On Tuesday, Arizona succeeded in its effort to continue Title 42, a Trump-era activation of the policy enabling the rapid expulsion of illegal immigrants.
The Supreme Court (SCOTUS) on Tuesday blocked the D.C. District Court ruling last month ordering the Biden administration to lift Title 42 by Dec. 21. The policy will remain in place pending a hearing before the court on the question of whether states, including Arizona, may intervene to challenge the district court’s order.
Judge Emmet Sullivan, a Bush appointee, asserted that Trump’s initial implementation of Title 42 was unlawful. Although the Biden administration benefitted from the ruling, they appealed on Sullivan’s judgment of Trump’s use of Title 42.
BREAKING: The Supreme Court keeps the Trump-era Title 42 border policy in effect for now. The court says it will hear argument in February over whether red states can intervene in the litigation over the policy. The vote is 5-4, with Neil Gorsuch joining the three liberals.
Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who championed legal efforts to continue Title 42, said in a press release that this decision would ensure Americans’ safety where the Biden administration wouldn’t. Brnovich noted that Title 42 under the Biden and Trump administrations resulted in the expulsion of over 2.4 million immigrants.
“It’s disappointing [that] the Biden administration is willing to sacrifice the safety of American families for political purposes,” said Brnovich.
SCOTUS will fast-track the case for oral argument during its February session (Feb. 21 to March 1). Arizona and 18 other states petitioned SCOTUS last Monday to keep Title 42 in place, after the D.C. District Court denied their intervention.
One conservative-leaning justice, Neil Gorsuch, joined the liberal court’s opposition. Gorsuch wrote in his dissent, joined by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, that Title 42 should be done away with since the border crisis doesn’t quality as a “COVID crisis.” Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan also opposed the order, but didn’t join in Gorsuch’s dissent.
“[T]he emergency on which those orders were premised has long since lapsed,” wrote Gorsuch. “[The states] do not seriously dispute that the public-health justification undergirding the Title 42 orders has lapsed.”
Gorsuch rejected Arizona and the other states’ arguments that Title 42 should remain untouched since it was their only means of securing the border. He clarified that he found the states’ concerns about the border crisis valid, but repeated that Title 42 was meant only to curtail communicable diseases, not the other issues stemming from an unsecured border.
“[C]ourts should not be in the business of perpetuating administrative edicts designed for one emergency only because elected officials have failed to address a different emergency. We are a court of law, not policymakers of last resort,” wrote Gorsuch.
Title 42 of the Public Health Services Act has existed since 1944. The policy enables the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the power to block illegal immigration into the U.S. to protect Americans from contagious diseases. This policy even applies to asylum seekers. Former President Donald Trump utilized the policy at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A federal judge blocked the Biden administration from lifting Title 42 in May. However, requirements to keep the policy in place have curbed the border crisis little, with reports revealing that the Biden administration covertly subverts the policy regardless of court orders and public promises earlier this year.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
When video went viral this month of a Florida police officer needing three doses of Narcan after losing consciousness when exposed to fentanyl during a routine traffic stop, it renewed attention to the dangers the deadly drug poses to public safety and healthcare workers.
But protocols for handling fentanyl and other potentially toxic evidence are months from approved within Arizona’s judicial system, even though there are currently hundreds of ongoing fentanyl-related criminal cases in the state’s courts.
Court administrators and presiding judges across Arizona have expressed concerns about safety protocols since 2020 when the number of prosecutions involving the drug started to rise. But it was not until this June that Chief Justice Robert Brutinel of the Arizona Supreme Court established a taskforce to create guidelines for handling fentanyl and other toxic evidence in courthouses.
The Fentanyl and Toxic Evidence Taskforce was given a Dec. 31 deadline to file its report and recommendations. However, the 11 members of the taskforce notified Brutinel in November that they need more time.
As a result, the report’s deadline has been extended to March 31, 2023.
Guidelines are necessary, Brutinel noted in June, due to the “significant rise” of overdoses associated with fentanyl, as well as the corresponding rise in the number of cases in which fentanyl is part of the evidence against a defendant.
“Accordingly, there is the potential risk that the drug evidence and other toxic evidence in these cases will need to be handled in the courthouse,” the chief justice noted, adding that protocols for dealing with fentanyl exposure and for handling the drug is already developed for some industries. “There has been little guidance, however, issued for court personnel who may have to handle packaged evidence of fentanyl, carfentanil, their analogs, or other toxic evidence.”
The chief justice ordered the 2019 National Judicial Opioid Task Force guidelines be used by the taskforce as a reference to address several issues:
Whether such drugs should be inspected and approved by designated court personnel before being allowed into a courthouse
Whether these packaged drugs must always remain in the possession of law enforcement personnel, except by approval of the court
Whether the drugs should ever be handled by court personnel or others during a judicial proceeding, such as attorneys, witnesses, court clerks, and jurors
Whether such drugs should remain in a courthouse or court-related facility during non-business hours
What safety policies should be established for the handling of fentanyl evidence
Whether courthouse personnel should be trained to address possible exposure to fentanyl and other toxic evidence and to properly identify opioid toxicity
Whether Naloxone (Narcan) should be kept in courthouses and other court-related facilities for emergencies and whether any court personnel should be trained in its administration.
One consideration for the taskforce is the need to balance safety concerns for court personnel and members of the public who may be exposed to the drugs during a judicial proceeding against the rights of defendants or even a victim in judicial proceedings to due process and a fair trial, Brutinel noted.
Terri Jo Neff is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or send her news tips here.
Under President Joe Biden, November’s border encounters marked another historic high. This also marks the sixth consecutive month of an increase in border encounters.
There were over 233,700 border encounters, of which over 204,100 (87 percent) were unique. Cuban and Nicaraguan migrants made up the excess: over 68,000 (35 percent) of unique encounters were from the two countries. Mexicans and North Central Americans accounted for over 58,500 (30 percent) of unique encounters, a 14 percent decrease from November 2021.
The all-time high in one single month under the Biden administration occurred in May with over 241,100 encounters.
That’s a four percent increase from last month.
CBP released operational statistics for November 2022, which can be viewed on our website.
Since Biden took office, there have been over 4.36 million border encounters. This excludes “gotaways.” At this rate, there could be over 9.3 million encounters by the end of Biden’s first term.
Single adults accounted for 67 percent (157,200) of this month’s encounters. This demographic yielded the greatest growth year-over-year under the Biden administration. These latest totals for single adult illegal immigrants is nearly equal to the entirety of single adult encounters for fiscal year 2020.
Yesterday, the Vice President and I met with legislators to discuss the path forward on DACA. We need to pass long overdue immigration reform and give Dreamers, TPS recipients, farmworkers, and essential workers a path to citizenship. https://t.co/F81VfH1bNy
Unaccompanied minors accounted for five percent (13,100). Family units accounted for 27 percent (63,100); this total is greater than the entire 2020 fiscal year.
Our Administration is committed to preserving and fortifying DACA. We need Congress to protect DACA recipients and pass legislation to ensure a pathway to citizenship for our Dreamers, farm workers, and TPS recipients. pic.twitter.com/CKEIEBTC7P
The Tucson and Yuma Sectors recorded over 3,100 drug seizures for November. That’s a high under the Biden administration, but a low compared to pre-pandemic numbers under the Trump administration.
It’s likely more record highs are on the horizon. According to Fox News correspondence with Customs and Border Protection (CBP), 87 percent of illegal immigrants encountered over Christmas weekend were released. Of the nearly 16,500 encounters, only about 2,100 were expelled under Title 42.
BREAKING: CBP sources tell FOX News over Christmas weekend – 12/23 – Sun 12/25 – 16,476 Total Encounters – of which 2,150 were expelled under T42 – 14,326 being released…
Broken down by sector:
Del Rio – 4,144 El Paso – 3,333 Yuma – 2,577 RGV – 2,385 @FoxNews
Kari Lake plans to appeal her lawsuit against governor-elect Katie Hobbs in her capacity as secretary of state and Maricopa County.
Maricopa County Superior Court declared in a ruling issued on Christmas Eve that Hobbs was governor-elect because Lake presented no “clear and convincing evidence” of election misconduct or fraud.
“[Election workers performed] their role with integrity. Not perfectly, as no system on this earth is perfect, but more than sufficient to comply with the law and conduct a valid election,” wrote Thompson.
My Election Case provided the world with evidence that proves our elections are run outside of the law. This Judge did not rule in our favor. However, for the sake of restoring faith and honesty in our elections, I will appeal his ruling.
On Monday, Maricopa County sought sanctions against Lake and her attorneys, Brian Blehm and Kurt Olsen. The trio could owe up to $696,000 to cover attorneys’ fees and costs incurred by the county and secretary of state’s office. The county asserted that Lake kept up a “sustained attack on Arizona’s elections” long before this recent election, and filed her lawsuit in bad faith.
The county cited a since-deleted tweet from Lake, which shared a report compiling claims from “legal experts” that Judge Peter Thompson’s ruling was “ghostwritten” by the likes of top Democratic election attorney and principal Russiagate figure Marc Elias and others.
Lake would be far from the first facing sanctions for disputing an election in recent years. There are at least three other parties with outstanding sanctions.
Prominent among Lake’s claims of election malfeasance were missing chain of custody documentation for Election Day ballots in violation of the Election Procedures Manual (EPM) and inducing Ballot On Demand (BOD) printer issues by using 19” instead of 20” ballots.
We know exactly how it occurred.
Somebody in Maricopa County either let it happen or made it happen.
Hopefully, the appeals court gives this damning admission the attention it deserves. https://t.co/WnAj29mFbL
Thompson preceded his 10-page court ruling by acknowledging voters’ “anger and frustration” over the “inconvenience and confusion” at vote centers, but issued a reminder that his duty was to weigh Lake’s claims and the actions of Maricopa County and the state against the law.
“[T]his Court’s duty is not solely to incline an ear to public outcry,” wrote Thompson.
In order to prevail, Lake needed to prove that alleged misconduct such as EPM violations and BOD irregularities were intentional, conducted by an officer making or participating in a canvass, intended to change the election outcome, and resulted in a change in the election outcome.
The ruling reviewed the testimonies of Lake’s witnesses: Mark Sonnenklar, a Republican National Committee election attorney; Heather Honey, a supply chain auditor and consultant; Clay Parikh, a Northrup Grumman cybersecurity expert; David Betencourt, a temporary technical election support employee (“T-Tech”) with Maricopa County; and Richard Baris, director of Big Data Poll.
With the exception of Honey, Thompson determined that these witnesses completely failed to relay personal knowledge of intentional or unintentional election misconduct. Honey testified that Runbeck Election Services employees introduced about 50 ballots of family members into the stream.
However, Thompson determined that Honey’s claims were insufficient to meet the burden of proof because these ballots weren’t clear and convincing evidence of affecting the election outcome. Thompson noted that Maricopa County in its testimony clarified that it only granted Runbeck permission to submit general public ballots, not those family member ballots.
“Every single witness before the Court disclaimed any personal knowledge of such misconduct. The Court cannot accept speculation or conjecture in place of clear and convincing evidence,” wrote Thompson.
Thompson declared further that Lake didn’t offer sufficient evidence to contradict the testimonies of Election Day director Scott Jarrett or County Recorder Stephen Richer.
In response to the ruling, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chair Bill Gates declared that Lake sought media attention, not a remedy to the election.
“Plaintiff Lake’s lawsuit was never about well-pled facts and evidence. Instead, it was the continuation of a made-for-TV tirade from a candidate who cannot or will not accept the fact that she lost,” said Gates. “Arizona courts have made it clear that frivolous political theater meant to undermine elections will not be tolerated.”
As if there are not already enough scams making the rounds, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is reporting that scammers are impersonating the Social Security Administration (SSA) in an effort to get SSA recipients to disclose private information that can be used to defraud the victims.
And the holidays are a good time for families to talk with elderly relatives about the risks, according to AARP’s Legal Counsel for the Elderly.
One thing that makes it difficult for family members or caregivers to learn an elderly person has been contacted by, or even fallen victim to, a scammer is that the victims “come from a generation typically raised to be private and taught to be kind and polite,” according to Amy Nofziger of the AARP Fraud Watch Network.
“They feel compelled to answer the doorbell, provide information when an authority figure requests it and feel uncomfortable hanging up on someone,” Nofziger says.
Scammers are using the names of actual SSA employees to send recipients what appears to be an official letter. The letter invites the recipients to call a toll-free number to activate an increase in their SSA benefits, including claiming a cost-of-living adjustment.
Other targets of the scam have reported receiving an email or text message with a “click here” link to learn more about available SSA benefits. But what the scammers really want is to obtain a recipient’s personal information such as SSN, date of birth, or banking information which can then be used for illegal purposes.
Behavior often engaged in by SSA scammers includes:
Threatens to suspend your Social Security number
Warns of impending arrest or litigation
Pressures you to confirm or provide personal information
Promises to increase your SSA benefits for a fee
Demands immediate payment
Insists on secrecy
Threatens to seize your bank account or investments
Says you must decide immediately
Anyone who receives a suspicious call, text message, email, or letter can contact AARP’s Fraud Watch at 877-908-3360. Additional information on how to protect against scams is available here.
Meanwhile, contact your local law enforcement agency if you or someone you know already fell victim to a scam by revealing personal information or you were tricked into making a payment for an unreceived service.
Terri Jo Neff is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or send her news tips here.
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) issued a jolly video telling the story of how “Santa” received their help with delivering toys after his sleigh broke down.
“Unfortunately, Triple Elf was not available for roadside service,” quipped the narrator.
The video follows MCSO Santa’s adventure as he borrows an MCSO bicycle, then horse, a “reindeer with wheels” (quad), a patrol car, a boat, and finally a tactical vehicle.
At one point, Santa had trouble mounting the horse, which the narrator attributed to consuming too much milk and cookies last year.
“Santa soon realized that indulging in all the milk and cookies from last year may have been a mistake,” observed the narrator.
There's nothing Santa loves more than delivering gifts to the good children of Maricopa County. We were glad to help him on his way! 🎁🧸 Happy Holidays from the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. 🎄✨ https://t.co/9q1Mu1Djgohttps://t.co/R3oq2hmDSV
Then, Santa landed on the “naughty list” for speeding. The narrator explained that Santa made an honest mistake, as he usually “moves at the speed of light.” However, the officer came to Santa’s rescue by offering his patrol car in exchange for the quad.
To avoid rush hour in the car, Santa then borrowed an MCSO boat. Yet, the dilemma of wet and lost presents on the lake posed another issue — that’s when the SWAT team came to the rescue with their tactical vehicle.
That final mode of transportation proved to be the right fit for Santa, ensuring a successful delivery of presents.
“Santa was drawn to the red lights on the vehicle that reminded him so much of his beloved Rudolph,” stated the narrator. “Santa hopped in and went on to deliver every one of those presents on time, ensuring a happy and Merry Christmas for the children of Maricopa County.”
In addition to filming Christmas stories for the county’s children, MCSO has been busy with other initiatives to spread holiday cheer. This week, MCSO’s Hard Knocks High School (HKHS) for juvenile inmates crafted blankets for homeless Tucson students.
“HKHS students are learning ways they can participate in community service events, such as making blankets for children,” explained MCSO in a Facebook post. “The education department believes that students need to experience real-world community service opportunities in order to exercise civic responsibility.”
Earlier this month, MCSO also participated in their annual Shop With a Cop program. That event ensures children in families experiencing financial or other hardships have presents for Christmas, while working to improve relationships between youth and police.
Police serve as a chaperone and shopping buddy for the children. Sometimes, they will incorporate a meal, activity like a movie, or a visit from Santa into this special day.
Today, Sheriff Penzone and members of the MCSO team participated in a Shop with a Cop event in Mesa. This is an event that makes our day every time by seeing the children smiling, having fun, and enjoying their time with our staff! pic.twitter.com/JJV6AvSqRM
MSCO also highlighted one of its deputies for giving away over 180 skateboards to children in the community.
Tis the season for giving! And Deputy Rand has taken on that task like a pro. This year alone, he has given away more than 180 skateboards to children in the community. Pictured is Deputy Rand when he partnered with Rural Metro Fire to give out skateboards for Christmas! #FGFpic.twitter.com/wdrL4UwkGI
To ensure no Arizonans lose their Christmas cheer over stolen packages, MCSO published a video advising the community on how to prevent it.
In 2021, 210 million packages were stolen after delivery. We at MCSO want to help you avoid being a victim of porch piracy this holiday season with some quick,simple tips. pic.twitter.com/vrhp79YiMn
Finally, to kick off the month, MCSO participated in a Christmas parade.
Tonight members of the MCSO team and the MCSO Cadets participated in the APS Light Parade. Our float this year highlighted the MCSO MASH Unit!🐕 pic.twitter.com/JmEzD885VD
