Arizona’s Proposition 314, authorizing local enforcement of federal immigration law, would face legal hurdles if approved

WASHINGTON – Arizona’s Proposition 314 is certain to face legal challenges over provisions that would give police the power to arrest migrants and state courts the power to deport them.

Alejandra Gomez, executive director of Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA), speaks out about Proposition 314. “While Republicans believe this will rally their base, I can assure you that a different story will be told on the day after the election,” she said at a news conference in front of the Arizona Supreme Court building in Phoenix on June 5, 2024. (File photo by Stella Subasic/Cronkite News)

Migrants regularly die in searing Arizona heat, but the desert often claims the remains and death toll is uncertain

WASHINGTON – Arizona’s harsh desert kills hundreds of migrants every year. Volunteers try to save them but instead often find only the remains.

Volunteers for No More Deaths leave water for migrants. The humanitarian organization is based in southern Arizona. (File photo by Rebecca Spiess/Cronkite News)

Arizona Republicans embrace Trump’s pledge of mass deportations but some wonder at feasibility of expelling millions of people

MILWAUKEE – Former President Donald Trump’s vow to carry out mass deportations – removing at least 11 million people in the country illegally – was largely welcomed by Arizona Republican delegates at the party’s national convention.

Arizona delegates watch speakers on the first day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 17, 2024. (Photo by Grey Gartin/Cronkite News)

Migrant experts: Trump’s debate claim that ‘millions’ of criminals, mental patients have flooded U.S. under Biden doesn’t hold up

WASHINGTON – During the CNN debate Thursday, former President Donald Trump repeated a debunked claim that “millions” of migrants who are criminals or mental patients have flooded the country during Joe Biden’s presidency. There’s no evidence of that, experts say.

A group of migrants is apprehended by Yuma Sector Border Patrol. (Photo by Jerry Glaser/CBP)

Customs and Border Protection data shows sharp drop in use of force, but accuracy is questioned by migrant advocates

WASHINGTON – After record high use-of-force reports by CBP, the number of incidents has steadily decreased. Advocacy groups have historically had doubts about the accuracy of the data, citing concerns of undercounts and falsehoods.

U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehends three adults and three children after they crossed the Rio Grande in a raft and surrendered. (Photo by Mani Albrecht/CBP)

LUCHA files lawsuit, vows to fight controversial HCR 2060, the Secure the Border Act

PHOENIX – On the steps of the Arizona Supreme Court, Living United for Change in Arizona filed a lawsuit challenging HCR 2060, known as the Secure the Border Act, claiming the resolution violated the single-subject rule. HCR 2060, a resolution that will bypass the governor and go to voters, would make crossing the border outside of points of entry a state crime, among other border and immigration provisions.

Alejandra Gomez, LUCHA executive director, says if HCR 2060 proceeds to the ballot in November, Arizona voters will be heard on Election Day. “While Republicans believe this will rally their base, I can assure you that a different story will be told on the day after the election,” Gomez says at a news conference in Phoenix, on June 5, 2024. (Photo by Stella Subasic/Cronkite News)

Biden order shutting the border to migrants seeking asylum draws mixed reviews in Arizona

WASHINGTON – Arizona Democrats stood with President Joe Biden Tuesday as he announced strict policies for asylum-seekers. Republicans said it was too little too late as a long stalemate over the border persists in Congress.

Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Phoenix, speaks with reporters at the White House on June 4, 2024, after President Joe Biden’s announcement on asylum policy. (Photo by Cronkite News)

Ruben Gallego faces election year pressures in vote against noncitizen voting in D.C., but it’s not unusual in local elections

WASHINGTON – Rep. Ruben Gallego voted with Republicans to block noncitizen voting in Washington, D.C. The issue is a lightning rod in the 2024 Senate campaign, and isn’t widely used in the United States, but it’s not unprecedented in local elections.

Rep. Ruben Gallego campaign photo

Government report confirms that border agencies lose migrant belongings

WASHINGTON – A recent GAO report investigated complaints of border agents mishandling and throwing away migrant’s personal belongings. The report addressed these complaints and recommends new guidelines. Advocacy groups say migrants have lost vital documents.

Migrants are placed in holding facilities before they are returned to Mexico. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Customs and Border Protection)

Border sheriffs see more ‘load car’ drivers, teens paid to smuggle migrants

WASHINGTON - It's a "scary" trend that border county officials say is getting scarier: Mexican cartels paying teenagers from throughout the country to smuggle illegal migrants across the state as "load car" drivers.


Border shelters stave off ‘homelessness on steroids,’ but funding worries remain

TUCSON - Shelters like Casas Alitas in Tucson prevent what one official said could be "homelessness on steroids," by caring for hundreds of asylum seekers who arrive daily with little more than the clothes on their backs. But funding for such programs almost ran out this year.


Texas Tech Health El Paso program helps high school students go to medical school in state, aims to relieve statewide doctor shortage

EL PASO, Texas – As Texas faces a doctor shortage, a new program at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in El Paso gives prospective medical students resources to encourage them to pursue their education and practice in state.

Makena Piñon, right, and Luke Briggs, freshmen at the University of Texas at El Paso, in a medical simulation lab at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. (Photo by Jack Orleans/Cronkite News)