by Corinne Murdock | Aug 13, 2023 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Come February 2024, travelers can book a direct flight from Phoenix to the one of the world’s deadliest cities: Tijuana, Mexico.
Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport announced late last month that American Airlines will begin offering the direct flights to Tijuana.
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego hailed the move as an economic boost.
“This new connection will ultimately strengthen our tourism industry, support business, and create more job opportunities for Phoenicians,” said Gallego.
The Citizens Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice, a Mexican organization, reported that Tijuana had the fifth-highest murder rate of 105 for every 100,000 residents in 2022 (there were nearly 2,200 homicides in one year per two million residents). Nine of the ten deadliest cities worldwide were located in Mexico.
In May, the Baja California’s State Attorney General’s Office reported over 600 murders from this January to April.
The one city to make the top-ten ranking that wasn’t located in Mexico was New Orleans, Louisiana at eighth. Baltimore, Maryland ranked 17th; Detroit, Michigan ranked 23rd; Memphis, Tennessee ranked 25th; Cleveland, Ohio ranked 27th; Milwaukee, Wisconsin ranked 39th; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ranked 46th.
Located in Tijuana is the New Generation Tijuana Cartel, or Tijuana Cartel, formerly the Arellano-Félix Organization (AFO), allied with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel: one of the two leading cartels responsible for the deadly drug epidemic in the U.S. The other is their rival, the Sinaloa Cartel.
Drug smuggling has become an issue on passenger flights; reports identified American Airlines flights among those used to traffic drugs. In May, the American Airlines mechanic was convicted for drug smuggling.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) stated in a report last year that cartels have internal conspirators within airlines that assist in smuggling the drugs. Ramon Santaliz, a CBP Aircraft Search Team officer, said he’s seen traffickers posing as all sorts of figures. They store the drugs anywhere imaginable: checked luggage, life vests, bathroom waste tanks, galley carts, garbage cans, toilet paper rolls, aircraft computer cabinets, pilot seats, wing spars, even first class armrests.
“It could be the caterers, cleaners, mechanics, baggage handlers, flight crew, or even the security guards. Money moves a lot of people,” said Santaliz. “The aircraft is its own contained world. [Drugs] could be anywhere on the aircraft — from the tip of the nose all the way to the tail because there are hidden spaces everywhere.”
CBP conducts its drug seizure tactics using a mix of trends and chance. Officers review flight schedules and will “randomly” select flights to search. Airlines pay fines of $1,000 an ounce for any drugs discovered during CBP searches.
Last August, the U.S. Consulate issued a “shelter in place” advisory for Americans residing in Tijuana after dozens of people were killed amid a fight between the Jalisco and Sinaloa Cartels. The advisory succeeded former Gov. Doug Ducey’s executive order to finish the border wall by several hours. The violence prompted the descent of military reinforcements to the area.
In recent months, local cartels have engaged in violent public conflict over control of strip clubs, brothels, and bars within Tijuana’s Zona Norte. One confrontation earlier this month resulted in a deadly shootout, with two dead.
In addition to Tijuana, American Airlines will also offer daily flights to Guadalajara, Mexico.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Jun 21, 2023 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Over the weekend, the Arizona Republic featured an opinion article from an illegal immigrant activist advocating for citizenship rights for himself and others.
The illegal immigrant activist, Arizona State University (ASU) college student Angel Palazuelos, interns with the illegal immigrant activist group Aliento. Palazuelos refers to himself as “undocumented,” a euphemism for those who remain illegally in America after immigrating illegally.
“I belong here. This is my home, and I have done more than enough to prove it,” wrote Palazuelos. “The struggles of undocumented individuals like me are often overlooked in the broader conversation.”
Palazuelos is a rising senior at ASU, where he studies biomedical engineering. He receives in-state tuition rates due to the recent passage of Proposition 308, a leftist dark money-backed ballot initiative which conferred the benefits of reduced tuition rates to illegal immigrants.
Palazuelos has also served as the face for advancing illegal immigration reform for years. Prior to joining up with Aliento, Palazuelos said his dream was to become a mechanical engineer. Now, he hopes his activist efforts will enable him to become an immigration lawyer.
In 2020, the New York Times featured Palazuelos following his high school graduation, depicting him as a youth whose “life has been punctuated with uncertainty, anxiety, and fear.”
The author of the Palazuelos feature, Fernanda Santos, writes currently for The Washington Post, teaches at ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, and serves as the editorial director for the Futuro Media Group.
In a 2021 interview with ASU’s student newspaper, Palazuelos complained that he had to find outside scholarships to afford college since he didn’t qualify for in-state tuition rates. Four months later, Palazuelos received financial aid from the governments of both his home country and the U.S.: he received $5,500 as one of the 30 recipients of the Empowering Diversity Scholarship issued by the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona and Fiesta Bowl. Palazuelos also received $2,000 from the Mexican Consulate in Phoenix and the nonprofit Friendly House. The Mexican Consulate funding comes from the Mexican government’s Institute for Mexicans Abroad, which is then applied by individual, U.S.-based consulates.
Earlier in 2021, Palazuelos claimed in an Aliento video feature that his dreams of studying engineering were “crushed” because of his immigration status.
Now, in anticipation of soon graduating with his engineering degree, Palazuelos said he plans on attending law school to become an immigration attorney. However, Palazuelos claimed that current employment laws prevent him from working, or even receiving an internship. Palazuelos has been admitted to multiple internships and programs throughout his life.
Palazuelos met with Gov. Katie Hobbs in February to lobby for the “Promise for Dreamers” program. Hobbs’ plan would set aside $40 million for college scholarships for illegal immigrants. On average, over 3,600 illegal immigrant youth graduate from Arizona high schools annually.
READ: GOV. HOBBS WANTS TO COVER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS’ TUITION
According to Palazuelos’ most recent testimony, when he was five years old his family immigrated illegally from Culiacán Sinaloa, Mexico into the country exactly three days after the deadline to qualify for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program instituted by former President Barack Obama. He claimed to not be a DACA recipient, though on social media and in interviews he refers to himself as a “dreamer” — the descriptor used to identify DACA recipients. Palazuelos also identified himself as a DACA recipient for a feature article by ASU’s marketing team in 2020.
That’s not the only inconsistency: elsewhere, Palazuelos claims he immigrated when he was four, then five, then six years old. His timeline for missing DACA eligibility has also shifted: in a 2021 article, Palazuelos told the Arizona Republic that his family missed the deadline by two days, not three. Yet in 2020, Palazuelos told the New York Times that he qualified for the program and intended to apply, but was unable to because the Trump administration rescinded DACA.
Aliento, the organization where Palazuelo served as both an intern and a fellow, was co-founded by a DACA recipient: Reyna Montoya. Like Palazuelo, Montoya also attended ASU; she graduated with political science and transborder studies degrees, then a master’s degree in secondary education.
Also like Palazuelo, Montoya lamented the consequences of illegal immigration. Montoya founded Aliento in 2016, claiming “compounded trauma and education barriers” from growing up as a DACA recipient. Montoya was 10 years old when her mother smuggled her from Tijuana, Mexico to Arizona.
In the summer of 2021, the Arizona House awarded Aliento for advocating for in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. Aliento leadership also has ties to the liberal think tank behind the cover-up of Hunter Biden’s corruption.
In his opinion article over the weekend, Palazuelos petitioned Congress to confer permanent citizenship to himself, his family, and other illegal immigrants like them.
The taxpayer-borne cost of educating illegal immigrants is nearing the billions annually. In 2020, the most recent data available, illegal immigrant children cost Arizona public schools over $748 million. 99 percent of those funds came from local and state taxes, not the federal government.
Palazuelos’ mother, Daisy, claimed in an interview with Aliento that her children have “suffered” because of immigration law. Daisy issued her remarks in Spanish.
“[M]y children and our, as a whole community, has already suffered enough,” said Daisy. “This is not just. This is an opportunity we cannot wait for. We need it now.”
It’s unclear what suffering Palazuelos endured.
He revealed across his many media interviews over the years that his high school experience lacked for nothing. All while reportedly maintaining a 4.7 GPA, Palazuelos was able to take honors and Advanced Placement (AP) classes, as well as enjoy a wide variety of extracurriculars in high school. Palazuelos also delivered a speech to his graduating class.
Palazuelos played volleyball, baseball, and cross-country; he participated in an engineering CTE program where he was certified through programs like SolidWorks and AutoCAD; he served as president for his school’s Spanish Honor Society; he was a member of the National Honor Society, Science National Honor Society, Mathematics Honor Society, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztlan (MEChA), the ACLU of Arizona; and he served as a student strategist for the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration.
Palazuelos also interned for Puente Human Rights Movement, and participated in a Harvard University summer program, Summer Business Academy. Palazuelos successfully crowdfunded the $2,000 to pay for the program.
Puente Human Rights Movement allegedly assisted Palazuelos in a petition to remove school resource officers off Phoenix Union High School District campuses, for which Palazuelos alleged to The New York Times that he was threatened with deportation. Palazuelos also led demonstrations at the Phoenix Police Department and the ICE detention center.
“The system is the one we need to dismantle,” said Palazuelos in a 2020 ASU feature interview.
“Being undocumented is knowing that despite doing everything right, you will never be ‘qualified,’” stated Palazuelos.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Terri Jo Neff | Apr 1, 2023 | Economy, News
By Terri Jo Neff |
An Arizona company has announced plans to ship African-mined cobalt to Mexico, then truck it north to be processed at a new, state-of-the-art facility in Yuma County so it can be sold to companies that make batteries for Electric Vehicles (EVs).
EVelution Energy is expected to start construction of its Yuma cobalt processing facility next year, with a goal of being operational no later than early 2026. It forecasts more than 1,000 construction phase jobs, along with 60 direct and 300 indirect jobs once the facility is fully functional.
Cobalt is a rare, ferromagnetic metal primarily used in lithium-ion batteries and in the manufacture of magnetic, high-strength alloys. Dating back to 3000 BC, cobalt was mostly used for its blue coloring in the making of ceramics and glass.
Other uses were limited due to the fact arsenic fumes are a by-product of smelting. But new processing methods in the last few decades changed all of that.
In March, the Yuma County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a special-use permit allowing EVelution to move forward with construction on 139 acres just east of the City of Yuma and south of the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge.
The property, which spans Union Pacific Railroad tracks and U.S. Interstate 8, is located within one of Arizona’s Qualified Opportunity Zones which provide a wide range of tax incentives for private, long-term investments in economically distressed communities.
There are also various federal economic development incentives currently available for EVelution Energy’s project, such as the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, nearly two-thirds of all mined cobalt (150,000 tonnes in 2019) comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (100,000 tonnes in 2019). The USGS also estimates there is about 4 million tonnes of cobalt reserves on the African continent, and another 3 million tonnes globally.
EVelution plans to transport cobalt hydroxide feedstock sourced from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to a port in Ensenada, Mexico, a roughly four hour trip by truck to the Yuma processing facility. And the company knows there is domestic market for its product.
Currently, more than 70 percent of the world’s battery grade cobalt is processed in China. That puts U.S.-based Electric Vehicle manufacturers overly reliant on imports.
The Yuma cobalt facility’s expected annual 7,000 tonnes capacity could meet 40 percent of the expected demand for U.S.-produced EVs in 2027.
The forecasted $55 million economic benefit from EVelution Energy’s project is very much needed, particularly in southwestern Arizona. However, two environmental concerns will be closely monitored even though Yuma County approved the company’s special use permit.
First is the sourcing and disposal of water. EVelution expects to use 74 million gallons of water per month. The water will be sourced from aquifers running under the property, likely via wells which will run more than 1,000 feet deep.
“Our water usage is therefore not expected to impact the surrounding area’s water table/groundwater,” the company says, adding that a water treatment plant will allow for about 70 percent of its used water to be recycled.
The second concern is the disposal of “tailings,” which are the unused materials which remain after processing. EVelution intends to minimize risks of potential contamination to its or surrounding land by foregoing on-site tailing ponds.
“Tailings will be collected, transported and safely disposed of at a licensed local landfill located less than 20 miles away,” the company says.
EVelution Energy is also focused on transitioning to a net zero carbon future. Getting there will mean building a 38.4 MW (peak) solar power array to power the processing plant. The company expects to use excess power from the day to recharge its battery storage.
There is also the possibility some of the excess electricity can be sold to a local power utility to service nearby agricultural companies.
“Solar power will heat the water and process solutions for hydrometallurgical cobalt processing,” according to the company’s website. ‘This heated solution will be stored at temperature in large storage tanks overnight. Using solar power rather than propane or natural gas will further reduce our carbon-footprint.”
As with most mining operations in Africa, there are concerns with the health impacts to workers and with the use of child labor. EVelution’s website shows the company is aware of those issues.
“We are committed to sourcing cobalt in a socially responsible manner, preventing child labor and to promoting respect for human rights of people employed in or affected by our cobalt supply chain,” the website states. “We plan to source our cobalt only from companies that comply with the guidelines of the Responsible Cobalt Initiative.”
EVelution’s proximity to California could lead to further revenue streams, given that state’s early acceptance of EVs.
With EV batteries being quite heavy, and thus expensive to transport, the company is “well positioned to potentially recycle EV batteries from electric vehicles that reach the end of their product lifespan,” its website notes. “The oldest electric vehicles are predominantly located in California and therefore their batteries will be in need of recycling the soonest.”
Terri Jo Neff is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or send her news tips here.
by Terri Jo Neff | Sep 27, 2022 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
While the main focus along the southwest border is on who and what is coming into the United States, the director of one U.S. Port of Entry in Arizona is making the public aware of the strides his officers are having at keeping firearms from getting into the hands of cartel members in Mexico.
Michael Humphries has been the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Nogales Port Director since 2018. His responsibilities include two major border crossings—the Dennis DeConcini POE and the Mariposa POE—as well as the Morley pedestrian gate, the Nogales International Airport, and the Rio Rico railyard.
On Sunday, Humphries tweeted about a southbound vehicle that was preparing to leave the U.S. on Sept. 22 through the Nogales POE.
“As officers spoke to the driver, a K9 alerted to the trunk area of the vehicle and the driver fled,” Humphries wrote. “Officers were able to stop the car before it escaped into Mexico and found 3 AK style semi-auto rifles.”
Just days earlier, Humphries tweeted about a vehicle attempting to leave the U.S. with several firearms hidden in the cargo area.
Federal officials estimate more than 200,000 firearms were illegally trafficked last year from the U.S. into Mexico, particularly through Arizona and Texas crossings.
A tracing program operated by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Mexican government shows more than 70 percent of guns used in criminal activity in Mexico came from the U.S.
One of Humphries’ tweets from June featured the seizure of a machine gun, 20,000 rounds of ammunition, and other firearms, all of which were headed into Mexico.
A few days before, CBP officers encountered two men attempting to walk into Mexico with assault weapons taped to their bodies.
And in May, Humphries tweeted about the seizure of 10 rifles concealed in one vehicle headed to Mexico.
by Terri Jo Neff | Nov 17, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
Some business leaders have dreamt for years of an interstate that would traverse Arizona, providing a better connection for international trade through Nogales to Phoenix and Las Vegas, and in the process providing a north-south route between Canada and Mexico.
Las Vegas and Phoenix are the only two cities with population of more than 1 million residents which are not linked by a direct interstate route. That dream of new opportunities for trade, commerce, job growth, and economic competitiveness took a leap forward Tuesday when the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) announced its preferred route for the state’s portion of Interstate 11 as it would be known.
Officially called the “Record of Decision and Final Preliminary Section 4(f) Evaluation,” the report released Nov. 16 was prepared by ADOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act. It represents the final step in the Tier 1 Environmental Impact Statement process, culminating five years of study, technical analysis, and stakeholder input.
The Record of Decision also includes proposed corridor, or route, for the 280 miles of I-11 that would run between Nogales and Wickenburg utilizing new and existing roadways. Another 200 miles of what is currently U.S. Highway 93 from Wickenburg to the Arizona / Nevada state line where 23 miles of I-11 begin its run in Nevada would also become part of I-11 after a series of upgrades. That section is not part of the Record of Decision.
The idea of a Canada to Mexico transportation route which would connect the two largest cities in Arizona and Nevada dates back 25 years. However, it was not until 2015 that Congress formally designated I-11 as an interstate highway in Arizona, although the designation came with no funding for design or construction.
Deciding where the new interstate would be located has presented a years-long challenge for ADOT and FHWA. While the route between Phoenix to Wickenburg was delineated early, there have been two potential routes considered for the Phoenix to Nogales segment. That was further narrowed down to utilizing I-10 from Phoenix for several miles until just north of Marana.
The Tier 1 environmental impact review then looked at two alternatives for reaching Nogales. One of those options took an easterly route by utilizing existing roadways of I-10 to I-19 to State Route 189.
A westerly option, which is the one recommended by ADOT and approved this week by FHWA, would require construction of a new roadway through Avra Valley and then down near Three Points before merging into I-19 in Sahuarita. More than 60 percent of the land near that route is currently vacant.
Previous concerns voiced by stakeholders in the Sahuarita area led to an adjustment of the westerly route before it was recommended this week. The town of Sahuarita has even designated more than 90 acres of vacant land that could be utilized for the merging of I-11 with I-19.
But the I-11 project in Arizona is a long way from ever breaking ground, if it even gets that far. The Tier 1 report released this week with its westerly option recommendation is only the beginning. Additional studies would be necessary, including a Tier 2 environmental review.
“It is during the Tier 2 process that the Selected Corridor Alternative would be narrowed to a maximum 400-foot-wide highway alignment, or route,” according to ADOT. “Based on need and purpose, these segments would focus on smaller and shorter sections of I-11 and not the entire 280-mile corridor.”
And as with the recent announcement of a preferred alternative route for theSonoran Corridor connecting Interstate 10 to Interstate 19, the I-11 project is unfunded.
“Currently there are no plans or funding available to initiate these Tier 2 studies,” ADOT confirmed.
Less than 23 miles of I-11 have been competed in Nevada, running from the Hoover Dam Bypass at the Arizona state line to Henderson, Nevada. The CEO of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce has called completion of I-11 one of the most critical projects for the Intermountain Western states.
For more information about I-11 and the Tier 1 Environmental Impact Statement, visit i11study.com/Arizona.
