Congressman Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) is requesting information on the Biden administration’s practice of flying illegal immigrants without proper identification around the country. Biggs leads a coalition of 24 Republicans in seeking answers, which includes Congressmen Paul Gosar (R-AZ-04) and Debbie Lesko (R-AZ-08).
In a press release, Biggs accused the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of using taxpayer dollars to help illegal immigrants reach their desired destinations, further incentivizing illegal crossings. Biggs argued further that the ID standard for illegal immigrants compromises post-9/11 security measures.
“Transporting potentially tens of thousands of lawbreakers throughout the country — with virtually unknown backgrounds — is a national security risk and defies the recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission,” stated Biggs.
In the letter, the coalition noted that about 45,000 illegal immigrants flew without proper ID from last January to October.
According to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), illegal immigrants may use papers related to their immigration processing such as the notice to appear (DHS Form I-862), warrants for arrest of alien (ICE Form I-200) and removal/deportation (ICE Form I-220A), order of supervision (ICE Form I-220B), arrival and departure form (CBP Form I-94), and alien booking record (DHS Form I-385).
Unlike illegal immigrants, American citizens must present a form of government-issued photo ID; alternative IDs like weapon permits and temporary driver’s licenses aren’t acceptable forms of ID.
I'm demanding answers from @DHSgov regarding the department allowing illegal aliens to fly on commercial airplanes—at taxpayers’ expense—without presenting acceptable identification.@SecMayorkas must immediately cease this operation. https://t.co/VMkx8r2PMG
TSA Administrator David Pekoske claimed in his Senate confirmation hearing last month that less than 1,000 illegal immigrants flew without proper ID this calendar year. Biggs’ coalition challenged that claim as “extremely low” since DHS has released nearly 500,000 illegal immigrants into the country this year.
Pekoske asserted during last month’s hearing that the immigration papers in question offered similar security to traditional forms of ID because they were issued by Border Patrol or a customs officer, and that TSA validated the papers using an alien identification number reflected in Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) databases.
“We aren’t looking at whether a person is legal or illegal in the country,” said Pekoske. “Our role is to make sure that people who may pose a risk to transportation that is significant enough to require enhanced screening or to not allow them to fly.”
The latest CBP reporting shows about 3.5 million illegal immigrant encounters along the southern border since President Joe Biden took office.
The head of TSA admits the Biden Administration has let nearly 1000 illegal aliens use arrest warrants as ID to get on planes this year. Think about that while you wait in line at the airport pic.twitter.com/rNIiGa8yBu
The TSA hasn’t been consistently forthright about its allowance of illegal immigrants flying without government-issued photo ID.
In 2014, TSA confirmed that they began accepting notices to appear as acceptable travel ID.
Then in 2017, TSA informed the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) that they did allow notices to appear.
Yet in 2019, TSA publicly denied that they allowed illegal immigrants to present immigrant processing papers.
1: Reports stating that illegal aliens may fly without Government-issued photo ID and may instead present their “Notice to Appear” paperwork are false. A “Notice to Appear,” issued by the Executive Office for Immigration Review isn't an acceptable form of ID at the checkpoint.
In January, Congressmen Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY-11) and Rodney Davis (R-IL-13) introduced legislation to prohibit the TSA from allowing illegal immigrants to board planes with alternative forms of ID.
Other congressmen in Biggs’ coalition include Mo Brooks (R-AL-05), Lauren Boebert (R-CO-03), Ken Buck (R-CO-04), Bill Posey (R-FL-08), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14), Jody Hice (R-GA-10), Mary Miller (R-IL-15), Ron Estes (R-KS-04), Andy Harris (R-MD-01), Tom McClintock (R-MN-04), Dan Bishop (R-NC-09), Scott Perry (R-PA-10), Jeff Duncan (R-SC-03), Ralph Norman (R-SC-05), Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-01), Michael Cloud (R-TX-27), Louie Gohmert (R-TX-01), Chip Roy (R-TX-21), Ben Cline (R-VA-06), Bob Good (R-VA-05), and Glenn Grothman (R-WI-06).
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM)’s Lower Sonoran Field Office is once again seeking public comment where recreational target shooting should be allowed within the 486,400-acre Sonoran Desert National Monument, if it is allowed at all.
Tuesday’s notice of the call for public input begins a 30-day scoping period prompted by a court settlement earlier this year. The comments will be used to identify areas where recreational target shooting might continue to be offered. There will also need to be an environmental assessment.
“While we have preliminary alternatives for the environmental assessment, we expect that public scoping will generate more alternatives for us to consider,” said BLM’s Phoenix District Manager Leon Thomas. “This scoping period is an opportunity for the public to help guide land use decisions at the Sonoran Desert National Monument.”
Established in 2001, the Sonoran Desert National Monument is located on public lands in Maricopa and Pinal counties. About 435,700 of its acres are currently available for recreational target shooting.
In 2015, a federal judge ordered BLM to reanalyze the impacts of recreational target shooting on the SDNM. The led in August 2018 to the issuance of Record of Decision / Resource Management Plan amendment based on extensive public input and an updated environmental analysis to maintain access for target shooters throughout 90 percent of the SDNM while ensuring public safety and resource protection.
Much of the restrictions are centered on the Juan Batista de Anza recreation management zone, the most heavily area of SDNM.
However, a legal challenge to that decision was filed in 2019, leading to a settlement in April which requires a new round of planning.
There are also plans for BLM to conduct virtual public meetings. Those dates have not yet been announced.
The Sonoran Desert National Monument contains three distinct mountain ranges – the Maricopa, Sand Tank and Table Top Mountains – as well as the Booth and White Hills, all separated by wide valleys. The monument also contains three Congressionally designated wilderness areas and many significant archaeological and historic sites, and remnants of several important historic trails.
Wednesday, Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ-03) requested that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) cease confiscating illegal Sikh migrants’ religious items. Grijalva, along with Representatives Joaquin Castro (D-TX-20) and Judy Chu (D-CA-27), insisted that the practice constituted a violation of religious freedom.
Grijalva later told Arizona Luminaria that Americans were too busy complaining about the border crisis to notice that the illegal immigrants were enduring religious disrespect.
“All these festering issues get overwritten because everybody starts screaming about the border and the invasion, and so these go into the background,” said Grijalva. “I don’t think they’re background issues. Border Patrol is the largest law enforcement agency with the least amount of accountability in the country. And that’s the problem.”
Grijalva is worried about religious freedoms for small minority groups but he was absent when the religious freedoms of Catholics and christians were attacked by the government during COVID. Where was he? Where was he when the government shut down our churches. pic.twitter.com/VwU9kNHeG0
Sikhism requires followers to wear a steel bracelet, uncut hair and beards, and a turban. The three representatives admonished CBP for reports of Sikh turbans and other religious items being confiscated at the border.
The trio issued their complaint letter to CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus. The commissioner pledged earlier this month to investigate, but the three representatives insist that there hasn’t been progress.
Grijalva’s religious liberty stance is nuanced. He opposed the Trump administration’s protections for contractors whose religious beliefs dictated their employment decisions for LGBTQ+ individuals.
“Religion is not a license to discriminate,” tweeted Grijalva.
The Trump Admin is attacking #LGBTQ protections under the guise of 'protecting religious freedom.'
Religion is not a license to discriminate, and it's time to pass the Equality Act to give LGBTQ Americans the protections they deserve. https://t.co/Hf6xWyPlL6
Grijalva identifies himself a Catholic, but doesn’t believe that Christians may oppose LGBTQ+ lifestyles. He called former President Donald Trump’s 2017 attendance of the Values Voter Summit “repulsive” because of its sponsorship by the religious think tank opposed to LGBTQ+ lifestyles, the Family Research Council (FRC).
Last month, Grijalva voted to codify same-sex marriage into federal law: the Respect for Marriage Act. The law would repeal a 1996 protection for states that don’t recognize same-sex marriage.
Grijalva was joined in his vote Arizona’s other Democratic representatives, who also identify as Catholic: Representatives Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ-01), Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ-02), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-07), and Greg Stanton (D-AZ-09).
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
On Sunday, Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs announced that she booked the drag queen who’s spoken out against her opponent, Kari Lake, over their past friendship.
Social media posts by the drag queen, Richard Stevens, went viral in June for showcasing his past friendship with Lake as well as her support and enthusiasm for the drag queen lifestyle.
Stevens spoke out in mid-June after Lake criticized the normalization of drag queens publicly. He called her a hypocrite, claiming that he did a drag queen performance for her birthday with children present years ago, and that she attended his performances at various Phoenix bars.
They kicked God out of schools and welcomed the Drag Queens.
They took down our Flag and replaced it with a rainbow.
They seek to disarm Americans and militarize our Enemies.
As proof, Stevens posted photos of Lake standing alongside two drag queens, one of them being him. In one of the photos, Lake was dressed as Elvis Presley and posing alongside Seville dressed as a blonde female with a sugar skull face. It’s unclear whether whether Lake intended to dress as a “drag king,” which is cross-dressing for a woman, or merely intended to wear a costume for a themed party.
“Now that @karilake has waded into the war on drag queens, know she is a complete hypocrite,” wrote Stevens. “Kari was a friend of mine, and I stood by her when she turned to the right. I reached out (and she responded repeatedly) when she took a public drubbing.”
Lake served Stevens a cease-and-desist letter. Incidentally, Stevens was preparing to perform for a “family-friendly” drag show brunch when he received the letter.
In response, Stevens’ lawyer Thomas Ryan called Lake a “bully” and threatened to provide evidence that Lake hired Stevens to perform for a news anchor friend’s baby shower.
“Now Kari is a bully, and the reservoir of goodwill she had built up over the years as a cherished news anchor — well, that’s been drained to the point where we might as well just refer to her now as Kari Puddles,” wrote Ryan.
@tomryanlaw has notified @KariLake I will not cease or desist telling the truth about my relationship with her.
The Arizona Senate Republican caucus pledged in June to introduce legislation banning child attendance at drag shows. The leaders said that drag shows sexualized and groomed children. They noted that they were working with several other states to draft the legislation.
“If men want to dress as women, and if adults want to participate in watching these hyper-sexualized performances, they have the freedom to do so. It crosses the line when kids are subjected to these drag shows,” wrote the caucus. “We will be damned if we won’t fight like hell to protect the most innocent from these horrifying and disturbing trends that are spreading across the nation now that extremist Democrats are currently in control of our federal government.”
JOINT STATEMENT BY THE ARIZONA STATE SENATE MAJORITY TEAM: Senate Republicans Fight Back Against the Sexual Perversion Children Are Being Exposed To
Their announcement followed a series of reports on the controversies following drag shows across the state. In May, a Tucson high school counselor who organized a drag show for students was arrested for having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student. In June, a Phoenix museum hosted a drag show open to children.
Studies have linked youth exposure to sexually explicit material with risky sexual behaviors, intimacy disorders, sexual violence and misconduct, and sexual deviancy.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Last week, Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) revealed that he doesn’t believe there should be a wall along the entire border.
In an interview with Fox News last Thursday, Kelly said that technology was better than a barrier at some parts of the border. He added that saving money was more important than a complete border wall, too.
“I’ve spent a lot of time on our southern border. And it didn’t take me long to realize that different parts of our border need a different approach,” said Kelly. “In some places we need physical barriers, especially near population centers like Yuma, Nogales, Douglas, El Paso[.] In other places technology is more important, it’s more cost-effective.”
That doesn’t mean the senator disapproved of Governor Doug Ducey’s emergency completion of the border wall sans federal approval
The day before admitting his sentiment on a comprehensive border wall, Kelly signaled approval of Ducey’s initiative in an interview with KTAR. Kelly also acknowledged that the border situation was a crisis.
“I understand the governor’s sentiment on this and why he wanted to do that,” said Kelly. “There’s a crisis at the border and it’s important to address it.”
2️⃣ more border wall gaps near Yuma are CLOSED 🚫
Arizona’s fast and efficient border barrier mission will help law enforcement better control and maintain safety at the border. pic.twitter.com/OosUToqSwo
Kelly has consistently voted against total completion of the border wall since President Joe Biden took office. Last February, both Kelly and Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) voted against an amendment prohibiting cancellation of the border wall construction contracts. Earlier this month, Kelly and Sinema joined their entire party to vote against numerous border security provisions such as wall completion the week prior.
Ira Mehlman, media director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), told AZ Free News that Kelly’s votes earlier this month against including border security provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), such as funds to finish the border wall, confirmed that the senator isn’t truly in favor of securing the border.
“Actions speak louder than words. There was an opportunity for every one of the 50 Democrats to demonstrate how they felt about border security,” said Mehlman. “Kelly’s obviously trying to walk a fine line here. He understands that what’s happening is not popular in Arizona, but he does need a political base that he does need to turn out. That might be behind the Biden administration’s sudden willingness to do some more construction on the wall.”
Kelly’s public remarks compared to his voting would also explain his approach with Sinema to support niche border security efforts, such as increased funding for Border Patrol staffing and management announced in March, but not completion of the border wall.
Kelly took credit for the Biden administration’s promise last month to close border wall gaps by the Morelos Dam, which abuts Yuma.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
On Sunday, Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-WY) announced that she would work through a new PAC to defeat Trump-endorsed candidates, which she equated with “election deniers,” come November. Cheney, who voted to impeach the former president and headed the controversial January 6 Committee, lost her primary race last week.
Within hours of losing the primary, Cheney converted her campaign committee into a PAC, “The Great Task,” consolidated with its predecessor, “Great Task PAC.” That PAC is starting out with over $15 million.
Cheney discussed her plan in an interview with ABC on Sunday. She said that her January 6 Committee work offered a “tremendous contribution” to her ongoing effort to “educate the American people” on the 2020 election.
“I’m going to be very focused on working to ensure that we do everything we can not to elect election deniers,” said Cheney. “[W]e’ve got election deniers that have been nominated for really important positions all across the country. And I’m going to work against those people, I’m going to work to support their opponents[.]”
What I'm fighting for is the Constitution. What I'm fighting for is the perpetuation of the Republic. What I'm fighting for is the fact that elections have to matter. pic.twitter.com/uHYt4sOgZ7
Cheney named her new PAC after a phrase President Abraham Lincoln used in his Gettysburg Address. She also likened herself to Lincoln in her concession speech last week. Cheney has also teased a future presidential run, though she didn’t confirm to ABC on Sunday whether that would be as a Republican or independent.
Arizona’s Trump-endorsed candidates are Blake Masters (U.S. Senate), Kari Lake (Governor), Mark Finchem (Secretary of State), Abraham Hamadeh (Attorney General), David Farnsworth (State House), Anthony Kern (State Senate), Wendy Rogers (State Senate), Robert Scantlebury (State Senate), and Janae Shamp (State Senate).
One of the top independent donors to Cheney’s Great Task PAC was James (Jim) Kennedy, chairman of Arizona’s top communications provider, Cox Enterprises, who gave $10,800.
Several days before her primary election, Cheney issued a final campaign video titled “The Great Task,” to criticize Trump and election critics as supportive of a “cancerous lie.”
“No one who understands our nation’s laws, no one with an honest, honorable, genuine commitment to our Constitution would say that [the 2020 election was rigged and stolen],” said Cheney.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
