by Daniel Stefanski | Mar 22, 2024 | Economy, News
By Daniel Stefanski |
The Grand Canyon State welcomed a grand manufacturing funding expansion this week.
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden appeared in Chandler, Arizona, at the Intel Ocotillo location to “announce that the Department of Commerce has reached a preliminary agreement with Intel to provide up to $8.5 billion in direct funding along with $11 billion in loans under the CHIPS and Science Act.” According to a White House fact sheet, this investment would “support the construction and expansion of Intel facilities in Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico, and Oregon, creating nearly 30,000 jobs and supporting tens of thousands of indirect jobs.”
In a post on “X” after his speech, President Biden wrote, “Semiconductors are the tiny computer chips smaller than a fingertip that power our everyday lives. We invented them, but over time we moved manufacturing overseas. I came to office determined to bring their production home. That’s what our CHIPS Act does.”
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs attended the event at Intel and spoke to attendees. After the announcement, Hobbs championed the increased funding for a vital sector within her state, saying, “I’m excited to announce that Intel will receive a historic investment from the CHIPS Act, made possible thanks to President Biden’s leadership. This critical investment will drive innovation, create jobs, and solidify Arizona’s position as a leader in semiconductor manufacturing.”
Hobbs added, “Our success story is only possible with our exceptional workforce. BuildItAZ, Future48 Workforce Accelerators, and semiconductor apprenticeships will help ensure Arizonans are ready to take advantage of these good paying jobs. Intel has been a leader in the Arizona business community for decades. Thank you to CEO Pat Gelsinger for continuing our partnership. Your vision and leadership are driving innovation, creating jobs, and strengthening Arizona’s position in the global semiconductor industry.”
Gina Raimondo, the Secretary of the Commerce Department, also took part in the gathering at Intel. She shared, “Today, we announced an $8.5 billion preliminary agreement with Intel that will help strengthen supply chains, revitalize American semiconductor manufacturing, and create nearly 30,000 jobs. It was great to join President Biden in Arizona to share the news.”
“Today is a defining moment for the U.S. and Intel as we work to power the next great chapter of American semiconductor innovation,” said Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger. “AI is supercharging the digital revolution and everything digital needs semiconductors. CHIPS Act support will help to ensure that Intel and the U.S. stay at the forefront of the AI era as we build a resilient and sustainable semiconductor supply chain to power our nation’s future.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Corinne Murdock | Mar 10, 2024 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
The president of the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC), Brandon Judd, says that President Joe Biden’s policies effectively forced their support of the border bill.
Judd told The Arizona Daily Independent that Biden’s State of the Union (SOTU) was a “slap in the face” that didn’t adequately acknowledge the border crisis. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) invited Judd as her guest to the SOTU, though Judd didn’t join her.
“The reason we support the border bill is because President Biden put us in a position where we have to accept anything,” said Judd.
The bill referenced by Judd was the $118 billion foreign aid bill — formed by Sinema alongside Sens. James Lankford (R-OK) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) — which contained marginal provisions for border security, with a majority set aside for Ukraine and other nations.
However, Judd commended Sinema’s advocacy for more border security in a press release issued by Sinema ahead of the SOTU.
“[Sinema] has advocated for border security in all forms whether it be at the Ports of Entry or between. She has listened to the voices of the people doing their best to protect this great nation,” said Judd.
Sinema announced earlier this week that she wouldn’t be seeking reelection. The development wasn’t all too surprising, given that she had failed to file her statement of interest to run.
Another representative of the border crisis, president of an NBPC local in New York and agent Brandon Budlong, was invited to the SOTU.
Budlong said in a House GOP video series critiquing the Biden administration that border agents are unable to do what “they’re meant to do,” turning away illegal immigrants, and instead “streamlining millions” of illegal immigrants into the country.
“Hearing the news about Laken Riley’s death was extremely frustrating for me,” said Budlong. “It makes you almost feel like you failed at your job, even though you did everything that you could with the policies in place. This administration created this crisis and they can fix it, but they refuse to do so.”
Riley was a 22-year-old nursing student murdered during her morning jog on the University of Georgia campus last month. The accused murderer, 26-year-old Jose Antonio Ibarra, came to the U.S. illegally from Venezuela in September 2022 near El Paso, Texas. Ibarra received parole due to ICE’s inability to lodge a detainer in a timely manner, effectively benefitting from the catch and release that many other illegal immigrants have enjoyed throughout the Biden administration.
In his short stint in the U.S., Ibarra was arrested in New York last September for acting in a manner to injure a minor and a driving license violation. Ibarra had been living in a taxpayer-funded shelter. Ibarra left the state shortly after his NYC arrest for Georgia.
The New York Post reported on Friday that Ibarra was permitted entry despite documented ties to Teen de Aragua (TdA), a Venezuelan gang operating in New York and Georgia, as well as Texas, Illinois, and Florida. The Post discovered that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) internal documents had Ibarra’s name listed as belonging to TdA.
In a motion filed earlier this week, federal authorities alleged that Ibarra’s brother, Diego, has ties to the same gang.
Diego was arrested shortly after his brother for possession of a fake green card; he had cut off an ankle monitor to evade authorities. Diego also had an arrest record. He was arrested three times by Athens, Georgia law enforcement for a DUI and driving without a license, shoplifting, and failure to appear in court.
The House passed the Laken Riley Act, an immigration bill requiring federal detention of migrants charged with burglary or theft, on Thursday.
Riley did receive a mention by Biden during his SOTU, though only after an outburst during his speech by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14) demanded that Biden “say her name.” Biden did say Riley’s name, though he mispronounced it as “Lincoln Riley.” The president then downplayed her death by contrasting it with the number of other deaths that occur every day under illegal immigrants.
“Lincoln — Lincoln Riley, an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal,” said Biden. “That’s right, but how many of the thousands of people [are] being killed by illegals?”
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Jan 30, 2024 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
House Democrats believe that Americans who think the border is mismanaged are “confused.”
Democrats in the House Homeland Security Committee issued the remarks during a press conference on Monday addressing the newly-released articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Alejandro Mayorkas. Committee Republicans published the draft articles on Sunday.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS-02), ranking member, indicated that DHS was handling the border correctly and operating in line with the direction of President Joe Biden. Thompson noted that the greater concern for he and his Democratic colleagues was that the impeachment efforts were the cause of lost confidence in DHS and Mayorkas.
“Democrats are real concerned that this is just one of those efforts to confuse the public that something is going wrong at the Department of Homeland Security. Our secretary works at the direction of the president,” said Thompson. “This notion that in carrying out the directions of your boss somehow is an impeachable offense is wrong.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY-08) also spoke at the press conference. Jeffries claimed that it was “extreme MAGA Republicans” who were misleading the American public on the state of the border. Jeffries further claimed that House Republicans produced “no evidence” that Mayorkas committed an impeachable or unconstitutional offense.
“The extreme MAGA republicans have been directed by Donald Trump not to work together to address the challenges at the border and to instead distract the American people,” said Jeffries.
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY-10), another committee member, argued that Republicans caused the border crisis. Goldman claimed that the Biden administration implemented policies to streamline the asylum process, reduce the immigration case backlog, and a cessation of illegal immigration between ports of entry.
“The Republicans are literally trying to stop the administration from securing the border, while they are saying, and so they can say, that the administration is not securing the border,” said Goldman. “They are creating this situation and then they want to blame President Biden.”
Under the first few weeks of his administration, the country experienced an unprecedented deluge of illegal immigration after Biden reversed most of the border policies from his predecessor, former President Donald Trump.
As reported extensively throughout investigations published by the Homeland Security Committee and border agents on the ground, illegal immigrants and cartels have become increasingly emboldened to violate border and trafficking laws. Last week, smugglers assaulted a Border Patrol agent arresting several illegal immigrants.
Since Biden took office, there have been over 7.15 million illegal immigrant encounters at the southern border, and an unknown number of gotaways estimated in total to be around several million.
In the 2023 fiscal year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) arrested over 35,400 illegal immigrants with criminal convictions nationwide, of whom nearly 600 were known gang members. Since the 2021 fiscal year, agents have arrested nearly 300 illegal immigrants on the terrorist watchlist.
The House Homeland Security Committee is scheduled to consider the articles of impeachment against Mayorkas on Tuesday at 8 am. The hearing will be streamed here.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Daniel Stefanski | Nov 15, 2023 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizonans may be ready to do an about-face on a candidate for President of the United States if recent polls are any indication of next year’s results in the November 2024 General Election.
On Tuesday, Noble Predictive Insights released a poll, showing that former President Donald J. Trump has an eight-point lead over current President Joe Biden in the Grand Canyon State.
The snapshot of the still-distant race has many encouraging signs for the 45th President, although sixteen percent of Arizona voters may still be undecided. Trump holds an eighty-point advantage within the Republican Party for the General Election, while Biden appears to only command a net sixty-seven points inside his own party. Independents, who are Arizona’s largest voting bloc, are split between the two candidates (37-34 Trump), and there are still a significant portion of those voters who are unsure about who they will vote for – if at all – in November’s crucial contest.
Noble Predictive Insights also released a poll of the Republican primary field, showing Trump with a commanding lead over any other competitors. Trump’s numbers in the November survey grew to 53% of the Republican electorate (up from 50% in July), while Governor Ron DeSantis lost three points (19% from 16%). Ambassador Nikki Haley doubled her standing from the July report, acquiring eight percent of the Arizona GOP field (from four percent in July). Vivek Ramaswamy remained at nine percent. This poll was fielded at the end of October, when former Republican contenders Mike Pence and Tim Scott were in the race; Pence pulled in three percent, and Scott, one percent.
In the press release announcing the results of this latest poll, David Byler, the Chief of Research for Noble Predictive Insights said, “An eight-point lead for Trump is striking, but not surprising. Poll averages have Trump ahead of Biden by about a point nationally – that’s a five point swing from the 2020 results. If Arizona – one of the most closely contested states of 2020 – also swung that much, we’d expect individual polls to give Trump a mid-to-high single-digit lead. That’s exactly what our poll – and other recent surveys – have shown.”
The Noble Predictive Insights poll tracks what other recent surveys have telegraphed about the state of the General Election in Arizona: Trump does appear to have a lead over Biden in the state. The latest New York Times / Siena College poll has Trump up by five in Arizona in a head-to-head match-up (49-49 with 603 Registered Voters). Emerson College has the former President leading by two points with a set of polls of both “Likely” and “Registered” voters. And Morning Consult has Trump up four points (46-42 with 800 Registered Voters).
The poll from Noble Predictive Insights computed from 1,010 registered Arizona voters and took placed between October 25-31.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Corinne Murdock | Oct 2, 2023 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
Northern Arizona University (NAU) will play a key role in an effort to validate indigenous knowledge as scientific knowledge using millions in federal funding.
Ora Marek-Martinez, NAU’s associate vice president of the Office for Native American Initiatives and assistant professor of anthropology, will be part of the University of Massachussetts’ newly-established Center for Braiding Indigenous Knowledges and Science (CBIKS). Marek-Martinez will serve as the CBIKS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) & Ethics Co-Lead for the center’s Southwest Hub.
Biden’s National Science Foundation (NSF) gave $30 million to CBIKS, a grant lasting five years. CBIKS may qualify for additional federal funding come 2028.
CBIKS researchers will focus initially on collaborating with indigenous Nanwalek Alaskans to study their traditional methods of salmon population preservation, indigenous Hawaiians to study their agricultural and food waste practices, and indigenous Australians to study environmental signs of climate change. Sonya Atalay, CBIKS Director and UMass Amherst Provost Professor of Anthropology, said that current scientific approaches were limited.
“CBIKS is about recognizing that Indigenous knowledge systems carry tremendous information and value, and it’s shortsighted to think that current research practices founded on Western knowledge systems are the only or ‘right’ approach,” said Atalay.
In one of CBIK’s initial postings, Atalay gave credence to the belief that rocks are alive, per indigenous knowledge.
Atalay criticized Michigan archaeologists for “disregard[ing] Native understanding of the rock as an animate being.” The rock in question bears Native American petroglyphs.
The rock wasn’t available for comment.
In order to obtain more indigenous knowledge beyond the consciousness of rocks, CPIKS will interact with 57 indigenous communities through its eight regional hubs across the country and in Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.
The initiative is part of a larger effort by the Biden administration to prioritize “indigenous knowledge” into “research, policies, and decision making,” as noted in a memo from the Office of Science and Technology Policy issued last November. The office, newly assigned cabinet-level status by the Biden administration, further declared indigenous knowledge to be “an aspect of the best available science” and directed its inclusion in “Highly Influential Scientific Assessments.” Those assessments directly shape costly federal policies.
The Biden administration wasn’t the first to attempt to assign parity to indigenous knowledge in scientific inquiry: as Washington Free Beacon reported, Canadian researchers reported adverse results after their country incorporated indigenous knowledge into policymaking, ranging from counterproductive at best to dangerous at worst.
“[T]he acceptance of spiritual beliefs as ‘knowledge’ by governments was dangerous because it could be used to justify any activity, including actions that were environmentally destructive,” stated a 2006 academic assessment.
One apparent outcome of catering to indigenous knowledge occurred when Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) deputy director M. Kaleo Manuel, a Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner, delayed the release of water to combat the Maui fires because he insisted that officials obtain permission from a local taro farm. Taro is integral to Native Hawaiian agriculture and tradition.
Washington Free Beacon also reported some of the early fruits of the Biden administration’s indigenous knowledge labors: reinterpreting time as cyclical rather than sequential, entertaining proposals to pay tribal elders to assist in federal rulemaking, scrapping peer review processes, acknowledging alleged interdimensional relations between animals and humans,
NAU’s involvement in the Biden initiative aligns with the university’s policy of prioritizing Native American individuals in admissions and employment.
In February, NAU established a program providing free tuition regardless of income to Native Americans while requiring a financial threshold for students of all other races. They also pledged $10 million to “indigenous,” or prioritize indigenous people, in their curriculum. The equitable treatment of Native Americans resulted in a boost to the university’s enrollment.
The Office for Native American Initiatives, which Marek-Martinez helps lead, played an integral role in these equity efforts.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
