by AZ Free News | Jun 10, 2021 | News
On Wednesday, Governor Doug Ducey fired off a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra, expressing his “significant concerns” about the safety of unaccompanied minors crossing the southern border. Ducey noted that the children face considerable risks “because of insufficient federal oversight.”
In his letter, Ducey wrote: “The crisis at the southwest border is spilling into other areas of government beyond the United States Department of Homeland Security. The increasing number of unaccompanied minors is stressing the ability of the Office of Refugee Resettlement to respond appropriately, and jeopardizes both vulnerable Arizona children who have experienced abuse and neglect as well as migrant children.”
The letter strongly urges the administration to:
- Cease efforts to redirect licensed beds that are currently serving Arizona foster children;
- Review and adjust ORR’s practice of vetting host sponsors through virtual home visiting; and
- Reconsider and adjust ORR’s procurement practices for shelter beds that negatively influence the Arizona Department of Child Safety’s ability to serve foster children.
Ducey’s concerns mentioned in the letter include efforts by HHS to redirect service providers assisting American children who have been abused or neglected to migrant children. The state has lost space for foster youth to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) as a result of recent federal action.
Additionally, Ducey alleges that the vetting processes used by HHS is “insufficient,” including virtual home studies, “put vulnerable migrant children at risk of human and sex trafficking.”
“While we recognize the need of additional space to house unaccompanied minor children, the solution cannot be to try to obtain that space from providers that are essential for the state’s child welfare agency to care for Arizona’s abused and neglected children,” the Governor continued in the letter. “Unfortunately, this is the route the ORR has taken.”
ORR’s current grant making and contracting practices create an unfair advantage that directly negatively impacts vulnerable foster children. Additionally, the recent passing of the Families First Prevention Services Act means states will no longer receive a federal share of reimbursement for children residing in beds from ORR. This removal will impact Arizona’s budget by $25 million in State Fiscal Year 2022, and adds to the combined action that threatens to displace vulnerable American foster children from safe homes.
The Governor is urging the Secretary to immediately adjust HSS policies for the protection of foster children as well as migrant children.
by Corinne Murdock | Jun 9, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
A woman who’d immigrated legally to the United States filed an amicus brief against the sheltering of migrants in a Scottsdale hotel. Concerning the June 4 filing, the woman, Yvonne Cahill, told AZ Free News that she’d gone through all the legal processes without any extra assistance from federal agencies or free passes on testing.
“I came to the USA as an immigrant and I did it legally. No federal agency paid for my immigration attorney, put me up in a hotel room, or bought me a ticket to go visit relatives. In addition, I was required to take an oral, written exam and pass a physical exam. I had been working as a registered nurse in the USA for several years, but this was still a condition for citizenship,” wrote Cahill. “We need to fight against the federal government overreach into our communities.”
Cahill filed the brief under the ongoing case against Woodbridge Hospitality, the company that established the hotel with borrowings from Wilmington Trust. The brief explains that Cahill is a unique authority on this issue. Not only does Cahill reside in a community near the detention center, and she understands the legality and impact of the situation due to her real estate practice.
“Local government is in the best position to assess and safeguard such interests and the public has an interest in ensuring that its eminently reasonable determination not to allow such a location to be used as a detention facility should be respected,” wrote Cahill.
In her brief, Cahill cited correspondence from Wilmington Trust, which pointed out that Woodbridge Hospitality’s contract with the federal government to convert the hotel would convert it into a “low security prison on busy Scottsdale Road.”
Further, the brief noted that the hotel’s usage as a detention center violated Scottsdale’s zoning regulations. Cahill cited the property’s zoning designation, which was for travel accommodations for under 30 days.
“Detainees who are to be held indefinitely cannot satisfy the thirty-day requirement. Since detainees are to be held under guard, they also hardly qualify as guests. In addition, such use hardly conforms to the policy purpose of R-5 zoning, as expressed by the Scottsdale City Council, to ‘promote and preserve’ single-family residential development as well as to allow for uses ‘incidental’ to such development,” wrote Cahill.
ICE spokespersons told AZ Free News that the intent is to have each migrant out of the facility within 72 hours. In the event that a migrant tests positive for COVID-19, that individual would have to remain quarantined for 10 days. The spokespersons said that this amount of time allowed officials to process and establish the proper terms and conditions of release while the individual’s immigration proceedings continue.
Cahill added in her brief that the detention facility was contrary to the public interest. She emphasized the importance of honoring the balance of powers embodied by local elected representative’s local zoning and land use lawmaking.
“To allow a private company to violate the ordinances put in place by Scottsdale City Council at the behest of the executive branch of the federal government impermissibly violates the separation of powers,” wrote Cahill. “State and local powers cannot be ‘bargain[ed] away’ even when it is the state doing the bargaining, much less a private party.”
Property values, the local tourism industry, and public safety would all be jeopardized, in Cahill’s estimation. She explained that realtors such as herself would be mandated to disclose the detention center’s existence to potential buyers, thereby deterring buyers and depressing home values in the community. Cahill shared that at least one of her clients has already been harmed financially by the detention center because he can no longer sell his home.
Others within the community have responded negatively to the hotel’s usage as well. Following news of the hotel’s conversion into a holding facility for migrants, protesters showed up to the hotel in droves.
The hotel is currently contracted to operate as a detention center until the end of September, at least.
Read the full amicus brief here:
[pdf-embedder url=”http://azfreenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/ECR-Amicus-Brief.pdf” title=”ECR Amicus Brief”]
Corinne Murdock is a contributing reporter for AZ Free News. In her free time, she works on her books and podcasts. Follow her on Twitter, @CorinneMurdock or email tips to corinnejournalist@gmail.com.
by Terri Jo Neff | Jun 9, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich has initiated several legal maneuvers focused on forcing the Biden Administration to address the immigration crisis impacting Arizona. On Tuesday, he stepped away from the lawbooks and expressed his opinion about how Arizonans are being treated.
“America is a big generous country but what makes this country great is we have a Constitution and a Rule of Law,” Brnovich said. “And that means there is a process -there’s an orderly process- and what the Biden Administration has done is created chaos. They’ve made Arizona like a petri dish.”
To Brnovich, it appears President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris “don’t give a damn” about the financial impact to Arizona from thousands of illegal immigrants crossing the border every month. And he suggested they have given Arizonans “the middle finger, essentially” as Harris visited Guatemala this week to pledge U.S. taxpayer money to that country.
Brnovich also discussed the decision by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to use a former Homewood Suites by Hilton in Scottsdale as a 72-hour Emergency Family Staging Center for asylum seeking families.
“It is absolutely unconscionable what the Biden Administration is doing,” he said about the Scottsdale plan, noting the hotel is one block from a school and in the middle of a neighborhood. “It frustrates me that more people aren’t sounding the alarms or joining us in all of our lawsuits.
Brnovich highlighted the fact the Biden Administration has 1.2 million people on deportation lists but has implemented a policy of no deportations, which is another topic the attorney general is litigating. The new policy allows immigrants with criminal histories to walk free in Arizona without supervision.
And, Brnovich added, federal authorities are refusing to take custody of immigrants as they complete their state prison sentences. Many have been convicted of serious crimes like arson and rape.
The fundamental problem, according to Brnovich, is that the Biden Administration “has incentivized and legalized illegal immigration” and is now monetizing immigration, not only for immigrants but also the Cartels. “We know that the Cartels are taking advantage of the situation,” he said.
by Corinne Murdock | Jun 8, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
The Scottsdale hotel converted into a migrant shelter seemingly overnight several weeks ago still has a working number – and the operator on the other end answers for “The Suites.” The facility has been closed to the public since May 24 to award short-term, emergency lodging to migrant families that ICE classified as “political asylum refugees.”
In our first call placed to the facility, the automated attendant didn’t directly identify the name of the building. Instead, the automated attendant said that we’d reached “the hotel” and could dial an extension or wait for an operator.
A woman answered, identifying the facility as “Suites on Scottsdale.” We asked if the facility was still the Homewood Suites.
“No ma’am, it is not. It is the Suites on Scottsdale,” said the operator.
We then placed a second call to the facility, but the operator never answered – and the mailbox was full.
It is unclear whether the facility is still using software associated with Homewood Suites, and if the current usage of the facility and systems is in line with the franchise agreement and Scottsdale zoning codes.
As AZ Free News reported, the facility is currently being operated by Family Endeavors, an organization awarded a no-bid contract by the Biden Administration shortly after the border crisis erupted.
The current website for the facility identifies it as the “Suites on Scottsdale.” All of the links for contacting the facility and booking a reservation were intact, at the time of this report. However, all of the rooms were listed as “Not Available” for the rest of the year.
In addition to contact information directly related to the Suites on Scottsdale, the site includes contact information for Ledgestone Hospitality.
ICE spokespersons didn’t tell AZ Free News why the surrounding communities weren’t given advance notice of the shelter being established. They also didn’t answer our question regarding how many other similar migrant hotels were established in the area. However, ICE did tell Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) that they’d established similar shelters in Chandler and Phoenix.
Corinne Murdock is a contributing reporter for AZ Free News. In her free time, she works on her books and podcasts. Follow her on Twitter, @CorinneMurdock or email tips to corinnejournalist@gmail.com.
by Terri Jo Neff | Jun 7, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
Don’t count your chickens until they hatch. That age old adage came into play Monday for Speaker of the House Rusty Bowers when he was unable to secure a yes vote one of the 31 House Republicans, leading to the defeat of three budget bills before the speaker called it a day.
The 60-member House is now recessed until Thursday while budget negotiators are expected to regroup and figure out how to get Rep. David Cook on board with 11 budget bills which need to be passed by June 30 to avoid a state government shutdown.
Cook voted with every Democrat in the House, leading to the defeat the HB2899 and HB2900, which included a cornerstone piece of budget legislation to transition Arizona to a flat rate income tax. His no-vote also led to the defeat of HB2907, a vital transportation budget bill. All three votes died on a 30 to 30 vote.
A major concern is how to garner Cook’s support without renewing an earlier rift among nearly a dozen Republicans who last week were demanding major amendments be made to some of the budget bills. Their dissension led to an 11-day recess that only ended Monday when Bowers called everyone back to work.
It is unclear why Cook remained the only member of the House Republican Caucus to not support any of the bills or amendments put forth for vote Monday. And if Cook had a reason, he wasn’t publicly sharing it.
Others, however, had plenty to say about Cook’s votes, including the Arizona Free Enterprise Club (AFEC). In a tweet, the small business groups tweeted “Shame on Rep. David Cook” after he voted with Democrats to protect the Prop 208 tax hike on small business owners.
“If David Cook continues to carry the water for Red4Ed and the Unions, Arizona will remain one of the HIGHEST small business income tax states in the country!” the tweet read.
One longtime lobbyist quipped, “yep, not a good look to seem left of the Lefties.”
Even the Republican Liberty Caucus turned on Cook, stating he helped Democrats “block the tax cuts in the current budget proposal” even though Cook has been open for several weeks about his displeasure with the budget that came to the House and Senate with Gov. Doug Ducey’s blessing.
For AFEC’s president Scot Mussi, the original budget package included some concerning special interest tax incentives, which he described as giveaways benefiting a few select businesses and industries that were unnecessary and unpopular within the Republican majority in the House.
Yet Mussi believed those provisions would be removed via amendments on Monday so that all 31 Republicans would be on board. Instead, every amendment put forth for the three bills considered Monday were defeated, as were the bills themselves.
As Republicans attack Cook’s votes, others like Mussi are hopeful a compromise can be worked out, so that tax cuts and tax relief can get approved. That includes the plan to transition Arizona over three years to a flat rate income tax. And Mussi says don’t believe the arguments that the budget bills are simply designed for the rich, particularly with a flat rate tax plan.
It is important to note, Mussi explained, that the recent passage of Proposition 208 now has Arizona with the ninth highest small business tax rate in the country. And Arizona’s rate is higher than nearby Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas.
“The reality is that even after the tax cuts are implemented, high income earners will still be paying nearly twice as much (4.5%) as low and middle income households (2.5%),” he explained to AZ Free News. “Additionally, opponents of the tax plan leave out the fact that much of the tax relief will go to small business owners. This tax cut package makes Arizona competitive again for small business, something opponents to the plan would not like to see happen.”
by Terri Jo Neff | Jun 7, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
In a decision seen by some as desperation and others as a brilliant strategic move, House Speaker Rusty Bowers has ordered his 59 fellow Representatives back to work Monday to take up 11 stalled budget bills.
Whether Bowers and other House leaders can pull together 31 votes -the same number of the Republican House caucus- is unclear, but House Majority Leader Ben Toma believes it is time for members to put up or shut up.
Amendments are expected to be proposed for all the bills but there is no guarantee any bill will receive the requisite 31 votes for passage. But Toma said last week taking the bills to the floor will force each representative to go on the record with a vote, something that could come back to haunt some lawmakers if the state government is shut down due to no new budget.
Toma spent months on the budget team before the budget bills were put forth last month with the blessing of Gov. Doug Ducey. He said it is a “constitutional duty” for representatives to vote on the bills, but for those who believe what is on the table is “not good enough, they’re going to need to explain why it’s not good enough, to their constituents and pretty much everyone else.”
Among the issues is how much of the more than $1 billion surplus to spend now, how much to turn toward the State’s debt, and how much to give back to taxpayers via tax cuts. There is also disagreement over how to phase in a flat rate income tax that is expected to result in a 10 to 12 percent drop in state revenues.
Much of the opposition to the tax cuts and flat rate tax plan are based on complaints about the expected affects due to the state’s shared revenue agreement with cities and towns. If less revenue is coming into the state, then less revenue will be received by municipalities, unless the shared revenue agreement is amended.
Last week Speaker Pro Tempore Travis Grantham said it was time to look beyond who was at fault with the original budget plan that did not have better support. Instead, he said it was time to work on finding a consensus to get a budget passed so the legislature can adjourn.
But for that to happen, Grantham says some lawmakers need to realize the surplus “is the people’s money, it’s not the government’s money” and move forward with approving tax cuts.
“The issue we’re having is there is so much money in the pot and there is so many people with so many wants and so many needs we’re having trouble staying focused on the finish line,” he said. “We just need to focus on the budget, we need to focus on cutting taxes, and we need to focus on getting out of there.”
There is also the issue of 22 bills, all Republican supported and some with unanimous bipartisan support, which Ducey vetoed out of frustration with the progress being made on the budget bills. Some legislators are insisting that there needs to be assurance that those bills will all be reintroduced and signed by Ducey before they will vote for the budget.
The Senate is currently set to come back June 10, although Senate President Karen Fann could call everyone back on 24-hours. Like the House, Fann has a handful of budget-objectors in the Republican caucus whose votes are necessary for passage of the budget bills.
