by Matthew Holloway | May 27, 2026 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ06) is leading a bipartisan effort to accelerate modernization of the Dennis DeConcini Land Port of Entry in Nogales, urging federal officials to advance improvements at one of the busiest crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Ciscomani joined Reps. Greg Stanton (D-AZ04) and Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ08) in sending a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and General Services Administration (GSA) calling for swift action to modernize the port, which lawmakers described as critical to both trade and border security.
The lawmakers wrote that the DeConcini Land Port of Entry plays a major role in commerce between Arizona and Mexico and requires modernization to address operational challenges and infrastructure concerns.
“The DeConcini Port of Entry is at the heart of U.S.-Mexico trade, moving everything from medical supplies to agricultural products that directly impact Arizona businesses and daily life,” Ciscomani said. “Modernizing this port is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to upgrade infrastructure, enhance lawful trade, and create a more efficient environment for the business community and border personnel alike.”
In their letter, the lawmakers urged federal agencies to expedite the next phase of the project, citing concerns over aging infrastructure, border operations, and public safety. The DeConcini facility was originally constructed in 1931, and last underwent major modernization in 1994. Lawmakers said portions of the port are increasingly vulnerable to flooding and related infrastructure failures that can disrupt travel and commerce.
The letter described the port as one of the nation’s busiest land crossings and emphasized its role in supporting economic activity beyond a local level as well as national security. The lawmakers wrote, “This is not a Nogales project; this is a national asset in desperate need of investment.”
According to Ciscomani’s office, modernization of the port would improve inspection capabilities, increase efficiency for lawful crossings, and enhance safety for Customs and Border Protection personnel working at the facility.
Emphasizing the facility’s necessity for border security, Ciscomani wrote, “Ensuring CBP has access to modern infrastructure and advanced screening technologies at DeConcini is essential to counter evolving smuggling tactics and protect our communities. The battle against the flow of narcotics has shifted from those measured by the bundle and the ton to those that measured in the thousands of pills that are strapped around a smugglers’ waist. The DeConcini LPOE is at the forefront of this fight, and we must ensure that enforcement personnel have the best facilities, tools, and training to do their job to the best of their ability.”
A woman was arrested in April after CBP officers at the DeConcini crossing referred her vehicle to secondary inspection as she attempted to enter Mexico, accompanied by three minors. According to a CBP press release, officers seized “a rocket-propelled grenade launcher tube, four rifles, an Avtomat Kalashnikova–or AK–pistol, 16 AK rifles, 24 rifle magazines, 16 rifle stocks, 20 pistol grips, and miscellaneous other weapons parts.”
Local business leaders also expressed support for the effort. Jaime Chamberlain, a Nogales businessman and member of the Border Trade Alliance, said that modern infrastructure is necessary to maintain trade flow and public safety at the crossing.
Chamberlain said, “Nearly 10 million people cross through Nogales each year, and without significant investment, we risk falling behind at a time when global competitiveness demands the opposite. Our region—and our nation—cannot afford inefficiencies at one of its most important gateways. Just as importantly, modernization will provide our frontline officers with the facilities and technology they need to protect our communities while keeping legitimate travel and commerce moving.”
The lawmakers’ call for modernization comes as federal agencies continue environmental and planning reviews associated with a potential large-scale redevelopment of the crossing. The DeConcini Port of Entry operates continuously and serves millions of travelers annually, though officials and local stakeholders have argued the current footprint and infrastructure are no longer sufficient to meet long-term demands.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Staff Reporter | May 26, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) accused Arizona Democrats of lying about conditions at the immigration detention facility in Mesa.
Arizona Democratic Reps. Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03) and Greg Stanton (AZ-04) claimed to have witnessed last week “inhumane” and “alarming” issues — specifically, overcrowding and plumbing — at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility, Arizona Removal Operations Coordination Center (AROCC), located within the Mesa Gateway Airport.
Ansari and Stanton said AROCC has consistently exceeded its intended capacity (about 160 people) this year. The facility has reportedly exceeded 770 detainees on a daily basis.
The pair also took issue with AROCC holding illegal immigrants past the intended 12-hour holding time which the facility was designed to support — sometimes, for several days. A proposed bill from the pair would mandate, in part, that ICE facilities may only hold illegal aliens for 12 hours at a time.
Ansari said in a press release that their observations indicated conditions were “starkly different from the picture ICE presents during scheduled visits.”
Stanton said the discomfort of illegal aliens in these detention facilities was reason enough to stop mass deportations.
“[W]e’re going to fight every effort to expand [mass deportations] — including the kinds of dangerous, overcrowded operations we’ve seen right here in Mesa,” said Stanton.
A spokesman with DHS said allegations of issues with overcrowding and plumbing were false, per a statement received by the Arizona Mirror.
“Any allegation of overcrowding at AROCC is false,” said the spokesman. “There are no recurring plumbing issues. On the rare instance when a toilet issue occurs, the facility staff immediately moves detainees from the affected cell and maintenance is immediately initiated.”
DHS has taken an active presence online and in the media to debunk claims of wrongdoing on the agency’s part.
Another recent viral story accused the Trump administration of wrongfully prolonging the detainment of a mother and father traveling to see their adult son dying of terminal cancer. DHS clarified that the parents were detained for reentering the country illegally after their fatally ill son had already returned to Mexico.
Last week’s visit from Ansari and Stanton constituted the latest in a series of actions taken by Arizona’s congressional Democrats to prioritize illegal aliens within their respective offices’ scope of constituent services. Rep. Adelita Grijalva (AZ-07) has also been party to these frequent visits to immigration detention facilities and other similar relief and advocacy efforts.
AZ Free News reported last month that a majority of Grijalva’s press releases, X posts, and official remarks in congressional records pertained to defending illegal aliens from the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda.
Arizona’s top Democrats say that issues at AROCC and other ICE practices justify a budgetary freeze for ICE pending a total overhaul of agency practices.
While Arizona’s congressional Democrats have met with illegal aliens in ICE custody and advocated for their release, Arizona’s congressional Republicans have assisted with putting those illegal aliens into ICE custody.
Earlier this month, Republican Rep. Abe Hamadeh (AZ-08) announced he had assisted with the capture of three illegal aliens while tagging along with Border Patrol on a border security sweep.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | May 11, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
A viral story across the media accused the Trump administration of keeping parents from their adult son dying of terminal cancer.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) responded that was the furthest thing from the truth.
Although their son had been living and already returned to Mexico, his parents decided to reenter the country illegally.
DHS says the parents, Isidor Gonzales Aviles and Normal Anabel (also identified as Norma Anabel Ramirez Amaya), were not in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody and that their family misrepresented critical facts in their case to the media.
Per DHS, Aviles and Anabel had been deported years prior to this event and were illegal aliens. Neither individual had standing to enter the country regardless of the reason.
Aviles entered the country illegally in 2000; from that point to his removal in 2011, Aviles was arrested and charged multiple times with sexual abuse, retail theft, battery, trespassing, and disorderly conduct.
Anabel entered the country illegally in 2005. She was also deported back to Mexico in 2011. However, Anabel entered the country illegally again in 2024, where she was apprehended by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and redeported within several days.
Their son Kevin Gonzalez — who is 18 and is identified as a U.S. citizen — was born during that time period while his parents were hiding out in the country illegally in Chicago, Illinois. That would mean Gonzalez was born to illegal immigrant parents, what some call an “anchor baby” in the heated debate over birthplace citizenship that has made its way to the Supreme Court.
Although Gonzalez was born in Chicago, he lived in Mexico with his parents leading up to December 2025. That’s around when Gonzalez received his cancer diagnosis and left his parents to seek out medical treatment in the U.S.
Gonzalez was diagnosed with metastatic Stage 4 colon cancer in January and was initially under the care of his brother, Jovany Ramirez, in Chicago. Aviles and Anabel reported petitioning for humanitarian parole into the country to be with Gonzalez, but their petitions were denied.
During this time, Gonzalez traveled back to Mexico to be with his family. He entered the care of his grandmother, Virginia Amaya.
DHS later responded to media reports on the claim of humanitarian parole; according to DHS, Aviles and Anabel applied for B1/B2 visas, which were denied, not humanitarian parole.
Although Gonzalez returned to Mexico, Aviles and Anabel then reentered the country illegally in April and were detained by CBP in Douglas, not ICE. The parents were taken to the Florence Correctional Center for processing.
On Thursday, a federal immigration judge authorized the expedited release of Aviles and Anabel.
Congressional Democrats who qualify illegal aliens as constitutents and have prioritized fighting against immigration enforcement efforts came to the family’s defense.
Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ-07) called the story “heartbreaking.”
“I’m asking ICE to accommodate this request so Kevin can see his parents one last time,” said Grijalva. “This isn’t about politics — it’s about human decency.”
On Friday it was reported that Aviles and Anabel were traveling back to Mexico.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | May 3, 2026 | Education, News
By Staff Reporter |
The Orangewood Elementary School in Phoenix may soon be sued for alleged security failures by the family of a 10-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted by a criminal alien.
Abel Kai Gblah, a 25-year-old citizen of Liberia, allegedly impersonated a doctor and sexually assaulted the girl at Orangewood Elementary School. Gblah was a registered sex offender at the time of the offense.
In their legal notice, the girl’s parents claim Gblah entered the school through the front office and was encountered and briefly questioned by a staff member before being allowed to continue on to the school, where he eventually attacked their daughter.
Their notice also claimed that police weren’t notified and the school wasn’t placed on lockdown until nearly half an hour after Gblah fled campus.
Gblah has a criminal history dating back to at least 2019. The continued presence of Gblah in the U.S. appears to be a result of bipartisan immigration enforcement failures.
Gblah was arrested under both the Trump and Biden administrations, but not deported by either.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the immigration enforcement against Gblah last November, days after media reports of his arrest for sexual assault.
DHS claimed Gblah’s crimes were committed under the Biden administration only, but federal court records say otherwise.
The federal case against Gblah dates back to the summer of 2019, when he was arrested for smuggling illegal aliens into the country. Contrary to those court records, DHS claimed Gblah was arrested in 2022 for that offense.
According to Arizona District Court filings, Gblah worked with an accomplice to smuggle illegal aliens in June 2019. Gblah was given five years of probation for smuggling, and the fine was waived. He surrendered a Liberian passport upon his arrest.
Records further reveal that Gblah violated his probation almost immediately following the judgment against him. Gblah failed to report to his probation officer for six months, from September to December 2020, and then January and February 2021.
In July 2021, Gblah again violated his probation when was arrested for multiple felonies related to sexual abuse, exploitation, and conduct with a minor. That case was handled in the Maricopa County Superior Court. Gblah was convicted of molesting a 16-year-old girl with both intellectual and physical disabilities. Both the victim and her guardian reportedly objected to the plea deal given to Gblah under then-Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel.
Gblah remains listed on the state’s sex offender registry as a Level 2 sex offender.
The first iteration of the Trump administration failed to deport Gblah after his smuggling of illegal aliens. The Biden administration failed to deport Gblah after his sexual crimes against a minor.
Last fall, Gblah served two months in jail for violations of his lifetime probation related to his sex-based crimes per records obtained by ABC15. Violations included missing sex offender treatment dozens of times and an arrest in Florida. Several days after his release late last fall, Gblah committed the sexual assault at the Phoenix area elementary school.
Gblah came into the United States in 2011 under President Barack Obama. He received a green card, according to DHS.
AZ Free News found social media pages connected to Gblah. At one point a man claiming to be Gblah’s father, Robert Muipoe, asked an individual who appeared to be Gblah’s sponsor — Mitchell Gblah — when he could communicate with Gblah.
“Mitchell why I can’t see talk [sic] with my son Abel one day?” asked Muipoe in a comment on a Facebook post made by Mitchell Gblah in January 2017.
Mitchell Gblah died in 2022 while making one of his frequent visits back to his home country of Liberia, where Muipoe and Gblah were also from.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Matthew Holloway | May 2, 2026 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Arizona Republican Party Chairman Sergio Arellano criticized U.S. Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego in a statement this week, alleging the two lawmakers have put First Amendment protections at risk by opposing funding for the United States Secret Service.
The statement from the Arizona Republican Party followed an incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, D.C., on April 25, which led to a suspect being charged with attempting to assassinate the president.
Arellano criticized media coverage of President Donald Trump as well as the two senators, writing that “while the fake news has created the environment that has fostered four unsuccessful assassination attempts against President Donald Trump, it is Arizona’s two senators, Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly, who are ultimately responsible because they have continually refused to approve funding for the Secret Service.”
He argued that the senators’ actions jeopardize constitutional protections, including those outlined in the First Amendment.
“Like me, both men swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution when they entered the Armed Services, and most of us veterans know intimately that ‘freedom isn’t free,’” Arellano said. “It appears that either Senators Kelly and Gallego don’t understand that basic concept, or they have willingly violated their oath to protect and defend the Constitution, including the First Amendment, which was under attack Saturday night.”
In January 2026, both senators were among Democrats who voted to block a Department of Homeland Security funding measure amid ongoing negotiations over immigration enforcement policies.
At the time, Gallego said he would not support additional DHS funding without changes to how immigration enforcement agencies operate, while Kelly also indicated opposition to the funding bill under consideration.
The Department of Homeland Security includes multiple agencies, including the Secret Service, Customs and Border Protection, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Congressional funding measures for DHS typically cover these agencies collectively rather than separately.
The AZGOP statement did not cite a specific vote or bill related solely to Secret Service funding.
The DOJ confirmed in a press release Monday that Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, was charged with one count of attempting to assassinate the President of the United States, transportation of a firearm and ammunition in interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony, and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.
As of publication, neither Kelly nor Gallego had publicly responded to the AZGOP statement.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
