by Daniel Stefanski | Oct 29, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
State officials are making the case for voters to support a ballot measure that would drastically increase protections for children currently, or who may later be, under the heinous scourge of sex trafficking in Arizona.
Recently, Arizona State Senator Janae Shamp urged voters to vote yes on Proposition 313 in the upcoming November Election.
If passed by voters, Proposition 313 would “require that a person convicted of a Class 2 Felony for child sex trafficking be sentenced to imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for natural life without the possibility of release.” According to the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office, “The current sentencing ranges are between 7 years and natural life imprisonment without the possibility of release, depending on the age of the victim, the defendant’s criminal history, and other factors.”
Last week, Shamp shared a post from President Donald J. Trump’s ‘War Room’ account that detailed the dangers of sex trafficking of minors. The post revealed that these acts are “becoming the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the United States,” and that “this horrifying reality” was the result “of Kamala Harris’ open border.”
This measure was referred to the ballot by the Arizona Legislature earlier this year. State Senator Shawnna Bolick spearheaded the effort as part of her persistent efforts to protect innocent children around Arizona. Writing about the importance of this measure, Bolick said, “Every two minutes a child from the United States is trafficked for the sole purpose of human exploitation. According to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, the average age of entry into sex trafficking is 14 years old. Traffickers steal our children as young as five years old to sell them into a life of misery and despair.”
Bolick added, “These adolescents lose everything to be thrown into the sex trade business. They are removed from their families and often sold over and over and forced to perform unspeakable acts. With the rise of social media and internet capabilities, these innocent children often have an internet presence against their own will, where predators share and sell their images and videos repeatedly across the Dark Web…. Your YES vote on Proposition 313 will protect children from sexual exploitation. Our neighbor’s daughter or son needs your YES vote for protection.”
Yavapai County Sheriff David Rhodes, the President of the Arizona Sheriff Association, also lent his voice to supporting this ballot measure. He stated, “Currently, when caught, the people who traffic these children face prison sentences that do not match the crime. But now, with Prop. 313, these monsters can meet true justice when apprehended and convicted in an Arizona court of law. The sheriffs across Arizona fully support the simplicity of Prop. 313 – convicted of 2nd-degree felony child sex trafficking and face a lifetime in an Arizona prison cell with no opportunity for an early release.”
Pinal County Mark Lamb weighed in, saying, “A yes vote on Prop 313 means you are willing to protect our kids and give our law enforcement the tools needed to hold sex traffickers accountable for their actions. Help us to send a strong message to those who wish to exploit the most vulnerable populations that our children are not for sale.”
Senator Shamp also appeared at a town hall in Maricopa County with national advocate Riley Gaines and other speakers. She and the other ladies on the panel promoted Proposition 313 and urged attendees to help send a message to perpetrators that “no child is for sale in Arizona or throughout America.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Oct 17, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Former President Donald J. Trump picked up a significant endorsement while campaigning in the Grand Canyon State earlier this week.
On Sunday, President Trump appeared in front of thousands at a rally in Prescott Valley, where he was endorsed by the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) for his bid for the White House.
At the event, Paul Perez, NBPC’s President, said, “If we allow border czar Harris to win this election, every city, every community in this great country is going to hell. The untold millions of people unvetted, who she has allowed into this country that are committing murders, rapes, robberies, burglaries and every other crime will continue to put our country in peril.”
Perez added, “Only one man can fix that. That is Donald J. Trump. He has always stood with the men and women who protect this border, who put their lives on the line for the country.”
Art Del Cueto, the Vice President of the NBPC, stated, “Zero question as to who should lead this country. The time to save America is NOW!!”
State Senator Janae Shamp, one of the top border hawks of the Arizona Legislature, responded to the announcement, posting, “They know exactly what is at stake and who can fix it! God bless each and everyone of these men and women for standing for all Americans!”
The endorsement from the NBPC was reported as unanimous for the 45th President of the United States.
According to a press release from the Trump-Vance campaign, Trump promised to “hire 10,000 new Border Patrol agents and ask Congress to immediately approve a 10% raise for all agents, and a $10,000 retention and signing bonus.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Oct 17, 2024 | News
By Staff Reporter |
In an admission that his own party is failing on the border crisis, former President Bill Clinton alluded to the illegal immigrant murder of Laken Riley — though he avoided identifying her by name, and refused to include the term “illegal” before “immigrant.”
Although Riley was a Georgia resident at the time of her death, the vocal GOP senator from Surprise, Janae Shamp, didn’t let Clinton’s avoidance of naming Riley slide. Shamp did credit Clinton for admitting that it was an illegal immigrant who took Riley’s life.
“Bill Clinton her name is Laken Riley and she was dedicating her life to the sick as a fellow RN when she was brutally murdered by an illegal Venezuelan gang member,” said Shamp. “But yes, it is Biden-Harris fault entirely.”
Clinton alluded to Riley’s murder in remarks with Georgia voters over the weekend. The former president was visiting the state as part of campaign efforts promoting the presidential bid of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Clinton reduced Riley’s murder to the GOP’s political ads focused on the injustice and avoidability of her death, and pivoted to promoting the need for mass immigration to offset low U.S. birth rates.
“You had a case in Georgia not very long ago, didn’t you? They made an ad about it, about a young woman who had been killed by an immigrant?” said Clinton. “Yeah, well, if they’d all been properly vetted that probably wouldn’t have happened. But if they are properly vetted, that doesn’t happen and America is not having enough babies to keep our population up. So, we need immigrants that have been vetted to do work. There wouldn’t be a problem and he couldn’t keep people all torn up and that’s sad.”
Riley was a 22-year-old nursing student at the University of Georgia out for a morning jog on campus when 26-year-old Venezuelan gang member Jose Ibarra kidnapped, raped, and beat and strangled her to death in February. Riley did call 911 during the attack, but law enforcement said there was no dialogue on that call.
Ibarra entered the U.S. illegally in September 2022 near El Paso, Texas. He received parole despite his gang affiliations due to ICE’s inability to lodge a detainer in a timely manner or, in other words: Ibarra benefitted from the unofficial “catch and release” policy that has come to define the Biden administration’s immigration approach.
President Joe Biden downplayed Riley’s death during the 2024 State of the Union earlier this year, mispronouncing her name as “Lincoln” Riley.
“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?”
In March, the House passed the “Laken Riley Act” requiring detention of immigrants who commit burglary or theft. From his time entering the country illegally in 2022, Ibarra had been previously arrested for theft.
Ibarra’s trial is anticipated to occur in November. He has pleaded not guilty to the multiple charges he faces.
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by Daniel Stefanski | Oct 10, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
An Arizona State Senator is standing against an outrageous depiction of President Donald J. Trump.
Last week, Senator Janae Shamp, a Republican, issued a press release to “condemn the obscene nude statue of President Donald Trump that was hung from a crane in Las Vegas and reappeared most recently in Phoenix.”
In a statement, Shamp said, “How anyone could possibly believe this political stunt is anything more than sick and deplorable is beyond me. Many Americans have recently lost their lives or livelihoods in large areas of our country as a result of hurricane Helene. Our federal government has run out of aid money to assist them after spending nearly $1billion in FEMA funding to aid illegal immigration and the Biden-Harris open border crisis.”
Shamp added, “Hardworking families are struggling to put food on the table because of inflation. American citizens are dying every single day from consuming deadly fentanyl that’s trafficked into our country. Need I say more? We need solutions, and we need unity in this country right now, not dangerous and deplorable political theater. This ‘project’ is a shameful use of anyone’s resources and needs to end now.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Oct 7, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
A Republican State Senator is bringing attention to the work she and her colleagues have accomplished for Arizonans in the recently completed legislative session.
State Senator Janae Shamp released a statement last week to mark the bills that went into effect in the Grand Canyon State this September. For most bills passed by the Arizona Legislature and signed by the governor each legislative session, those policies go into effect ninety days after the adjournment of the state House and Senate.
“Bills signed into law during legislative session this year officially took effect in September, with a few exceptions,” said Shamp. “Senate Republicans championed impactful laws that will combat issues such as child abuse, retail theft, and the use of artificial intelligence for malice, as well as laws to help support patients with serious mental illness and prospective homebuyers in Arizona.”
The first-term lawmaker highlighted one of her own bills that became law last month – SB 1232. Shamp added, “I personally made it my mission to help protect Arizona’s most vulnerable population from predators. I had several bills signed into law to protect our children and inform our communities, and I’m proud to say life imprisonment is now on the table for criminals who commit the most heinous crimes against our children! Sexual misconduct with a minor is now considered a class 1 felony punishable by natural life imprisonment if the child is 12 years old or younger and suffers serious physical harm.”
In the Fifty-Sixth Legislature – Second Regular Session, there were 259 chaptered bills that became law in Arizona. That number was up from the previous year’s session, when there were 205 chaptered bills that became law.
However, the number of bills becoming law in a divided state government, with Republicans controlling the Arizona Legislature and a Democrat in the Governor’s Office, was far lower than when Republicans had full control of government. In 2022, the last year of Republican Governor Doug Ducey’s administration, 388 chaptered bills became law. And in 2021, there were 447 chaptered bills that became law.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
