Congressman Abraham Hamadeh (R-AZ08) partnered with the U.S. Secret Service to host a fraud prevention seminar for residents of Arizona’s 8th Congressional District earlier this month.
According to a social media post from the congressman’s office, the event was held in Sun City and focused on educating residents about how to identify and avoid common financial scams.
The event listing described the seminar as an opportunity for residents to learn from U.S. Secret Service experts how to recognize and prevent fraud schemes. A video shared on social media by Hamadeh’s office stated that the seminar aimed to help residents learn about fraud and scam tactics that target consumers.
🇺🇸NEW🇺🇸
This week, Congressman Hamadeh's office collaborated with the Secret Service to host a seminar in Sun City, where we taught District Eight residents how to prevent and protect themselves from scams and fraudsters.
— Office of Congressman Abe Hamadeh (@RepAbeHamadeh) March 12, 2026
The presentation focused on common forms of financial fraud, including scams that frequently target older Americans.
Concerns about deed fraud and property scams have been increasing in Arizona, prompting the Arizona Senate to introduce Senate Bills 1479 and 1254 in February to strengthen protections for property owners and close gaps in the state’s deed recording process. SB 1479 was advanced unanimously by the state Senate on March 3.
“Property ownership is the cornerstone of financial security for families, seniors, and small businesses in Arizona,” said the bill’s sponsor, Senate Majority Whip Sen. Frank Carroll (R-LD28).
“When criminals are able to forge documents, record false claims, or quietly transfer property without the rightful owner’s knowledge, it erodes trust in our entire system. These bills deliver a strong message: Arizona will not tolerate deed fraud. We are enhancing identity verification, increasing penalties for offenders, improving notification systems, and ensuring that no property changes hands without proper approval. This initiative aims to protect homeowners, restore confidence in our public records, and ensure that the law firmly supports legitimate property owners.”
Sun City and the surrounding communities in Arizona’s 8th Congressional District have a significant population of retirees and senior residents. Hamadeh’s office said the seminar was part of an effort to provide constituents with resources and information on financial crime prevention.
The U.S. Secret Service is responsible for investigating financial crimes, including fraud, identity theft, and other forms of financial exploitation.
The terroristic attacks and threats by Afghan nationals in recent weeks have renewed concerns about the vetting of those resettled in Arizona.
On the day before Thanksgiving last week, an Afghan national shot two National Guard members in Washington, D.C.; one of the two died, and the other remains in critical condition.
The shooter, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, remains in custody. He entered the country in late 2021 with his wife and five children under Biden’s resettlement program, Operation Allies Welcome, following the botched Afghanistan withdrawal in August 2021.
Volunteers who worked with Lakanwal’s family claimed in interviews with NPR that Lakanwal didn’t show signs of radicalization prior to the terrorist attack. Rather, they claimed Lakanwal showed signs of mental instability and struggles to adjust to life in the U.S.
These volunteers also revealed that Lakanwal would drive away from his Washington state residence for long stretches in the weeks leading up to his attack, traveling to other states without explanation given to those around him — including Arizona.
Similarly, sources told ABC News that Lakanwal’s mental health was in decline leading up to the attack. Lakanwal was allegedly stressed by family finances, since his work permit expired and he was unable to find steady work.
However, sources advised ABC News that Lakanwal was granted asylum in April of this year, which grants automatic work authorization, after applying last year.
Approval of Lakanwal’s asylum petition occurred on the basis of the previous administration’s vetting procedures, which have been in question from the start of the resettlement program.
Another Afghan citizen — Mohammad Dawood Alokozay residing in Fort Worth, Texas — was charged on Tuesday for terroristic threats. Alokozay threatened to commit a suicide bombing as part of a jihad against Americans.
Like Lakanwal, Alokazay passed allegedly thorough vetting procedures under the previous administration.
According to the archived Operation Allies Welcome webpage, the Department of Homeland Security deployed 400 personnel from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Transportation Security Administration, the Coast Guard, and Secret Service to multiple locations abroad to conduct processing, screening, and vetting alongside other federal agencies.
Screening and vetting consisted of biometric and biographic screenings.
About 200,000 Afghans were granted asylum under the initial resettlement program, Operation Allies Welcome, and its successor, Operation Enduring Welcome. A little under 4,000 Afghan refugees have been brought into Arizona as part of the resettlement program since 2022, per the Arizona Department of Economic Security’s Arizona Refugee Resettlement Program.
The Trump administration is reexamining these Afghan asylees following this latest terrorist attack.
Back in 2021, congressional leaders questioned the thoroughness of these procedures.
This resettlement program had red flags from the start.
Officials identified numerous incidents concerning Afghan men arriving at intake centers and claiming female children as their wives. These child brides reported being raped by these men and forced to marry them.
Congressman Andy Biggs asked about these incidents and others in a letter to the Department of Homeland Security. Biggs also addressed the claims of refugee status given to Afghan men with criminal records or past terrorist organization associations.
In January, less than a week after taking office, Vice President J.D. Vance told CBS News that the Biden administration hadn’t properly vetted those awarded refugee status.
“Now that we know we have vetting problems with a lot of these refugee programs, we absolutely cannot unleash thousands of unvetted people into our country,” said Vance.
Last October, two Afghan nationals were arrested for planning an Election Day terrorist attack inspired by ISIS. Abdullah Haji Zada and Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi; the latter individual was brought into the country days after the Biden administration withdrew from Afghanistan.
These individuals were also alleged to have been properly vetted.
President Trump paused migration from third-world countries following the terrorist attack. In the Sunday press gaggle aboard Air Force One, Trump said Americans don’t need or want these foreigners.
Effective immediately, processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals is stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols.
The protection and safety of our homeland and of the American people remains our singular focus and…
“We don’t want those people. Does that make sense?” said Trump. “You know why we don’t want them? Because many have been no good and they shouldn’t be in our country.”
The federal government spent over $14 billion on the Afghan resettlement program.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
A Pima County Sheriff’s office deputy was placed on leave with pay after making threats to President Donald Trump on social media.
Deputy Ramon Hernandez made the threats following the assassination of conservative leader Charlie Kirk last week.
Hernandez called for Trump’s assassination, celebrated Kirk’s assassination, and called for revolution in multiple posts.
“Death to pedophile rapist Trump,” posted Hernandez, sharing a video depicting news coverage of pro-Palestinian protesters interrupting a Trump dinner in Washington, D.C.
“Death to Israel, death to pedo-Trump,” said Hernandez, sharing a post describing Israel’s recent bombing of Doha, Qatar.
“[Trump is a] piece of shit human. REVOLUTION,” posted Hernandez, in response to news of a court allowing Trump to defund Planned Parenthood pending case review of Medicaid funding.
“Feel bad for his kids, then again, they’re probably better off,” said Hernandez, sharing posts from Kirk that criticized Islam and Gaza.
“For the past 2 years I’ve been watching children’s bodies snipped and shredded to bits by U.S. bombs and Israel pushing the button….. And here we are feeling empathy for Charlie who only promoted hate, racism and was all for the annihilation of the Palestinians. Ironically Charlie didn’t believe in ‘empathy.’ We are well past the red line in this country. A pedophile rapist for a president, the military initiated for no real reason against its own citizens, ICE abducting anyone of color….. We are long overdue for a revolution. As for poor Charlie, that’s his own karma that got him where he now lays. Stand on the right side of history, especially if you’re a cop. Cops for Palestine.”
Do you feel someone who celebrates murder of conservatives can be trusted to serve and protect your residents who hold these same values? pic.twitter.com/bJpKuzPNu1
Hernandez called for the “tak[ing] out” of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Secret Service launched a criminal investigation into Hernandez.
Sheriff Chris Nanos said in a video statement that they were concerned about Hernandez’s posts, which he said were “alleged to be inappropriate.” Nanos said they would open their own investigation pending the outcome of the federal investigation.
“We have been notified by several citizens, as well as the Secret Service. The Secret Service is conducting a criminal investigation as we speak, and we are cooperating fully. To that point, we have protocols that are governed by law and by policy,” said Nanos. “To be clear, this sheriff and this department does not and will never condone violence of any kind. We hold our team to a higher standard: a level of professionalism that’s above all. We expect the best out of our team at all times, 24/7, not just during their eight-hour day.”
A Secret Service spokesperson told KJZZ that they couldn’t comment on active investigations.
“We take all threats against our protectees seriously,” stated the spokesperson. “As a matter of practice, we do not comment on matters involving protective intelligence.”
Earlier this summer, Hernandez was featured in the news as a protester against Trump’s immigration policies. Hernandez carried a Palestinian flag.
“Standing up for Indigenous people, decolonization is the main thing,” said Hernandez. “If we’re able to liberate Palestine, we’re able to liberate the world.”
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
An Arizona Member of Congress is attempting to ensure that the U.S. Secret Service is better equipped to protect those under its watch.
Last week, U.S. Congressman Andy Biggs introduced the Secret Service Prioritization Actof 2024. According to a press release issued by Biggs’ office, the legislation “implements a major recommendation from the DHS Independent Review Panel’s October 15, 2024 Report on the Assassination Attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania,” which “noted the Panel’s ‘extreme skepticism that many of the Service’s non protective (investigative) missions meaningfully contribute to the Service’s protective capability and is concerned that they may materially distract from it.’”
In a statement, Biggs said, “July 13, 2024, was a wake-up call to the failures of the Secret Service. In no world should an agency with a budget of $3+ billion and 3,200 specialized agents fail to protect the life of one of the most influential figures in the world. The failures of July 13 illustrate the necessity to strip non-protective responsibilities from the Secret Service to ensure it is focused on the execution of its primary duty.”
Biggs added, “Now that President Trump’s FBI will be shifting away from weaponization against American citizens, they will be fully equipped to take on Secret Service’s non-protective, investigative functions. It’s imperative that House Leadership move this legislation through the House to ensure that no event like July 13 is ever able to occur again.”
One of the original cosponsors of the bill, Biggs’ fellow Arizona Congressman Eli Crane, weighed in, saying, “The Secret Service should have a singular focus on protection. Many failures have been exposed over the last six months and I’m proud to join Rep. Biggs in introducing legislation that seeks to fix one of them.”
Florida Congressman Cory Mills also joined as a cosponsor of the legislation.
Congressman Biggs highlighted a key section of the DHS report, which stated, “Whatever else the Secret Service may do, its core, essential, and unique mission is to protect its protectees, including the president, vice president, and nominees for president in an election. No other federal law enforcement agency can discharge this duty. And the duty is a zero-failure mission. All assets should be allocated to that mission before any other tasks—including law enforcement responsibility for financial frauds, for example, or perhaps law enforcement duties entirely—are undertaken. There is simply no excuse to ‘do more with less’ concerning protection of national leaders; unless and until those responsibilities are fulfilled, no resources (funds or time) should be allocated to other missions that are not centrally related to the protective function.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
President Joe Biden’s time in the White House is mercifully coming to an end. He is now officially a lame duck with six months to go.
Biden was a victim here of a corrupt Democratic machine that — along with a complicit media — thought they could pull off a grand election-year deceit, despite his failing cognitive abilities. The Democratic establishment and a compliant media convinced millions of primary voters that Biden was of sound mind and ready to serve four more years. This lust for power put America in danger.
How could they be so unpatriotic?
So, where will Biden stand in the history books? He was not a failed president because of his declining cognitive abilities. It was his policies that wrecked America.
It is hard to point to a single policy that he got right. On the economy, he was catastrophically bad.
The trillions of dollars of debt he rung up bought nothing. He sent inflation to the highest levels in almost forty years.
The average family lost $2,000 of income after inflation during his reign. More people died of COVID during his presidency than Trump’s — despite the availability of the vaccine.
Interest rates rose. Biden declared war on American energy. He put America back into the Paris Climate Accord—and the rest of the world went on using more fossil fuels than ever. By impeding U.S. oil and gas production and pipelines he played into the hands of our enemies — China and Iran.
Gas prices rose. Small business confidence sagged. Poverty rates rose.
Then there was the sheer incompetence. The bungled Afghanistan withdrawal was a national security disaster. The border became a broken dam with millions seeking to illegally enter the country. The government spent $7.5 billion on electric vehicle chargers and only a handful got built.
Biden gave away hundreds of billions of dollars for an illegal and immoral student loan forgiveness program. He put regulators in charge of key agencies even though — or because — they hate business. A majority of his appointees had no business experience. It showed.
When he departs the White House in the months ahead he will leave the nation poorer, weaker, more divided, more in debt, more vulnerable, and less respected than when he entered office.
This was a man who pledged to unite the country and did just the opposite. He deserves to go down in history as one of the five worst presidents of the 20th and 21st century.
Here is my list starting with the worst: 1) Woodrow Wilson; 2) Herbert Hoover: 3) Jimmy Carter; 4) Joe Biden; 5) Barack Obama.
Now the Democrats want to run Vice President Kamala Harris, who was on board with every Biden policy and helped oversee the worst border catastrophe in modern history.
Just when you thought things could not get any worse.
Stephen Moore is a contributor to The Daily Caller News Foundation, visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation, and a co-founder of the Committee to Unleash Prosperity.
