News
Senate GOP unveils police reform bill that is panned by Democrats
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans unveiled a police reform bill Wednesday that takes a markedly different approach to police reform efforts backed by congressional Democrats.
Sinema: Ducey doesn’t ‘have the time or the interest’ to talk to her about COVID-19
U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema said she’s “not satisfied” with Gov. Doug Ducey’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis, and suggested that the governor and the director of the Arizona Department of Health Services have refused to speak with her about the situation.
Trump signs modest police reform order, defends police as ‘brave’
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed a modest police reform order Tuesday in response to massive civil unrest over police brutality against people of color.
Phoenix PD: ‘Confusion’ caused erroneous felony charges against Dreamers
The Phoenix Police Department said “confusion on the paperwork process” led to felony charges for four Arizona residents after they were arrested following a May 30 protest denouncing the death of Black Americans at the hands of law enforcement.
Trump administration unveils sweeping plan to limit asylum claims
The Trump administration has unveiled its furthest-reaching plan yet to change asylum law in the U.S., redefining the meaning of “persecution” and raising the bar for refugees seeking protection under the Convention Against Torture, among other changes.
COVID-19 cases at Eloy Detention Center surge by 460% since Friday
On June 11, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reported 22 positive cases of COVID-19 at the Eloy Detention Center in Pinal County. Four days later, that number jumped 460% to 123 confirmed cases, ICE reported Monday.
Arizona leaders, advocates react to LGBTQ discrimination ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday morning that LGBTQ Americans are protected from workplace discrimination by the 1964 civil rights act. “An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for […]
LGBTQ workers are protected, but advocates say more work remains
Arizona went from being one of more than two dozen states where it’s still legal to fire someone for their sexual orientation or gender identity to being one of 50 where workplace discrimination against gay and transgendered people is illegal.
U.S. Supreme Court ruling protects LGBTQ workers from job discrimination
WASHINGTON — In a landmark victory for LGBTQ rights, the U.S. Supreme Court held Monday that employers can’t legally fire people because of their gender identity or sexual orientation.
GAO: Border officials spent migrant care funds on canines, ATVs, more
PHOENIX – Customs and Border Protection officials spent funds that were supposed to go to medical care and migrant processing facilities to pay for computer upgrades, canine units, ATVs and other items instead, a new government report shows. The Government Accountability Office said June 11 that CBP violated the law when it took money allocated […]
AG tosses complaint against Fontes over early ballot costs
The Arizona Attorney General’s Office dismissed a complaint alleging that Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes illegally spent taxpayer dollars on early ballots that he wasn’t allowed to mail to voters for the presidential preference election and that he should repay the cost out of his own pocket.
COVID-19 compounds precarious conditions for trans woman in ICE detention
Shortly after Shakira Najera Chinel arrived at the Eloy Immigration Detention Center in September 2019, she began to have stomach problems. Since then, the 29-year-old asylum seeker’s gastrointestinal condition has turned chronic.