A top U.S. Border Patrol union representative says the situation along the southwest border “is spinning out of control everywhere,” with the number of illegal border crossings showing no sign of falloff while agency staffing in the field is at dangerously low rates.
“It’s just overwhelming right now,” USBP agent Art Del Cueto told KFYI’s James T. Harris earlier this week. Del Cueto serves as vice president of the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) and president of NBPC Local 2544 in Tucson.
The staffing problem had become so bad that NBPC publicized the situation earlier this week, reporting only two agents were covering a 50-mile section of border. There would typically have been 15 to 20 agents assigned to the area, according to NBPC.
Two agents assigned today to patrol 50 miles of border that usually has 15 to 20 agents on patrol-completely overwhelmed with illegal aliens. The cartel thugs are watching.
Biden's unrelenting assault on the border and the shortage/misappropriation of manpower is stunning.
USBP agents have long complained about being dangerously outmanned in the field. Several agents have been injured just in the Cochise County area over the last year, including an agent assigned to USBP Tucson Sector who was hospitalized March 4 after being attacked as she arrested an undocumented migrant.
The migrant was eventually subdued and taken into custody when other agents arrived on scene.
“Our agents face extreme risks in the field, and those who bring them harm will be brought to justice,” USBP Tucson Sector Chief John Modlin said a few days later. Even USBP Chief Raul Ortiz was forced to weigh in on the situation after the agent’s early morning attack made national headlines.
The March 4 attack drew an immediate reaction from Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels, who promised to have the attacker charged in state court if federal prosecutors dropped the ball.
But while USBP command staffers used the attacked agent’s recovery to deflect from the dangerous situation, Del Cueto contends the ongoing practice of pulling field agents from patrol duties to be used instead to process large groups of border crossers in another area demonstrates the lack of sufficient staffing.
Different areas along the nearly 2,000 mile border between the U.S. and Mexico have different challenges, Del Cueto told Harris. For instance, the USBP Tucson Sector is responsible for a mostly remote and rural terrain.
As a result, the area leads the U.S. with a disturbingly high number of “gotaways,” the name given to undocumented border crossers who evade apprehension and do not turn themselves in for immigration processing.
According to Del Cueto, the cartels know of USBP’s staffing challenges. As a result, they realize getting agents to chase down crossers in certain remote areas provides a distraction which allows drugs or higher paying crossers to be moved through other areas.
Staffing issues are forcing agents in the field to wait longer for transport vehicles to arrive, while at other times they must do the processing and transporting themselves. This removes boots on the ground, and “that’s when you start seeing a lot of other groups come through,” he explained.
Del Cueto calls it a “cop out” when people complain USBP and its parent agency Customs and Border Protection are not asking U.S. Department of Homeland Security to spend more money for technology along the border.
“Technology is fantastic, it helps us see where the groups are but at the end you need the boots on the ground to actually make the arrests,” he told Harris.
The cartels are very organized and “are not dumb,” Del Cueto said, adding that they will continue to do things “as long as they kept seeing this Administration not have any true consequences for these people committing crimes.”
“The agents that are still here in Tucson, they have their hands full,” Del Cueto said. “Their backup is far away. They are having a really hard time.”
Terri Jo Neff is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or send her news tips here.
Arizona Legislative Republicans are working overtime to protect young students from what they could read or hear in their district schools, though these efforts are opposed by Democrats and have little chance at becoming law.
SB 1323, sponsored by Senator Jake Hoffman, “classifies, as a class 5 felony, a violation of the prohibition on a public school referring students to or using any sexually explicit material in any manner,” according to the purpose provided by the State Senate.
The prohibition of “sexually explicit material” is found in ARS 15-120: “….includes textual, visual or audio materials or materials accessed via any other medium that depict any of the following – sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or ultimate sexual acts.” There are exemptions from this prohibition, which include the school requiring written parental consent for the student to be referred to or use the materials.
As with most pieces of legislation dealing with children’s education and schools, the vote in the Senate came down along party lines. 16 Republicans voted in favor, while 13 Democrats vote against (Senator Juan Mendez did not vote).
"This bill is about stopping the sexualization of Arizona children."
Senator Jake Hoffman explains why Arizonans should be outraged by how Senate Democrats voted today on a bill that protects children. pic.twitter.com/RTNLH43too
The bill previously passed the Senate Judiciary and the Rules Committees with partisan 4-3 votes.
SB 1323 provoked a heated debate on both sides of the aisle when members of the Senate cast their votes. Democrat Senator Anna Hernandez bemoaned what she perceived as the lack of due process for the bill, arguing that there was no difference between a teacher presenting the materials to kindergarteners or high school seniors, or that the legislature was not making a clear line for teachers who were intentionally versus unintentionally making the material available to students. She stated that the state was taking a “huge step forward to criminalize the speech of a teacher who refers to a book,” and she wondered aloud why Arizona has a teacher shortage with these kinds of bills being proposed by Republican legislators.
Democrat Senator Christine Marsh agreed with her colleague, making the case that the language in the existing law was already incredibly vague on prohibitions, and that the added criminal penalty in Hoffman’s proposal was a huge problem. She echoed Senator Hernandez’s comments about the teacher shortage in the Grand Canyon State, saying that “educators are already finding the working and learning conditions in Arizona to be untenable,” and that “mistakes could expose a person to serious felony or prison time.”
Republican Senator Anthony Kern took strong exception to what he was hearing from Democrats, claiming that this bill protects children and that “teachers are leaving because they are being intimidated by the left for their Christian values.” He noted that “it is not naïve to think that our children are being targeted by our current school board education system to explicit pornography and explicit materials.”
Democrat Senator Mitzi Epstein pushed back against the Republicans’ assertions that explicit pornography was being shown to students in Arizona public schools, saying that Arizona “already has laws on the books against showing pornography to children.” She called the bill “overreach” and “ridiculous.”
Bill sponsor, Jake Hoffman told his fellow colleagues that his bill was about “stopping the sexualization of Arizona’s children,” and admitted that the definition of “sexually explicit” was pulled from the obscenity section of the U.S. Criminal Code, which was adopted in the 1960s – and hasn’t been amended since 2001. He revealed that when the Legislature previously considered a bill to enshrine into law the definitions of “sexually explicit materials,” he had to obtain permission from DPS to show pictures from a book for ten-year-olds in a committee hearing (since the proceedings were being broadcasted). He blasted Democrats for their votes against the bill, saying that “every parent in Arizona should be ashamed of the red (no) votes,” and he predicted that Governor Hobbs would aid “in the sexualization of children in Arizona” by vetoing this legislation.
Senator Sonny Borrelli presented a thought-provoking question from a constituent for his colleagues to consider when casting their votes: “Why is talking about sex with adults at work considered sexual harassment but talking with kindergarteners and middle school and grammar school kids considered necessary?” He called the Democrats’ stance on this proposal a “double standard” that was “completely off the charts.”
Senators Anthony Kern, Janae Shamp, Justine Wadsack, and Representatives Joseph Chaplik and Jacqueline Parker co-sponsored Hoffman’s legislation. Representatives from the Center for Arizona Policy and Arizona Free Enterprise Club supported the bill, and representatives from the Arizona Education Association, Save Our Schools Arizona, American Civil Liberties Union of AZ, and AZ Attorneys for Criminal Justice opposed its movement through the legislative process.
SB 1323 now awaits its fate in the Arizona House of Representatives.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
A bill to better secure the integrity of Arizona elections is making its way through the legislature, but it is meeting resistance from Democrats along the way.
SB 1595, which was sponsored by Senator J.D. Mesnard, deals with the identification and tabulation of early ballots. Last week, it cleared the Senate chamber with a 16-14 party-line vote. All Republicans supported the bill, and all Democrats opposed its passage.
According to the purpose of the legislation, which was provided by the State Senate, SB 1595 “prescribes additional requirements for an early ballot to be counted and valid. It requires a voter to present valid identification by the prescribed days after an election for a ballot that was delivered by a voter’s agents or a voter who does not provide sufficient identification. Also, it removes the requirement that the period of early voting must end at 5:00 pm on the Friday preceding the election.”
Senators Ken Bennett, Frank Carroll, Jake Hoffman, John Kavanagh, and Wendy Rogers joined as co-sponsors for Mesnard’s bill.
Senator Mesnard explained his reasoning for introducing this bill back in January: “An important bill I’m currently working on this session will speed up our election counts. I’ve heard from a number of you regarding the extended time it took to finish counting ballots this year. Folks across the country were asking, ‘Doesn’t Arizona know how to count?’”
The extended time is mostly a result of vote-by-mail voters who drop it off on Election Day instead of mailing their ballot back ahead of time, which take days or weeks to count because of signature verification requirements. If such folks were treated like those who vote in-person at the polls on Election Day—that is, be required to show ID prior to turning in their ballot—it will dramatically expedite election night results without compromising security, accuracy, or transparency.”
In a newsletter this week, Senator Mesnard announced the Senate action on his bill, writing, “Several of my bills that focus on improving our elections process by speeding up ballot tabulation, while preserving accuracy, security and transparency, have now passed the Senate and are advancing in the House. SB 1595 would ensure we treat people voting on or near election day the same, regardless of whether they were mailed a ballot. Those wishing to drop off their early ballot after the Friday before Election Day would have to adhere to the same ID requirements that those voting at the polls must follow. This will avoid the need to spend weeks signature verifying these last-minute ballots, a top reason for the constant delay in Arizona’s election results.”
"…she vetoed all of these, revealing that we're working with a Governor who is playing political games with lives and livelihoods."
Democrat Senator Priya Sundareshan voted no on SB 1595, explaining her rationale that “this bill falls under the category of bills that are making it harder to vote.” She also said that the legislation would change “the ability of people to drop their ballots off through Election Day,” and the increased identifications requirements for late drop-offs of early ballots would add “hurdles upon hurdles” for Arizona voters.
Before voting in favor of his bill, Senator Mesnard stated that there was “universal contempt for the time it takes us to count” the votes after Election Day, noting that 2022 voters for both Hobbs (Democrat candidate for governor) and Lake (Republican candidate for governor) shared this feeling.
Senator Juan Mendez also rose to explain his vote against SB 1595, continuing the Democrats’ fascination over highlighting so-called “election integrity conspiracies,” saying, “Earlier results will not reduce conspiracies,” and “appeasing conspiracies with further confusion only risks voter suppression.”
Representatives from the League of Women Voters of AZ, AZ State AFL-CIO, State Conference NAACP, and AZ Association of Counties all opposed SB 1595 as it progressed through the Arizona Senate. The bill now resides in the House of Representatives and will be considered there in the coming weeks.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Two GOP lawmakers will defend the state’s ban on abortions due to fetal genetic abnormalities, since Attorney General Kris Mayes refuses.
House Speaker Ben Toma (R-LD27) and Senate President Warren Petersen (R-LD14) were granted permission to defend the law by U.S. District Court Judge Douglas Rayes last Thursday. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a Scottsdale-based Christian legal advocacy group, is representing Toma and Petersen in the case, Isaacson v. Mayes.
Rayes determined that Toma and Petersen were qualified to intervene because they had significant protectable interest in the case. The pair requested to intervene in February, following Mayes informing the court that she no longer wished to represent the state in this case. Mayes told multiple news outlets just days into her administration that she wouldn’t defend or uphold the state’s existing abortion laws.
“Arizona has made a policy decision to vest in its legislative leaders an interest in defending the constitutionality of the legislature’s enactments,” stated Rayes. “If [Toma and Petersen] are not permitted to intervene, the challenged laws will go undefended, which ‘risk[s] turning a deaf ear to the voices the State has deemed crucial to understanding the full range of its interests.’”
Throughout her campaign and in her first few months as attorney general, Mayes characterized the contested abortion ban as “unconstitutional” and in violation of Arizona’s privacy clause, promised to not prosecute abortionists in violation of law, and vowed to use her authority to prevent county attorneys from enforcing abortion restrictions and bans.
“Intervention is even more appropriate here, where the Attorney General’s interests are directly contrary to those of the proposed intervenor,” stated ADF’s petition.
As AZ Free News reported last week, Mayes revealed that her office has even been encouraging pharmacies to give out abortion pills.
A.R.S. § 12-1841 allows legislative leaders to intervene in cases challenging the constitutionality of state statutes. Last year, the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) upheld the legality of state laws like Arizona’s.
Abortionists Paul Isaacson and Eric Ruess; the National Council of Jewish Women, Arizona section; Arizona National Organization for Women; and Arizona Medical Association sued the state over the abortion ban in August 2021. The ban, codified through SB1457, prevents a woman from terminating her pregnancy due to the presence of any fetal genetic abnormalities, like Down Syndrome.
SB1457 argued that the state had three compelling interests in outlawing selective abortions: protecting the disability community from discriminatory abortions; protecting citizens from coercive medical practices encouraging selective abortions based on genetic abnormalities; and protecting the integrity and ethics of the medical profession by preventing doctors from becoming witting participants in genetic-abnormality-selective abortion.
Last July, the court ruled that the law’s recognition of the personhood of unborn children was unconstitutionally vague and in conflict with other state laws.
The state legislature is working on passing additional abortion regulations and restrictions. SB1600 from State Sen. Janae Shamp (R-LD29) provides protections to infants born alive from a botched abortion. According to the Arizona Department of Health’s (AZDHS) latest data, at least nine babies were born alive following a botched abortion procedure in 2021. The Senate passed Shamp’s bill along party lines last month.
SB1146 from State Sen. Jake Hoffman (R-LD15) would require the State Board of Investment to identify companies that donate to or invest in organizations that promote, facilitate, or advocate for abortions for minors or for the inclusion of or referral of K-12 students to sexually explicit material. The Senate passed the bill earlier this month, also along party lines.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
A top Arizona lawmaker is frustrated with the lack of media coverage on his Democrat colleagues’ partisan votes and is highlighting the issue to make people more aware – especially when it comes to a bill dealing with clear divisions in school restrooms.
Senate President Warren Petersen recently posted on social media: “We recently passed a bill out of the senate that said no boys in girls showers. All the democrats voted no. One of the democrats suggested we put up shower curtains as a solution. Zero coverage by the media. Lots of bills like that all the time. Zero coverage by the media.”
The bill that President Petersen was referring to is SB 1040, sponsored by Senator John Kavanagh, which deals with reasonable accommodations for restrooms in public schools. Kavanagh’s legislation, designated as the Arizona Accommodations for All Children Act, “requires a public school to provide access to a single-occupancy or employee restroom or changing facility to a person who is unwilling or unable to use a multi-occupancy restroom or changing facility designated for the person’s sex or multi-occupancy sleeping quarters,” according to the purpose of the bill provided by the State Senate.
Late last month, SB 1040 passed the State Senate with a 16-14 vote along party lines. All Republicans voted in favor, while all Democrats voted against the bill.
After the vote, the Arizona Senate Republican Caucus tweeted, “JUST IN: Senate Republicans voted to keep males out of female showers, locker rooms and bathrooms at public schools. We believe in protecting Arizona’s children! Every Senate Dem voted against the measure. Senator Marsh’s solution was to ‘buy shower curtains.’
JUST IN: Senate Republicans voted to keep males out of female showers, locker rooms and bathrooms at public schools. We believe in protecting Arizona’s children!!
Every Senate Dem voted against the measure. Senator Marsh’s solution was to “buy shower curtains.”
Senator Wendy Rogers followed that message with one of her own after voting in favor of SB 1040: “No brainer. Unbelievable that we have to pass a law to keep males out of the Ladies Room.”
No brainer. Unbelievable that we have to pass a law to keep males out of the Ladies Room. https://t.co/oS48uGFYQ9
In a legislative update from Senator J.D. Mesnard on March 6, which addressed his vote on SB 1040, he wrote: “This was a pretty commonsense notion, until recent times, when a radical ideology – based on the concept of gender identity – started taking hold. The bill respects the bodily privacy rights of children, who should not be forced to share such an intimate setting with someone of the opposite sex, while also providing reasonable accommodations to those who wish to identify as the opposite sex. Sex-separated spaces have never been about how one identifies – it doesn’t make any sense. Despite all Senate Democrats voting against the measure, it passed with Republican support and heads to the House.”
"The bill respects the bodily privacy rights of children, who should not be forced to share such an intimate setting with someone of the opposite sex, while also providing reasonable accommodations to those who wish to identify as the opposite sex."
Certain Arizona interest groups were strongly opposed to the bill’s clearance from the Senate. HRC (Human Rights Campaign) in Arizona tweeted, “Bans trans students and teachers from using school restrooms that match their gender identity and allows people to sue schools if they share a restroom or similar school facility with a trans person.”
WEDNESDAY 2/15 at 2pm – Senate Education Committee
SB1040 – Bans trans students and teachers from using school restrooms that match their gender identity and allows people to sue schools if they share a restroom or similar school facility with a trans person. 6/
The Progress Arizona Twitter account wrote, “SB 1040 is yet another dangerous bill that prohibits transgender students and teachers from using public school restrooms. The GOP Senate Education Committee members advanced the bill forward yesterday, despite the expectation that it’ll be vetoed.
SB1040, sponsored by Senator Kavanagh, is yet another dangerous bill that prohibits transgender students and teachers from using public school restrooms. The GOP Senate Education Committee members advanced the bill forward yesterday, despite the expectation that it'll be vetoed. pic.twitter.com/u9swOlF1Xp
Senator Kavanagh’s legislation was transmitted to the Arizona House, where it is expected to be considered and brought to the floor in the near future. If it is approved by the House, the bill has no chance at being signed into law by Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs, who alluded as much in a tweet on International Women’s Day.
On this International Women's Day I want to make it clear that trans women are women, they are welcome here, and any bill that harasses or threatens their safety will swiftly meet my veto stamp.
— Governor Katie Hobbs (@GovernorHobbs) March 8, 2023
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Parents can now call a hotline to report inappropriate lessons at their schools, under a new initiative launched by the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) on Tuesday.
Superintendent Tom Horne discussed the hotline during a Wednesday interview on “The Mike Broomhead Show.” The superintendent said that teachers suspected of abusing their position may face disciplinary conduct and proposed that violations impact a school’s letter grade per the state’s A-F Accountability System.
“Teachers should be teaching the academic standards to their students and not abusing a captive audience by pushing their own ideology,” said Horne. “If they know that their kids have been taught those things, we want them to let us know so we can investigate it and try to do something about it.”
In a press release, ADE clarified that inappropriate public school lessons included those that focus on race or ethnicity, rather than individuals and merit; promoting gender ideology; social-emotional learning (SEL); or inappropriate sexual content. The department linked to our report documenting the over 200 educators who signed onto a statement proclaiming that they would teach outlawed materials like Critical Race Theory (CRT) – even if banned.
Anti-school choice activists and critics of Horne encouraged parents to flood the hotline, dubbed the “Empower Hotline.” Save Our Schools Arizona issued a call to action to drown out real reports from parents seeking help.
“[Please] report how amazing it is that teachers are doing so much for our kids despite the lack of resources provided to them,” stated SOSAZ.
The AZ Department of Education released a new Empowering Parents hotline today. Please join us in calling 602-771-3500 to report how amazing it is that teachers are doing so much for our kids despite the lack of resources provided to them. pic.twitter.com/ozuX12TBgU
The Empower Hotline rollout included a link to a page on the ADE site explaining Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Social-Emotional Learning (SEL).
ADE claimed that CRT is being taught in many public schools, and rejected the claim that it’s a college-level curriculum. ADE published a list of key words and phrases associated with CRT: oppressors or oppressed, whiteness, white privilege, white supremacy, white complicity, white equilibrium, and white fragility.
“The claim that CRT or its principles and elements is not part of any school curriculum in Arizona is false. It is being taught to children,” stated the ADE.
ADE also characterized SEL as a gateway for CRT. The department also claimed that SEL took away precious instructional time by focusing on emotions and feelings.
“Student test scores have been declining since before the pandemic, and resources – especially the non-renewable resource of time – need to be spent to fully educate students in core subjects,” stated ADE. “Teachers are professionals. They know their students and are already trained to be alert for signs of emotional and behavioral problems. This doesn’t require a full-blown curriculum that detracts from teaching academics.”
Horne warned in a statement that CRT can be taught under different titles, such as “power diversity” or “deep equity.”
Arizona Education Association (AEA) President Marisol Garcia called the hotline a “recipe for disaster.”
“Inviting the harassment of educators, without due process at their local level, with the ability of these ‘accusations’ to be FOIA’d?” asked Garcia.
On the @azedschools website, front and center! Let’s be CRYSTAL CLEAR, this is a recipe for disaster. Inviting the harassment of educators, without due process at their local level, with the ability of these ‘accusations’ to be FOIA’d? As if nothing bad is going to happen here? pic.twitter.com/lvc9unSkYH
