New Funding Needed For I-10 Widening After Feds Deny Grant Application

New Funding Needed For I-10 Widening After Feds Deny Grant Application

By Terri Jo Neff |

The day before five people died Thursday in a horrific vehicle fire on Interstate 10 near Riggs Road, Arizona officials learned that the U.S. Department of Transportation denied a request for $360 million to widen another dangerous stretch of the interstate through Pinal County.   

Last year the Arizona Legislature approved $400 million for the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) as part of a project to widen 26 miles of the interstate to three lanes in each direction from Casa Grande and Chandler.

The three-year project, which will include a new bridge over the Gila River, was funded enough with the allocation and other state money to complete about 20 miles.

Meanwhile, ADOT applied for $360 million through the National Infrastructure Project Assistance grant program. Those funds would have ensured the widening work and other safety improvements extended farther south into Pinal County, an area which has experienced a high rate of residential and commercial growth in recent years.

Arizona Sen. T.J. Shope (R-Coolidge) and Rep. Teresa Martinez (R-Casa Grande) were disappointed to learn the grant application was denied. Both say they intend to introduce new legislation to use state funds to cover the $360 million so the full project can be completed.

The lawmakers are also encouraging ADOT to seek other funding options which could lower the amount of the second allocation.

One of the biggest advocates for the interstate improvement project is Casa Grande Mayor Craig McFarland, who believes construction must begin sooner than later.

“We can’t wait for us to get all the money and begin the process,” McFardland said, adding he is looking forward to feedback on why ADOT’s grant application was rejected.

Various guesses have been put forth by some parties for rejection of the application, which had the support of U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly. Some are pointing to the fact Arizona was seeking nearly one-third of all the funding available nationwide in the current award round.

Others suggest the Biden administration is prioritizing more “green” transportation projects. More information is expected to be released soon, including possible tips on what ADOT can do differently if it reapplies for the next funding cycle.

Kelly issued a statement affirming his support for the I-10 improvements.

“Arizonans rely on the I-10 to connect them to jobs, educational opportunities and their families, which is why improving and expanding this highway is still a top priority for me,” the statement reads.

Terri Jo Neff is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or send her news tips here.

Another Historic First: Nearly 2.4 Million Border Encounters For 2022 Fiscal Year

Another Historic First: Nearly 2.4 Million Border Encounters For 2022 Fiscal Year

By Corinne Murdock |

The Biden administration closed out its 2022 fiscal year with close to 2.4 million border encounters: the highest ever recorded in one year. 

According to the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data released last Friday, the administration also made history with its total September encounters: over 227,500. This total doesn’t reflect estimated “gotaways”: those who escape without apprehension.

With this historic influx of illegal immigrants came an unprecedented number of terrorists. Nearly 100 illegal immigrants apprehended were on the Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB). As Fox reporter Bill Melugin noted, that’s nearly quadruple the number of terrorists caught crossing illegally from the past five years combined. 

A key part of the border crisis is the burgeoning fentanyl crisis. Last month alone, CBP seized enough fentanyl to kill over 220,000 people. Their other seizures indicate that Biden’s lax border policy is lucrative for the cartels: over $4.1 million worth of drugs, firearms, and pesticides, as well as over $11 million worth of narcotics.

CBP data reflects the reality that hard drugs overtook marijuana as the preferred substance of smugglers. Last month, CBP reported over 1,800 pounds of fentanyl seized: over 14,100 pounds for the 2022 fiscal year, and close to 21,600 pounds since President Joe Biden took office. That’s well over double of what was seized between January 2019 and December 2020: just under 10,000 pounds. 

While fentanyl trafficking skyrocketed, the overall number of drugs seized by weight decreased. From January 2019 to December 2020, CBP seized just under 1.4 million pounds of drugs (most of which was marijuana, meth, cocaine, fentanyl, then heroin, in that order). From January 2020 to present, CBP seized just under 590,000 pounds of drugs (again, most of which were marijuana, meth, cocaine, fentanyl, then heroin, in that order). 

Biden named Vice President Kamala Harris the border czar last March, but Harris did little to address the crisis. It took her three months to visit the border after that, visiting El Paso, Texas in late June, although GOP members of Congress criticized that Harris visited a Border Patrol station miles away from the border crisis playing out along the Rio Grande.

According to a Los Angeles Times tracker of Harris’ schedule, analyzed by the New York Post, the vice president didn’t hold an immigration event in nine months as of May. 

Last week, Arizona sued the Biden administration after the Department of Interior (DOI) ordered the state to remove shipping containers and razor wire closing up the border wall gaps. The DOI accused Governor Doug Ducey of committing trespass. Bureau of Reclamation Regional Director Jacklynn Gould promised that the Biden administration was making headway on closing the border themselves. 

“That trespass is harming federal lands and resources and impeding Reclamation’s ability to perform its mission,” stated Gould.

In response, Ducey said that his obligation to Arizonans was greater than to the federal government.

“The safety and security of Arizona and its citizens must not be ignored,” stated Ducey. “Arizona is going to do the job that Joe Biden refuses to do — secure the border in any way we can. We’re not backing down.”

On Monday, Ducey announced that the state continued adding onto the border wall over the weekend — starting the day the state sued the Biden administration. 

“Arizona isn’t afraid of a challenge. We will not back down. We will protect our state,” tweeted Ducey.

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.

Governor Ducey Unlikely to Submit to Biden’s Demand to Reopen Border Gaps

Governor Ducey Unlikely to Submit to Biden’s Demand to Reopen Border Gaps

By Corinne Murdock |

The Biden administration ordered Governor Doug Ducey to remove the shipping containers filling in border wall gaps, but it doesn’t look like either of them are budging. 

In the Department of the Interior (DOI) letter, Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) Regional Director Jacklynn Gould claimed that Ducey’s action was a trespass against the country and was harming federal lands and resources. Gould said that the containers were in the way of the federal government’s efforts to close the border gaps.

“The unauthorized placement of those containers constitutes a violation of federal law and is a trespass against the United States,” stated Gould. “That trespass is harming federal lands and resources and impeding Reclamation’s ability to perform its mission.” 

Even if Ducey moved all of the 122 shipping containers tomorrow, the federal government wouldn’t begin border wall construction immediately. Prior to any wall building, the Biden administration would have to conduct an environmental stewardship review. Such a process usually takes well over a year.

As of press time, September border crossings weren’t publicized. If border encounters under Biden continue at the present average rate of over 183,000 illegal encounters a month, there will be over 8.6 million border encounters by the end of his term. That’s over 5,900 illegal immigrants a day. 

Ducey began closing border wall gaps in mid-August. It took the state 11 days to complete five gaps spanning over 3,800 feet, costing $6 million total. The Biden administration spent an estimated $3 million every day to not complete the border wall contracted by former President Donald Trump — an estimated $2 billion total. 

Ducey said that the Biden administration’s lack of urgency to address the border crisis signaled a “dereliction of duty.” 

On Tuesday, Ducey spokesman C.J. Karamargin told The Washington Examiner that Ducey would consider its response to the USBR letter. Karamargin said that they had doubts about the authenticity of the Biden administration’s concern for the shipping containers since it took over two months for them to issue a response. 

“We question their legal analysis and we are looking at our options,” stated Karamargin. “It took the feds since August to write a letter? If this is any indication of their sense of urgency, then perhaps that explains the problem we’re having.”

Last month, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre issued a number of false claims concerning the border, including her insistence that illegal immigrants weren’t simply walking across the border. Jean-Pierre insisted that the Biden administration could do more to secure the border if Republicans “would stop their obstruction.” Democrats control the White House and Congress.

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.

Dems Are Successfully Executing a Long-Range Strategy on the Border

Dems Are Successfully Executing a Long-Range Strategy on the Border

By Dr. Thomas Patterson |

Pundits commonly depict the ongoing calamity at our border as the result of Biden administration incompetence. As with inflation, urban crime, and the deficit, their near-complete lack of insight and management skills is leading us over a cliff.

But this analysis itself is a major error. They know exactly what they are doing, and they are doing it well. They are executing a long-range plan that is achieving great success.

The Biden administration is doing everything it can to bring as many illegal immigrants across the border as possible, braving considerable political blow-back to achieve their goals. They believe the mostly unskilled, uneducated migrants will gravitate to the party that promises more government benefits and thus ensure Democratic dominance indefinitely.

So, they alternately claim the border is actually “closed” and admit they are concerned but don’t know what to do about it. Now, admittedly some of the Washington Dems aren’t that bright, but it’s not possible to be so stupid as to not be able to see what is happening here.

Immediately after his inauguration, Biden announced the border was open and reversed the Trump policies, “Remain in Mexico” and “Title 42,” that had limited illegal border crossings. Now, illegal immigrants face no consequences if they defy the border police and make it across the line.

Instead, they are treated humanely, fed, housed and released into America, usually with a deferred asylum hearing which most don’t attend, since few have legitimate asylum claims. Yet our VP border czar pretends not to understand why five million illegal immigrants have crossed the border on her watch or what to do about it.

But open borders advocates gave away the real game. Czar Kamala, and others, said a plan to control the border might be worked out if Republicans would only “come to the table.” However, the only way to control the border would be through “comprehensive immigration reform,” which is their euphemism for amnesty.

So, there you have it. Democrats are okay with cranking up a situation so intolerable that Republicans will be forced to grant citizenship to the millions who entered America illegally.

Not long ago, Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama called for strict border enforcement to protect the wages of low-income workers. Democratic opinion changed when the offspring of 20 million or so illegal aliens began to vote as anchor babies.

California has become a one-party state, and several other western states seem poised to follow suit (although the Democrats’ grip on Latino voters may be fading as they become Americanized).

Playing-dumb Democrats aren’t the only group that benefits from open borders. Foreign governments benefit from billions of dollars of remittances, money that immigrants send back home saved from their earnings and, often, government subsidies they receive here.

The political champions of racial grievance benefit from a large community of immigrants whose relative poverty purportedly is proof that America is nativist or racist. Thus, Latino welfare organizations, academic departments, lawyers, and political organizations are required to remedy this lack of social justice.

Employers clearly benefit from a pool of young compliant workers who work for wages and conditions unacceptable to growing numbers of Americans. Caring progressives not only get a cause to pontificate for, but nannies, gardeners, and housekeepers to make their lives easier.

Of course, illegal immigrants benefit too, although they successfully competed against a legal applicant who waited and played by the rules. But unlike legal immigrants, illegals don’t come because they love America and want to become loyal Americans.

Their illegal entrance shows their disdain for the Rule of Law. Many cheered wildly when socialists like Hugo Chavez of Venezuela promised to confiscate land and assets from “the rich” and give it to “the people,” ultimately resulting in the economic devastation they are now fleeing.

Americans are bound together as a nation not by blood or soil, but by the values and ideals which brought us freedom and prosperity. Our future depends on an immigration policy which selects for immigrants, of any color or ethnicity, who understand this and want to share with us not only the privileges, but also the responsibilities, of being an American.

Dr. Thomas Patterson, former Chairman of the Goldwater Institute, is a retired emergency physician. He served as an Arizona State senator for 10 years in the 1990s, and as Majority Leader from 93-96. He is the author of Arizona’s original charter schools bill.

Another Historic First: Nearly 2.4 Million Border Encounters For 2022 Fiscal Year

Human Smugglers Flocking to Arizona Over Border Crisis’ Economic Opportunity

By Corinne Murdock |

The torrent of illegal immigrants defining the border crisis is drawing human smugglers nationwide to Arizona like moths to a flame. 

Last Wednesday, Operation Safe Streets with the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office arrested a Michigan man smuggling four illegal immigrants. Then on Thursday, their officers arrested a Florida man and woman smuggling eight illegal immigrants with drugs in the car.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reports that smuggling brings in up to $15,000 per illegal immigrant or more, depending on if the individual comes from further away. As some smugglers note to reporters, the cost depends on the risk — which includes distance traveled. Based on what those smugglers shared, an individual smuggler’s cut is likely anywhere from one-third to half of what the illegal immigrant pays.

Last Sunday, CBP officers arrested a New Mexico man smuggling five illegal immigrants while driving under the influence.

Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels told “The Conservative Circus” that 926 individuals were arrested in his county for border-related crimes, 50 of whom were foreign-born. Their county jail can only hold 302 people. 

Dannels explained that the high number of Americans involved in smuggling is influenced in part by the poor state of the economy.

“As economies fail, crime increases. This is advantageous to the criminal cartels that are using Americans all over the country to come to Cochise and other counties on the border to exploit their criminal behavior,” said Dannels. 

Dannels added that the smugglers are reckless and destructive. He shared that, just last week, smugglers damaged two of his officers’ vehicles by driving into them and injured one of his officers.

Dannels said that the Biden administration refuses to mitigate the border crisis. He opined that the only possibility of improvement would come from a change in elected officials.

“The only change that’s ever going to take place, they’ve made it clear, is that people need to get out and vote in November,” said Dannels. “Border security is community security.”

Dannels stated that Biden needed to make a public statement condemning illegal crossers and declaring that the current border activity constituted a crime. 

“It’s almost like we’re America second on this border down here. We have been the forgotten Americans on this border,” said Dannels.

These apprehensions are in addition to the many Arizonans arrested for smuggling illegal immigrants and drugs. 

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.