded that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) be abolished in her first State of the District address on Wednesday.
The address — which was not livestreamed or posted to any of Ansari’s social media accounts — was largely an indictment of President Donald Trump and his administration.
“We are living through the most corrupt and the most authoritarian administration in American history, led by a lunatic with no regard for human life,” said Ansari.
Ansari advocated for the immediate abolition of ICE. She claimed the agency was a murderous, chaotic, cruel entity lacking accountability.
“It is absolutely clear that we must do everything in our power to stop and abolish ICE as quickly as possible,” said Ansari. “Immigration enforcement [is not] locking up tens of thousands of people into what can only be described as concentration camps run by private prison companies designed to profit off of human suffering.”
The congresswoman has made similar calls for immigration enforcement abolition throughout her freshman tenure. At the Munich Security Conference in February, Ansari advocated for abolishing all immigration enforcement in addition to implementing a wealth tax and subsidizing healthcare, homeownership, and childcare.
During her State of the District, Ansari also announced her endorsement of a ballot proposal to gut universal school choice in Arizona, the Protect Education Act. Present for this recommendation were the state’s largest teacher’s union, the Arizona Education Association (AEA), and the activist group Save Our Schools Arizona.
Featured speakers at Ansari’s first State of the District were Reyna Montoya, founder and CEO of Aliento Arizona; Mike Renaud, president and CEO of Valle Del Sol; Marisol Garcia, president of the AEA; Karyleni Alburquerque, Ansari’s former ambassador for the 3rd congressional district; Dr. Matthew Whitaker, executive director of the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center; and Jake Hylton, executive director of Lookout Publications.
Andrew Simek, Ansari’s field representative and community manager, claimed in a LinkedIn post that Ansari has attended over 300 community events, hosted over a dozen town halls, logged over 1,000 volunteer hours, and engaged with over 77,000 constituents.
On that last point — it was unclear whether that total for constituents included any illegal aliens facing detainment or deportation, since Ansari has claimed this class as part of her “historically underserved and underrepresented” constituency.
Ansari disclosed during her address that she prioritized community outreach to these underserved and underrepresented populations, specifically calling out the Afghan refugees, Iranian students, and Sudanese and Asian communities.
The congresswoman also advocated for government-run pharmacies, taxation on excess profits by oil companies, expansion of government-run housing, expansion of government-subsidized rent, government subsidies for house down payments, double wages for overtime, and universal healthcare.
Ansari also laid claim to securing over $17 million in federal funding for community projects, or Community Project Funding:
- $2.1 million for the city of Phoenix Fire Wildland Urban Interface;
- $2 million for the Arizona State University Center for Heat Resilient Communities;
- $2 million for the Arizona State University CHIPS and Domestic Manufacturing Research Initiative;
- $2 million for the city of Phoenix’s Real Time Crime Center;
- $2 million for the town of Guadalupe’s Biehn Colony Park Reconstruction;
- $1.1 million for the city of Tolleson Wastewater Digester No. 4 Project;
- $1 million for the city of Tolleson Multi-Modal Path Lighting Project;
- $1 million for the Arouet Foundation’s 2026 Reentry Prosperity Model;
- $1 million for the Valley Metro Community Safety Project;
- $850,000 for the city of Glendale Transportation Improvements;
- $830,000 for the city of Phoenix Central Arizona Shelter Services’ Single Adult Shelter Renovations;
- $800,000 for the city of Phoenix Alternative Fuel Vehicle Fires Mitigation;
- $580,000 for Axiom Community of Recovery’s Transition to Recovery and Reentry Program; and
- $250,000 for Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport Improvements
Ansari introduced 32 bills and cosponsored over 450 bills. None of her bills have advanced beyond introduction. Two bills propose to overhaul and defund ICE.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | May 27, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Congressional candidate Amish Shah vowed to represent a further left faction of the Democratic Party should he be elected.
Shah made the promise during a recent candidate forum hosted by LD3 Democrats. His shift represented a reflection on his 2024 loss against Rep. David Schweikert (R-01), who is running for governor. Shah served in the Arizona House of Representatives from 2019 to 2024.
Per Shah, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) told him that he was too much of a “nice guy” to win the 2024 election. The DCCC refused to endorse Shah this time around, instead endorsing his primary opponent, Marlene Galan-Woods, earlier this month.
It appears Shah’s response was to move aggressively to the left on policy.
“I am not hesitating one bit to use my platform to be able to prosecute [President Donald Trump and Republicans] as vigorously as I can, sometimes with expletives or whatever it takes,” said Shah during the LD3 virtual forum.
Shah also promised to repeal Trump’s tax cuts for working families. He called them “abominable.”
National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Ben Peteresen told The Yellow Sheet, which first reported on this virtual forum, that Shah’s statements were “radical.”
“Democrat Amish Shah said he lost because Biden and Harris were toxic, then ran even further left by calling for massive tax increases, socialism and open borders,” said Petersen.
The version of his candidacy that Shah presented on that virtual forum diverges slightly from the public version of his candidacy.
Shah has publicly claimed that he doesn’t recognize party differences and would work across the aisle to solve problems.
“When I served in the Arizona House, I didn’t see ‘Democrats’ and ‘Republicans.’ I saw problems that needed to be solved,” said Shah. “I’m running for Congress to bring that same mindset to Washington; focus on solutions, find common ground where we can, and actually deliver results that improve people’s lives.”
Shah’s platform on his campaign website focuses on expanding federal healthcare, codifying abortion, ending tariffs, and increasing public school funding and teacher pay. On his “resources” page targeting primary opponent Galan-Woods, Shah promised to pass a ban on stock trading by members of Congress.
Similarly, in his failed 2024 challenge to incumbent Schweikert, Shah styled himself as an “independent” candidate — despite his consistently progressive actions in the state legislature and a past admission to his alliance with socialists.
In a town hall with the Phoenix Democratic Socialists of America and the Progressive Democrats of America in 2019, Shaw encouraged the adoption of government-run universal healthcare. Months prior to that town hall, Shah proposed replacing capitalism with socialism.
Shah received national recognition by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists for successfully defending the abortion drug mifepristone against attempts to outlaw it.
Shah was also behind legislation to expand anti-discrimination laws to afford protections to gender identity and sexual orientation, and to redefine marriage within the state constitution.
Shah has funneled over $230,000 of his own money into his congressional campaign according to Federal Election Commission records. So far, Shah has raised nearly $1.9 million.
Top donors include the D.C. organizations IA Victory Fund and 314 Action Impact Slate; Illinois entrepreneur Purav Kapadia; and Chandler doctor Snehal Bhoola.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | May 27, 2026 | Economy, News
By Staff Reporter |
A new analysis of housing data found that less than half of households in Arizona could afford their monthly mortgage in 2025.
A new report from the Common Sense Institute (CSI) determined that only 42% of Arizona households could afford their mortgages last year.
In 2019, 66% of Arizona households could afford their monthly mortgages.
The report also found that the state faces a 56,000-unit housing shortfall, and estimated a long-term cumulative housing deficit of 110,800 units.
Based on those estimations, CSI predicted that it would take well over a century — 119 years — to close the housing gap in Arizona.
CSI found that Arizona households need to make $87,000 annually or nearly 60 hours of work per month at the average hourly wage rate ($35.10) to afford a typical home mortgage. In 2019, the hours of work per month needed to afford an average mortgage amounted to just under 40 hours.
CSI’s analysis found that housing costs remain elevated while building permits have declined.
Although home prices fell by about 3% in 2025, the average home was estimated to cost nearly $42,000 (or 11%) above the pre-pandemic pricing — nowhere close to historical trends or price-to-income ratios. Home prices peaked in 2022.
At present, the average house in Arizona costs nearly $421,000. That figure represents a 3.4% decline from summer 2024 and an 8.6% decline since summer 2022. However, that average home cost sits $142,900 higher than the average cost in 2019.
As of February, the average 30-year mortgage rate was over 6%.
Compared to the earliest data provided (2015), many things have increased greatly for Arizonans: the average home price (doubled), the average mortgage payment (nearly tripled), and the hours of work required (nearly doubled).
The average home pricing in December 2015 was just over $211,100, with a 30-year mortgage rate just under 4%, an average mortgage payment of $800, and the average wage rate of $23.23 requiring 35 hours of work per month.
Average monthly mortgage payments doubled from 2019 to 2025: about $1,000 in 2019 to $2,000 in 2025.
The state issued just under 51,000 residential building permits last year, representing a 14% decline from 2024.
Though lower, last year’s total permits fell within the range for keeping up with population growth and housing demand. CSI estimated that the state needs between 45,000 to 60,000 permits annually to keep pace with growth and demand. Maintaining that safety range doesn’t appear to be the reality shaping up for 2026, however. The state authorized about 3,000 new housing units in January, putting the state on pace to have 36,700 units by the year’s end — well below the necessary annual permit range.
This report on the state of housing was released around the same time as the latest employment report from the Senate’s Joint Economic Committee (JEC).
The JEC found that the unemployment rate remained unchanged in April (4.7%), which is higher than the national unemployment rate (4.3%). The state had an increase in about 8,100 net payroll jobs, one of 42 states to experience an increase; in March, the state had a 1,900-job increase.
Over the past year, Arizona added 13,300 payroll jobs and the unemployment rate rose by 0.5%.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | May 26, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap turned over potential noncitizen voter records to Attorney General Kris Mayes for review on Friday.
Heap’s referral follows two letters from the attorney general’s office — one from early April, one from earlier this week — warning Heap that his delay in referring the alleged noncitizen voters to them violated state law, as first reported by Votebeat.
Heap responded to the first letter claiming that he need not comply with the cited statute because their office had not yet canceled the voter registrations of the individuals identified as potential noncitizen voters. Instead, Heap placed those identified voters in a “Not Eligible” status pending submission of documentary proof of citizenship.
Heap gave notice of the status change of the potential noncitizen voters to Secretary of State Adrian Fontes in early March, citing the Elections Procedures Manual (EPM) as justification. The attorney general office contends that Heap had misapplied his duties toward proof of citizenship requirements for voter registration to registered voters.
In that notice, Heap refused to hand over the potential noncitizen voters’ information to Fontes.
Similarly, Heap told the attorney general’s office in response to its first notice letter to him that a referral of the potential noncitizen voters would be “premature.” In mid-February, Heap announced to the public that he was referring the noncitizen voters to the attorney general’s office in addition to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (MCAO).
So far, Heap’s office has only submitted a referral of the alleged noncitizen voters to the MCAO.
In the most recent letter from Mayes’ office, Criminal Division Chief Counsel Nicholas Klingerman rejected Heap’s legal interpretation as incorrect.
“You cannot place ‘not eligible’ holds on these registered voters and fail to issue criminal referrals,” wrote Klingerman. “The statute does not authorize an indefinite administrative suspension for the purported noncitizen registrants, nor does it allow county election officials to choose which prosecuting agency may investigate these possible violations of state law.”
State law requires county recorders to cancel the voter registrations and notify the county attorney and attorney general for possible investigation of any registered voters for which the recorder has obtained information and confirmed noncitizenship.
In March, the MCAO began the early stages of its investigation into over 200 individuals over allegations of noncitizen voting. The recorder’s office identified the individuals through the federal database expanded last October by the Department of Homeland Security for the purposes of voter roll citizenship verification, the Systemic Alien Verification for Entitlements.
The most recent letter from Mayes’ office also accused Heap of intentionally misleading the public.
“At this point, your insistence that you are following the law is wrong at best and purposefully misleading at worst. Moreover, your statement that criminal referrals would not be appropriate despite having acknowledged the requirement to refer these individuals to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office and making a criminal referral to MCAO, suggests your intent is to mislead,” said Klingerman.
Last April, all 15 counties throughout the state began undertaking certain efforts to remove noncitizens from their voter rolls following a lawsuit.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | May 26, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) accused Arizona Democrats of lying about conditions at the immigration detention facility in Mesa.
Arizona Democratic Reps. Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03) and Greg Stanton (AZ-04) claimed to have witnessed last week “inhumane” and “alarming” issues — specifically, overcrowding and plumbing — at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility, Arizona Removal Operations Coordination Center (AROCC), located within the Mesa Gateway Airport.
Ansari and Stanton said AROCC has consistently exceeded its intended capacity (about 160 people) this year. The facility has reportedly exceeded 770 detainees on a daily basis.
The pair also took issue with AROCC holding illegal immigrants past the intended 12-hour holding time which the facility was designed to support — sometimes, for several days. A proposed bill from the pair would mandate, in part, that ICE facilities may only hold illegal aliens for 12 hours at a time.
Ansari said in a press release that their observations indicated conditions were “starkly different from the picture ICE presents during scheduled visits.”
Stanton said the discomfort of illegal aliens in these detention facilities was reason enough to stop mass deportations.
“[W]e’re going to fight every effort to expand [mass deportations] — including the kinds of dangerous, overcrowded operations we’ve seen right here in Mesa,” said Stanton.
A spokesman with DHS said allegations of issues with overcrowding and plumbing were false, per a statement received by the Arizona Mirror.
“Any allegation of overcrowding at AROCC is false,” said the spokesman. “There are no recurring plumbing issues. On the rare instance when a toilet issue occurs, the facility staff immediately moves detainees from the affected cell and maintenance is immediately initiated.”
DHS has taken an active presence online and in the media to debunk claims of wrongdoing on the agency’s part.
Another recent viral story accused the Trump administration of wrongfully prolonging the detainment of a mother and father traveling to see their adult son dying of terminal cancer. DHS clarified that the parents were detained for reentering the country illegally after their fatally ill son had already returned to Mexico.
Last week’s visit from Ansari and Stanton constituted the latest in a series of actions taken by Arizona’s congressional Democrats to prioritize illegal aliens within their respective offices’ scope of constituent services. Rep. Adelita Grijalva (AZ-07) has also been party to these frequent visits to immigration detention facilities and other similar relief and advocacy efforts.
AZ Free News reported last month that a majority of Grijalva’s press releases, X posts, and official remarks in congressional records pertained to defending illegal aliens from the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda.
Arizona’s top Democrats say that issues at AROCC and other ICE practices justify a budgetary freeze for ICE pending a total overhaul of agency practices.
While Arizona’s congressional Democrats have met with illegal aliens in ICE custody and advocated for their release, Arizona’s congressional Republicans have assisted with putting those illegal aliens into ICE custody.
Earlier this month, Republican Rep. Abe Hamadeh (AZ-08) announced he had assisted with the capture of three illegal aliens while tagging along with Border Patrol on a border security sweep.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
