One Arizona sheriff sees too many similarities between U.S. immigration policy at the Southwest border and how the Biden Administration has handled the situation in Afghanistan, and he fears a perfect storm is brewing.
“It’s a mess down here all along the southwest border both on public safety, national security, and humanitarian,” Cochise County Sheriff Dannels told KFYI’s James T. Harris earlier this week. “The willful neglect, the willful avoidance to solve the problem, take responsibly for it, is the same thing he did on the Southwest border that’s now being played in a terrorist country with the Taliban.”
According to Dannels, just under 10,000 undocumented immigrants -what he calls “getaways”- were able to evade capture in July crossing from Mexico into Cochise County. The crisis is more frustrating, he said, because the Biden Administration ended President Donald Trump’s Stay in Mexico policy without having another plan in place.
The policy, Dannels said, worked well and allowed for a controlled situation at the Southwest border. Last month the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Stay In Mexico policy reinstated despite objections from Biden’s appointees running the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
“It’s amazing that our own Department of Homeland Security is fighting that,” Dannels said of the Stay in Mexico policy. “It’s not like Mexico is fighting that or another private group is fighting that. Our government is fighting that. Which is just a crying shame because the program worked in the past.”
For now, Dannels and his deputies are putting up a valiant stand while trying to respond to the continuous influx of undocumented immigrants and the accompanied increase in crime reports. He also says “it’s truly been beneficial” to have several dozen members of the Arizona National Guard assigned to work with his agency by order of Gov. Doug Ducey.
Dannels is also aware of recent warnings to New Mexico residents about a growing Middle Eastern presence among illegal border crossers. That concern, the sheriff said, has actually been on the radar of law enforcement officials for a while.
He worries a “perfect storm” exists right now with the upcoming 20-year anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001 and the U.S.’s open border philosophy under President Biden. It is a philosophy, Dannels said, that even those in federal leadership positions concede is not working, unless they are “a political puppet.”
And the chances are great that someone intent on doing harm to the United States is going to come through the Southwest border, Dannels said, because the White House has left law enforcement personnel unable to compete against the Cartel.
“Nothing is changing for the good down here,” Dannels said.
Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC) will meet Tuesday, Aug. 31 to discuss public comments it heard over the last several weeks as the commissioners prepare to redraw the boundaries of Arizona’s 30 legislative districts and 9 congressional districts as required by law.
The five-member AIRC was formed in January with Democrats Shereen Lerner and Derrick Watchman, Republicans David Mehl and Douglas York, along with Erika Neuberg, an Independent, serving as chairwoman. The commission began its string of 15 hearings last month in an effort to hear citizens’ concerns and suggestions as AIRC prepares to map out Arizona’s 30 redesigned legislative districts (LD) and 9 congressional districts (CD).
The redistricting process requires boundaries to be redrawn under a plan that keeps districts at nearly equal population as required by the U.S. and Arizona Constitutions. It is based on population data garnered by the decennial U.S. Census.
Currently, each LD in Arizona represents about 213,000 people based on a 2010 Census population of nearly 6.4 million, while each CD serves about 710,000 people, give or take a few percent points. The AIRC must now start refresh to draw new boundaries for all the districts based on Arizona’s 2020 Census population of 7,158,923.
In developing those boundaries, the commissioners are required to consider six factors: equal population; compactness and contiguousness; compliance with the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act; respect for communities of interest; incorporation of geographic features such as city, town and county boundaries; and creation of competitive districts where there is no significant detriment to other goals.
It is the respect for communities of interest and creation of competitive districts which prompted the most public comments during the AIRC’s recent hearings. One of the concerns stems from the decision of the last redistricting commission to split some counties into multiple legislative districts, such as Pinal County which was carved up as part of six LDs.
There are also concerns with the past practice of drawing congressional districts which incorporate disparate and distant communities, as with CD4’s current boundary. That boundary starts in the northwest corner of the state Mohave County, about one hour northeast of Las Vegas. The line then meanders south through Mohave and La Paz counties (minus a few hundred square miles in CD5) down to the northern part of Yuma County.
CD4 also encompasses much of central Arizona, including most of Yavapai County, and it even skirts most of the Maricopa County metropolitan area so it can incorporate parts of Gila and Pinal counties.
Meanwhile, CD1 covers all of four counties (Apache, Graham, Greenlee, and Navajo), most of Coconino County, and parts of Gila, Maricopa, Mohave, Pinal, and Yavapai counties. By comparison, CD2 currently consists of Cochise County in the state’s southeast corner along with eastern Pima County.
At Tuesday’s virtual meeting, the AIRC is also expected to receive updates from mapping consultants and discuss an outreach strategy plan, as well as schedule additional public comment sessions. Among those closely following Arizona’s redistricting efforts is Fair Maps Arizona, founded in 2019 by current Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Gaynor.
Fair Maps Arizona is providing outreach efforts to help residents better understand legislative and congressional redistricting, and to encourage public comments.
U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) is also closely tracking Arizona’s redistricting process. Gallego leads the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, whose political action committee announced earlier this month it plans to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in three southwestern states, including Arizona.
The PAC is expected to team up with grassroots organization to ensure the concerns of Latinos are taken into consideration by the redistricting committees in Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico.
“Redistricting will dictate how Latino communities are represented in the halls of Congress for the next decade,” Gallego said at the time of the announcement.
Last week’s announcement by Gov. Doug Ducey that all state buildings are to lower their flags to half-staff through Aug. 30 in honor of U.S. service members recently killed in Afghanistan has drawn renewed attention to President Joe Biden’s connection to Afghanistan and the Arizona National Guard.
In February 2008, then-Senator Joe Biden, along with Senator John Kerry and Chuck Hagel, were touring Afghanistan when their helicopters made an emergency landing in a mountainous area during a blizzard.
A rescue team with soldiers from the Arizona National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 158th Infantry Regiment “Bushmasters” was sent out to make the treacherous trek from Bagram Airfield to the landing site, according to a news article later posted on the National Guard’s website.
The article noted that the rescue mission was conducted by Combined Joint Task Force-82 which consisted of a 1/158th platoon and other servicemembers. The soldiers were not initially aware of the identity of the VIPs on the helicopters, Maj. John Bozicevic wrote.
Despite the intense weather, limited visibility, and hazardous route, the rescue team found the helicopters and convoyed the senators back to base. Other soldiers remained with the helicopters and crews for more than 15 hours in stormy weather.
Public records show the Arizona National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 158th Infantry arrived in Afghanistan in April 2007 and returned to Arizona the month after the 2008 rescue of the senators. The unit suffered two casualty while deployed.
Ten years later, the 1/158th was deployed back to Afghanistan as part of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. The Bushmasters returned home in May 2019. Several other Arizona National Guard units have been deployed to Afghanistan over the last 20 years.
Kerry later became U.S. Secretary of State under President Barack Obama from 2013 to 2017, while Hagel served as U.S. Secretary of Defense from 2013 to 2015. Biden became Obama’s vice president and was sworn in as President in January, after which he has become a frequent target of Ducey’s.
The governor’s order to lower flags to half-staff called out the Biden White House for how the drawdown of U.S. troops in Afghanistan has been handled.
“As we mourn the dead, we must also recognize the context for this terrible attack,” Ducey noted. “American troops have fought, bled and died in Afghanistan for two decades to keep this country from once again becoming a safe haven for terrorists. We are now seeing in real time how the recent action to withdraw from Afghanistan has made America and the world less safe.”
Ducey also expressed his displeasure with the Biden Administration earlier this month when he announced the extension of the Arizona National Guard’s southern border security support mission through September 2022 with $25 million in state funding. He noted that law enforcement officials are overwhelmed, and the situation is out of control.
“It’s clear that this White House has neither the ability nor the desire to address the border disaster — a crisis of their own making,” Ducey said. “This situation is the direct result of reckless policies and failed communication by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.”
More than 150 Arizona National Guardsmen are serving along with local and state law enforcement agencies in border communities. Guardsmen are assisting those agencies with medical services in detention facilities, data analysis, camera maintenance and surveillance, and logistical and administrative support, according to Ducey.
“The brave men and women of the Arizona National Guard are standing in the gaps,” Ducey said. “Their mission directly contributes to the success of law enforcement officers working to maintain law and order on Arizona’s southern border. I’m grateful to all those who serve our state and are working day and night to keep Arizonans safe.”
In April, Ducey declared a state of emergency regarding Arizona’s shared southern border with Mexico and deployed the Arizona National Guard with $2.5 million in funding for the mission. Then in June, the governor signed state budget legislation which included $25 million in additional funding for the Arizona National Guard’s border mission.
The budget also provided $30 million to law enforcement agencies to assist with their border security operations along with funds for the state’s Border Strike Force.
Data released by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security shows there were more than 212,000 official encounters with illegal immigrants along the country’s southern border in July. That was up from 188,829 in June and represents a 21-year record high.
DHS records also show that illegal immigrant encounters have gone up every month since President Biden took office in January.
One Arizona produce company has resolved a reparation order issued last year by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in favor of a seller, while two other companies have yet to make payment.
According to the USDA, Rio Rico-based Lorex Produce LLC has satisfied a $48,826 reparation order issued under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA) in February 2020 involving unpaid produce transactions with a Florida seller. As a result, Lorex Produce can continue operating in the produce industry upon applying for and being issued a license under PACA.
In addition, company officials Francisco Alejandro Lopez Rodriguez and Enok Aristiga Ayala may now be employed by or affiliated with any PACA licensee.
The USDA’s PACA Division is part of the Fair Trade Practices Program in the Agricultural Marketing Service. It provides an options for handling disputes involving contractual obligations in the buying and selling of fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables produce transactions.
The USDA is authorized to suspend a PACA license -or impose sanctions on an unlicensed business- for failure to pay a reparations award. The agency can also prohibit sole proprietors, partners, members, managers, officers, directors or major stockholders of any sanctioned company from being employed by or affiliated with any PACA licensee without securing USDA approval.
Last week’s announcement that Lorex Produce has fully satisfied its PACA order leaves two other Arizona companies on the reparation list.
Perfect Harvest Inc., operating in Nogales, was sanctioned last year for failing to pay a $243,240 reparation award in favor of an in-state seller. As of the issuance date of the order, Jorge A. Mercado was listed as the officer, director and major stockholder of the business. He may not be employed by or affiliated with any PACA licensee without securing USDA approval.
The other company, Arizona Lemons LLC, operated out of Phoenix. It is the subject of a $16,776 reparation award in favor of a Minnesota seller who was not paid. Company officials Martha E. Bombela and Jose R. Partida may not be employed by or affiliated with any PACA licensee without securing USDA approval.
When the USDA announced its sanctions against Lorex Produce last year, the agency noted it “continues to enforce the prompt and full payment for produce while protecting the rights of sellers and buyers in the marketplace.” In the past three years, more than 3,600 claims were resolved involving more than $104 million.
As if the last 17 months haven’t been complicated enough, the Arizona Department of Revenue announced Thursday that some taxpayers who received income in 2020 from the $12.5 billion paid out by the state for unemployment insurance benefits and pandemic unemployment assistance may be eligible for a tax refund.
The refund can be obtained by filing an Arizona Form 140X amended return. But that is where the simple part ends.
The possibility of a refund affects those Arizonans who received unemployment payments in 2020 and filed their state income tax return on or before March 11, 2021. That’s the date the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 was signed by President Joe Biden, making up to $10,200 of unemployment benefits exempt from federal income taxes in 2020.
Gov. Doug Ducey later signed legislation which mirrored the federal exemption, meaning many Arizonans with 2020 unemployment income likely filed a state tax return under the old tax code.
ADOR could have created a computer program to identify the affected taxpayers who filed on or before March 11 and send them a notification. Instead, the burden is on Arizonans to navigate a maze of “if this, then that” instructions from ADOR in order to obtain a refund.
To start with, the Arizona Form 140X cannot be filed unless the taxpayer’s 2020 federal tax return has been amended first. The IRS is already doing that for some taxpayers and even sending an adjustment notice with a refund check. Everyone else is responsible for preparing and filing an amended federal return.
Either way, Arizonans eligible for a refund due to overpaying taxes on their 2020 unemployment benefits must wait for the IRS to confirm the federal return has been adjusted. And then they have to ask the IRS for a “transcript” after the amended federal return is processed.
Once that is done, a taxpayer can complete the Arizona Form 140X. However, it cannot be e-filed through ADOR’s website; it must be printed out and mailed in.
On the upside, Arizonans have four years to amend their state income tax return to claim a refund for overpayment of unemployment income. An amended 2020 return filed in 2022, however, could trigger the need for an amended return in 2021.
Most Arizona residents will be able to complete the Arizona Form 140X by following simplified instructions provided at https://azdor.gov. However, part-year residents and nonresidents must follow the full instructions for Form 140X.
