by Staff Reporter | May 15, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Activist organizations are promoting online “neighborhood defense” trainings that teach participants how to canvass communities and prepare local businesses for potential Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, according to event listings and organizing materials circulated in Arizona and California-linked activist networks.
The trainings, promoted under the title “WOB Neighborhood Defense Team Training,” are scheduled as recurring virtual sessions and described as instruction on how to “canvass your community to prepare people in case of an ICE raid.” A May 14 event listing states that ICE raids are “intensifying across the country” and that worksites and businesses are being targeted.
One Reddit post, circulated through the Arizona-focused “AZAdvocacyHub” community, advertised the training as an online event hosted by Organized Power in Numbers, encouraging users to register even if they could not attend live to receive “the recording of the training and the materials.”
According to the event description, the trainings take place monthly on the second Thursday of each month over Zoom. An additional event listing published by Indivisible Roseville in California described the sessions as “Neighborhood Defense Team Training” events designed to prepare communities and businesses for ICE enforcement activity.
Organized Power in Numbers describes itself as an organization that combines organizing, digital infrastructure, and data strategy to “build worker power in the South and Southwest.” The organization’s website lists campaigns including “Workers Over Billionaires” and “Power Up AZ.”
The organization’s resource pages include downloadable “Know Your Rights” materials and workplace guidance concerning immigration enforcement encounters. One document distributed through the group advises businesses that ICE officers may not enter “private areas” of a workplace without permission or a judicial warrant signed by a judge.
Organized Power in Numbers has also promoted what it calls an “Emergency Worker Defense Fund,” launched in partnership with the Los Angeles Worker Center Network, to support workers affected by ICE enforcement operations in Los Angeles and the Southwest.
The trainings and organizing efforts come amid continuing national debate over immigration enforcement policy and workplace raids.
According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, worksite enforcement investigations are intended to reduce illegal employment practices, hold employers accountable for unlawful hiring practices, and protect lawful employment opportunities. ICE states that Homeland Security Investigations conducts worksite enforcement operations targeting employers suspected of knowingly employing unauthorized workers or engaging in labor exploitation and related crimes.
Immigration enforcement operations have increasingly become flashpoints in states such as California, where state and local officials have enacted sanctuary policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
California officials have also expanded worker notification requirements related to immigration enforcement activity. Earlier this year, the California Department of Industrial Relations announced implementation guidance for a state law requiring annual workplace notices informing employees of their rights during immigration enforcement encounters, regardless of immigration status.
Supporters of the “neighborhood defense” trainings characterize the efforts as legal-rights education and community preparedness intended to ensure that workers and residents understand constitutional protections during enforcement encounters.
Critics, however, argue that activist-organized ‘community defense’ infrastructure risks crossing the line from legal education into organized interference with federal immigration enforcement operations.
Immigration attorneys and advocacy organizations, however, commonly advise employers and workers regarding distinctions between public and private workplace areas during enforcement encounters.
The issue has gained renewed attention as federal immigration enforcement priorities continue to expand under the Trump administration. Reuters reported earlier this year that the administration was planning broader immigration crackdowns and increased workplace enforcement efforts. The Department of Justice has also challenged sanctuary policies in several jurisdictions, including Los Angeles.
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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 8, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Rep. Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ-08) reportedly assisted with the capture of three illegal aliens while tagging along on a border security sweep.
Hamadeh traded the suit and tie preferred on Capitol Hill for military fatigues during a ride-along with Border Patrol on Tuesday. The congressman thanked the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office for arranging his participation in their immigration enforcement work.
The Pinal County Attorney’s Office and Board of Supervisors have been sparring over the former’s decision to enter into an agreement assisting Immigrations and Customs Enforcement with deportations. The board sued the county attorney, Brad Miller, over the agreement.
The Pinal County Superior Court issued a temporary restraining order on that agreement in February prior to the case’s transferral to the Maricopa County Superior Court, where it remains pending.
As part of that court-ordered halt, Miller agreed to not engage with ICE beyond information sharing.
Separately, a federal court ruled last month in favor of state laws enabling state and local police to arrest illegal aliens for immigration violations. The case was decided by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on the fate of a Texas law (Texas Senate Bill 4); the Biden administration initiated that lawsuit, but the Trump administration dropped it recently.
The court dismissed the case after determining that the one county and two civil rights groups that remained as the sole challengers to the Texas law lacked standing.
That appeals court decision gave the green light to the Arizona Border Security Act, or Proposition 314, which was passed by Arizona voters in 2024. Gov. Katie Hobbs attempted to terminate that legislation through veto, but a majority of Arizona voters proved to support the measure.
The Texas and Arizona laws, and others like them, will likely face challenges for the foreseeable future. Civil rights groups filed a lawsuit to stop the Texas law on Monday.
A hearing is scheduled for May 15 at 9 am before Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Michael Gordon.
Southwest land border encounters have declined steeply since President Donald Trump took office. Border encounters went from all-time highs of several million per fiscal year (over 2.4 million in fiscal year 2023, and over 2.1 million in fiscal year 2024) to one-fourth previous totals (over 400,000 in fiscal year 2025).
At this point in the last fiscal year, southwest land border encounters were approximately 380,700. For this fiscal year, there have been just over 63,700 encounters: approximately one-sixth the total from the same point in time the last fiscal year.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection fiscal years run from October of the previous year to September of the current year (fiscal year 2026 runs from October 2025 to September 2026).
While Arizona’s Republican elected officials in Congress have offered their support for immigration enforcement, Democratic representatives have worked to slow or halt immigration enforcement.
Congresswomen Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ-07) and Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ-03) have both dedicated significant taxpayer resources to assisting illegal aliens and opposing ICE.
AZ Free News reported last week that nearly half of Grijalva’s press releases since taking office have concerned a defense of illegal aliens or opposition to ICE. Nearly one-third of her X posts since taking office were defenses of illegal aliens, demands to abolish ICE, or opposition to immigration enforcement. Three of her 14 non-recognition remarks on the congressional record were focused on opposing ICE and immigration enforcement.
Grijalva and Ansari, along with Rep. Greg Stanton (D-AZ-04) and Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, have made multiple trips to immigration detention centers, independently and as a group. The Democratic officials have referred to illegal aliens as their constituents.
Last week, Grijalva, Ansari, and Stanton introduced legislation to limit detention periods of illegal aliens to 12 hours.
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 5, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Attorney General Kris Mayes defended the city of Phoenix’s new policy that prevents Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from entering city property without permission.
Mayes published a 17-page investigative report last week determining the city’s action doesn’t limit or restrict enforcement of federal immigration law.
In March, Phoenix City Council approved a resolution requiring law enforcement to obtain permission from the city prior to conducting operations on property owned or controlled by the city.
Mayes ruled that requiring the city to allow federal immigration enforcement access to city property was equivalent to requiring local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, which the federal law does not require.
“With limited exceptions, federal law does not purport to compel the states’ participation in immigration enforcement, and therefore generally permits localities to refuse cooperation with immigration enforcement activities,” stated Mayes.
Further on in the report, Mayes determined that immigration enforcement would need to obtain a judicial warrant or consent to access non-public city property without permission. Mayes said law enforcement has ample freedom to carry out immigration enforcement on public property, namely public rights-of-way, the airport, and Phoenix Municipal Court.
“This means that federal immigration officials are not presumptively prohibited from staging an enforcement operation on, for example, Phoenix sidewalks, and need not seek the City Manager’s advanced approval before commencing such operations,” wrote Mayes. “In this way, the Regulation simply designates how the City will decide whether to grant the consent to access non-public areas of City-owned property that federal law already requires immigration officials to obtain; it delegates that decision to the City Manager, in consultation with the Police Chief.”
Copied on this report were Gov. Katie Hobbs, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen (R-LD14), Arizona House Speaker Steve Montenegro (R-LD29), and State Rep. Quang Nguyen (R-LD01). Nguyen requested the report; per state law, which triggers an investigation by the attorney general.
Another one of Mayes’ interpretations of the law as it relates to ICE has been widely contested.
The attorney general made the case in a January interview that individuals had justification for shooting masked ICE agents under Arizona’s “Stand Your Ground” law.
“It’s kind of a recipe for disaster. Because you have these masked federal officers with very little identification, sometimes no identification, wearing plain clothes and masks,” said Mayes. “[The] law says that if you reasonably believe your life is in danger and you’re in your house or your car or on your property that you could defend yourself with lethal force.”
Mayes’ defense for justified shootings of ICE agents sparked bipartisan controversy. Gov. Hobbs said it was “inappropriate,” possibly dangerous, and needed to be retracted. The new chairman of the Arizona Republican Party, Sergio Arellano, said it was “reckless” and a direct endangerment of law enforcement. Legislative leaders censured Mayes.
Amid the fallout over Mayes’ remarks, anti-ICE activists have taken to vandalizing the ICE Phoenix Field Office with death threats.
Last week Mayes filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security to stop its planned ICE detention facility in Surprise.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Apr 21, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
Since taking office last November, Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ-07) has made it clear that defending illegal aliens in her district against deportation will remain a priority.
Unlike her Republican colleagues, Grijalva treats those considered illegal aliens residing in her district as her constituents. To her, citizenship doesn’t determine who qualifies as an American.
“In my district, families span generations, borders, and cultures — but they are unequivocally American,” said Grijalva.
In her criticism of President Donald Trump’s promise to prioritize the “worst of the worst” for deportation proceedings, Grijalva has indicated the need for additional justification when deporting those whose only apparent crime was crossing the border and remaining in the country illegally.
Of the approximately 50 press releases Grijalva has issued since taking office, nearly half were issued in defense of illegal aliens and opposition to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Of her approximately 200 posts on X, nearly one-third were posts in defense of illegal aliens as valid Arizona residents, demanding the abolition of ICE, or opposition to immigration enforcement efforts.
Of her 14 remarks in the congressional record (excluding recognitions and honorings of individuals), three were focused on opposing ICE and stricter immigration enforcement.
Grijalva has made good on her repeated promise to investigate and provide oversight of ICE detention facilities. She has conducted three visits to the Arizona Removal Operations Coordination Center at the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, Eloy Detention Center in Eloy, and Florence Federal Detention Facility in Florence.
The congresswoman has participated in at least eight protests against ICE and this administration’s immigration enforcement policies.
Last month, Grijalva offered compromise on her refusal to pass DHS funding through her introduction of two amendments. These amendments, not adopted, would have required federal agencies to obtain tribal government approval for immigration enforcement actions on tribal lands, and prohibited the federal government from creating or maintaining lists of individuals protesting at immigration enforcement activities.
The same day, Grijalva demanded the dismantling of ICE.
Grijalva’s commitment is reflected through her actions, notably the significant volume of her constituent work dedicated to illegal aliens.
The congresswoman has participated in at least three forums in her district addressing ICE activity. One forum that Grijalva co-hosted with Tucson Mayor Regina Romero focused on advising illegal aliens of their rights and best ways to avoid immigration enforcement activity.
Earlier this month, Grijalva and Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ-03) hosted one such forum to brief the community on ICE’s “mass detention centers” in Arizona. Grijalva and Ansari heard testimonies from several illegal aliens and their family members.
In February Grijalva visited and successfully advocated for the release of one Cuban illegal alien seeking asylum, Julia Benitez, who was detained at the Eloy Detention Center.
Then, Grijalva escorted Benitez to the airport. Benitez’s flight was arranged by the Phoenix-based nonprofit Helping With All My Heart (HWAMH).
The nonprofit’s website claims it has operated emergency shelters across the Valley for illegal aliens seeking asylum since 2018. However, tax filings reflect that, up until 2022, HWAMH’s mission statement only reflected work helping the homeless and those with addictions to “find a job and return to society.”
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
