Free Republic

SIERRA VISTA, Arizona — Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels doesn’t mince words. He’s angry that local law enforcement and the citizens who call the Southwest border home have been left out of the decision making process when it comes to security and immigration reform. Dannels has lived along the border since 1984. He remembers when the dangers from smugglers circumventing the rocky, mountainous terrain were few and far between. Now, he says, a different breed of narcotics traffickers has amassed weapons, technology and small armies of death; threatening not only the stability of Mexico but U.S. national security as well....

A federal appeals court, in a strong rebuff to local law enforcement agencies that aggressively pursue people they suspect of being illegal immigrants, ruled Wednesday that the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office did not have the right to arrest Roxana Santos, a Salvadoran dishwasher who was seized while eating a sandwich outside her workplace in the fall of 2008 and jailed for the next 45 days. The ruling, from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, based in Richmond, appeared to clarify and strengthen a somewhat ambiguous Supreme Court decision last year in Arizona v. United States

A deep distrust of government has led young Americans to hold up NSA leaker Edward Snowden as a hero, Sen. John McCain said Sunday. “There’s a young generation who believes he’s some kind of Jason Bourne,” the Arizona Republican said during on “Fox News Sunday,” referring to the lead character in the Bourne movie trilogy who battled his own government, particularly the CIA. Mr. Snowden’s revelations — including details of the National Security Agency’s data-collection efforts — have led to a debate on the national security vs. privacy question, and how to balance the two. President Obama last week laid...

At the Otay crossing near the San Diego border last Monday, about 200 people coming from Mexico gained entry to the United States all using the same key phrase; they claimed they had a 'credible fear' of drug cartels. According to KSAZ FoxPheonix: So many were doing this that they had to close down the processing center and move the overflow by vans to another station. "They are being told if they come across the border, when they come up to the border and they say certain words, they will be allowed into the country," said a person who did...

The Talk Shows August 11th, 2013 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Reps. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and Steve King, R-Iowa; Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.; Anu Bhagwati, executive director, Service Women's Action Network.FACE THE NATION (CBS): Reps. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., and Peter King, R-N.Y.; Michael Hayden, a former head of the CIA and the National Security Agency.THIS WEEK (ABC): Edward Snowden's father, Lon; Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J.; Reps. Ed Royce, R-Calif., Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, and Louie Gohmert, R-Texas; Donald Trump.STATE OF THE UNION (CNN):...

See I don’t need a lot of Republicans to help me. And that’s why I so admire John McCain. John McCain and I came to the House together 31 years ago. We came to the Senate together at the same time. He and I have fought over the years but we’re also very very good, good friends. And he broke away from the pack. He said, in effect, we have to get some things done. So he doesn’t control the Republican caucus but he controls probably 10 people there. That’s all I needed. And we were able to get a...

With a .45 caliber legally strapped to his side, Jordan McManus decided to photograph the federal courthouse in Phoenix last night, realizing he would probably draw attention from police, especially after reading about Raymond Michael’s experience last May. But he was still a little surprised when a police helicopter hovered over him with a spotlight as two patrol cars pulled up next to him and another two cops approached him on foot. They immediately tried to disarm him, but he refused to let them do it as it is legal to open carry in Arizona. Then they tried to pat...

Arizona Health Dept. Numbers Show Hopeful Drop in Abortions The New American 10 August 2013 Arizona's latest health department numbers show that the state recorded a hopeful drop in abortions over the past year.

PHOENIX (AP) - Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is providing each of his patrol deputies with a semi-automatic AR-15 style rifle, and has ordered them to carry a weapon at all times, even when they're off duty. Arpaio says "we live in a violent society," and he wants his officers to have "enough firepower to fight back."

Arizona's top politicians blasted the Obama administration and federal officials over the denial of aid in the wake of the state's deadly wildfire. The Yarnell Hill blaze killed 19 firefighters, called "hotshots," in late June, when it changed directions and engulfed them. The Federal Emergency Management Agency denied the state's request for assistance based on insurance rules, it said in a statement Friday. It determined that not enough uninsured private individuals had become victims to warrant a payout. Republican Gov. Jan Brewer directed her criticism directly at the president. "I am deeply troubled by the Obama administration's decision to deny...

Arizona, rejected by the feds. Friday night, we learned the request for federal money to help rebuild the town destroyed by fire was denied. It's not the news the people of Yarnell wanted to hear. They are still reeling from the devastation left behind from the Yarnell Hill Fire. And it was just a few days ago, Governor Jan Brewer personally asked President Obama to secure federal aid. They were face to face on the tarmac at Sky Harbor. That was where she reminded the president about her request for federal funds. Specifically, to help the victims in Yarnell rebuild...

I asked the president, can you kill an American on American soil, it should have been an easy answer. It’s an easy question. It should have been a resounding, an unequivocal, “No.” The president’s response? He hasn’t killed anyone yet. -- Rand Paul I do not believe that question deserves an answer. -- Lindsey Graham Mr. Holder’s letter answers Mr. Rand’s question, “Does the president have the authority to use a weaponized drone to kill Americans not engaged in combat on U.S. soil. The answer to that question is 'no.’”-- Jay Carney I don’t think that what happened yesterday is...

Via the Examiner, a short but noteworthy clip insofar as it exposes a potential fault line between Cruz and Rand Paul. McCain lumps them together as “wacko birds� but I’m not so sure that’s true of Cruz on national-security issues. His alliance with Paul interests me because it strikes me as a personification of the uneasy libertarian/tea-party alliance. The groups overlap heavily on spending issues, and both are deeply suspicious of Obama’s expansion of government. The master stroke of Paul’s drone filibuster was that he found a sweet spot for both, making the philosophical case for due process while humiliating...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) blasted fellow GOP Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Thursday, saying the two “think the whole world is a battlefield.” Paul criticized the hawkish senators for thinking the laws of war should take precedence over the Bill of Rights. The two had criticized Paul’s statements about drone policy during the Kentucky Republican’s 13-hour filibuster on Thursday. “They think the whole world is a battlefield including America and that the laws of war should apply,” Paul said in an interview on Fox News about McCain and Graham, who had described Paul’s comments about drones...

On Tuesday, KY Sen. Rand Paul launched a spirited defense of Apple, whose tax strategies were subject to a hearing of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. "I frankly think the committee should apologize to Apple," Paul said. Paul went on to accuse the committee of "bullying" one of America's greatest companies, prompting Sen. John McCain to quickly defend the inquiry and say that Paul's remarks were "frankly, offensive."

President Obama should expand sanctions against Russian human rights violators, Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Thursday. The two senators issued a joint statement that said they “obviously agree” with Obama’s decision to cancel a planned meeting next month with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. But the two said Obama should go much farther. They called on the president to finish the last phase of a European missile defense shield that’s been scrapped and push for a new round of NATO expansion to include Georgia. “Now we must move beyond symbolic acts and take the steps...

When an Arizona man had Amazon packages pinched from his front doorstep, he decided not to get angry but to get even. Tim Lake, who caught the sneaky thief stealing his newly delivered coffee pods and ice cube trays on surveillance camera, plastered wanted posters with her face on them across his neighborhood.

Arizona Senator John McCain is in Egypt with South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham just weeks after the new government, run by the Muslim Brotherhood, was overthrown by the military. Former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi was heavily protested by millions of people as he tried to turn the fragile State into a dictatorship under Sharia law. More from The Daily Beast: During their whirlwind tour of Cairo Tuesday, two top GOP senators held the most extensive meeting to date between U.S. officials and senior officials in the embattled Muslim Brotherhood, whose supporters are fighting in the streets to overturn last month’s...

In an open letter to the public in late July, several retired Border Patrol agents wrote on behalf of the National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers to warn that Mexican drug cartels are actively operating inside the United States spending millions every year to try to build their networks here. They argued that American politicians are protecting their activities as well. “Transnational criminal enterprises have annually invested millions of dollars to create and staff international drug and human smuggling networks inside the United States; thus it is no surprise that they continue to accelerate their efforts to get trusted...

The parade of bad GOP candidates since Reagan has one thing in common: they were all rich men with no skin in the game, for whom victory was optional. The Bushes of Connecticut and Texas, the McCains of Arizona and the Romneys of all over the place had no downside to an electoral loss; they were all just as well-off as they were before the start of their campaigns, and could return to their multiple homes with no sense of personal loss, just a little chagrin at letting the team down. By contrast, the Democrats have fielded a succession of...

FORT HUACHUCA — Department of Defense civil service employees received good news Tuesday when they were informed nearly half of the furlough days they expected to have to take before the end of September were cut. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said instead of 11 days taken without pay it would be reduced to six, meaning civil service employees working for the military will not have to take five days off sans salary. So, instead of the employees facing a 20 percent loss of pay from July 9 to Sept. 30, the cut will be slightly more than 10 percent....

The young widow of a firefighter who died with 18 others while battling an Arizona wildfire in June has reportedly been denied the lifetime benefits she sought to raise the couple’s four children. Juliann Ashcraft, 28, said she will receive workers’ compensations and a one-time federal payment of $328,000 in the death of her 29-year-old husband Andrew, who was among the Granite Mountain Hotshots who were killed on June 30 while fighting a wildfire near Yarnell, CBS reports. “I want to be able to just be mourning my husband, be supporting my children, be figuring out what our new normal...

PHOENIX (CBS Las Vegas/AP) — The mother and widow of one of 19 firefighters killed in an Arizona wildfire wants the city of Prescott to provide family survivor benefits reserved for full-time employees. Deborah Pfingston’s 29-year-old son, Andrew Ashcraft, died June 30 with 18 other members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots while working a wildfire around Yarnell. An investigation into the matter is ongoing. Pfingston plans to have a news conference on Tuesday in Prescott. The grieving mother also said city officials promised they would retroactively reclassify the seasonal, temporary employees as permanent so the families could receive additional survivor...

Two Republican senators said Tuesday that they´ve personally urged the Egyptian government to release Muslim Brotherhood prisoners, after hosting meetings with top officials in Cairo as part of an Obama administration-sanctioned visit. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who is in Cairo along with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-.S.C., made clear that the two U.S. lawmakers are representing the views of Congress and "do not speak for the White House." Still, they are among the most prominent U.S. representatives in the country this week, as a wave of international mediators tries to nudge the country´s military-backed government to resolve the standoff

Just a quick note ... We are recieving information concerning a train derailment and a sulfuric acid spill approximtely seven miles south of Naco, Sonora, earlier today. Apparently a small wooden bridge over a wash collapsed. At this point the spill is not thought to be a danger to the waters of the San Pedro river and there are no reports of casualities. I have no additional information at this time Below is the report from Mario Novoa, the Douglas Fire chief. Pat. "... HazMat techs from Nogales Sonora are in route to the scene of a train derailment in...

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told Matt Lee of the Associated Press Tuesday that the U.S. had “determined that we do not need to make a determination” over whether or not the ousting of Mohamed Morsi in Egypt was a coup. Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) called it a coup Tuesday, but the Obama administration has deliberately avoided using the word:

President Barack Obama is proposing to overhaul the nation’s mortgage finance system, including shutting down government-backed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—a plan with bipartisan support on Capitol Hill. Obama will also insist that popular 30-year mortgages be widely available to borrowers, even in a system that would rely more on the private sector than the government to guarantee loans. The president was to outline his proposals Tuesday at a construction company in Phoenix, once the epicenter of the housing crisis following the 2008 economic collapse. The housing market in the region, as in much of the country, has rebounded in...

Above: Brewer reacts to Obama criticism of her book on the Phoenix tarmac in Jan 2012. Obama returns to Phoenix this week, enroute to a Jay Leno appearance.- Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer mocked the Obama administration’s assertion Saturday that the border is more secure than ever. “It’s Jay Leno comedy every other week,” Brewer said during an interview at the National Governors Association meeting here, alluding to the president’s scheduled trip this week to both Phoenix and the talk show host’s couch. Brewer said her Yuma border is “pretty secure” but “Tucson is a nightmare.” The Yuma Sector is the only border sector with...

Nineteen firefighters died fighting a forest fire in Arizona earlier this summer. Curiously, almost no one is talking about why it happened, only that it was a tragedy. Arizona Deputy State Forestry Director Jerry Payne has been the only one to speak out about the cause, and he backtracked immediately afterwards, apologizing for what he said. He claimed that the superintendent of the Granite Mountain Hotshots violated wildlife safety protocols while fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire on June 30th, 2013, 60 miles north of Phoenix. According to Payne, the superintendent’s violations allegedly included not knowing the location of the fire,...

<p>FORT COLLINS, COLO. – Police in Fort Collins, Colo., are alerting religious organizations to a self-described "Islamist jihadist" who is threatening the demise of Mormons and Catholics at sites across Arizona and Colorado.</p>

KANSAS SETTLEMENT, Ariz.,- Fourteen undocumented immigrants were arrested south of Willcox early Friday morning, after three of the undocumented immigrants burglarized a home. Cochise County spokeswoman Carol Capas says a homeowner awoke around 1:30 a.m. after hearing noises coming from his kitchen. When the homeowner went downstairs, he encountered a male going through his refrigerator. The male took off and was met by another male outside. Capas says the homeowner also heard footsteps on top of his house. Cochise County Sheriff's along with Border Patrol agents responded and started a search of the surrounding area.

Sen. John McCain appears cautiously optimistic that the House of Representatives will ultimately pass some kind of immigration reform — and says that the GOP is doomed in the 2016 presidential contest if the effort fails. “The crystal ball is a little cloudy because I think August is going to be a very seminal month,” he said, pointing out that members are back interacting with constituents and that a broad coalition of interest groups back comprehensive immigration reform. Mr. McCain was part of a bipartisan group that helped get a comprehensive bill through the Democratic-controlled Senate, while leaders of the...

A Sierra Vista couple pleaded guilty Friday to marijuana trafficking and money laundering for 12 years, during which time they accumulated several properties and vehicles. Husband and wife, Juan Manuel Alvarado-Fajardo and Neriah Kidebar Morin-Alvarado, each pleaded guilty in Cochise County Superior Court to one count of conducting a criminal enterprise between January 2000 through October 2012. "The couple admitted they engaged in money laundering and transporting marijuana in order to sell it," Stephanie Grisham, spokeswoman for the Arizona Attorney General's office, said in a news release. "The investigation revealed they had amassed a large amount of property and wealth...

MCDPH said on Friday that they have received preliminary results that indicate that the bacteria causing the illness is E. coli O157. Anyone who has eaten at the Federico’s Mexican Restaurant in Litchfield Park on or after July 23 and is experiencing bloody diarrhea is encouraged to contact a healthcare provider.

Snowden’s escape was a personal blow to Mr. Obama, who had spoken by phone with Mr. Putin in recent weeks to appeal for the fugitive’s return to face justice in the U.S. Some Republicans said it was time for Mr. Obama to reconsider his administration’s “reset” with the Kremlin, initiated with fanfare during the tenure of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. “Now is the time to fundamentally rethink our relationship with Putin’s Russia,” Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, said in a joint statement. They called on the Obama administration to push for...

A Cardinals cheerleader who delayed her dream of becoming a dancer when she joined the U.S. Army now finds herself facing legal battles after a domestic violence incident in Scottsdale recently. On July 20 police responded to a home near McDonald Drive and Granite Reef Road for a report of a family fight. According to a police report, when officers arrived at the home they noted that 29-year-old Megan Elizabeth Welter showed signs of being intoxicated. In fact, they said, she had “difficulty describing the events in chronological order.” Apparently her boyfriend had recorded videos of the incident on his...

Principles: John McCain says he'd have a hard time deciding between Hillary Clinton and Rand Paul in 2016. Which begs the question: Is the GOP's one-time presidential nominee and titular head truly a Republican? On occasion, and those occasions seem to be more frequent these days, we're grateful McCain didn't win the White House in 2008. That is until we remember who his opponent was. But McCain, greeted with applause from Democrats Wednesday when, according to TheHill.com, he "mistakenly strolled into President Obama's meeting with Senate Democrats at the Capitol," was a poor choice to represent the party of less...

The libertarian advocacy group that grew out of Ron Paul’s 2008 presidential campaign slammed Sen. Marco Rubio Wednesday after the Florida Republican voted against a bill to freeze aid to Egypt that had been introduced by Paul’s son, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. The younger Paul’s bill, which would have halted $1.5 billion in annual aid given to Egypt, failed Wednesday by a lopsided of 86-13 vote. The Ron Paul-inspired group, Campaign for Liberty, released a statement to its national press list after the vote, singling out Rubio and calling his decision “disgraceful.” “Senator Rubio today stood with President Obama and...

(CNN) – Choosing who to vote for in a potential 2016 matchup between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Rand Paul would be hard for Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican joked in an interview published Wednesday. "It's gonna be a tough choice," McCain, laughing, told "The New Republic."The 2008 Republican presidential nominee hasn't hidden his opposition to some of Paul's positions in the past, including the libertarian-minded senator from Kentucky's stance on drones and U.S. intervention in foreign conflicts. Condemning Paul's 13-hour filibuster over the use of drones, McCain called his colleague, along with fellow Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, "wacko...

A dive team in Arizona recovered the body of Frank Castillo, a former major league pitcher, Monday in Maricopa County.

WASHINGTON — Despite the Republican strategy of passing piecemeal immigration reform, Sen. John McCain predicted today that comprehensive legislation can pass the GOP-controlled House. “I think this fall is very important,” McCain said at a forum hosted by AFL-CIO and the Economic Policy Institute. “Let’s say we enact it, comprehensive immigration reform — I don’t think it gains a single Hispanic voter, but what it does, it puts us on a playing field where we can compete for the Hispanic voter,” McCain told PBS’ Gwen Ifill. “If we don’t do that, frankly, I don’t see — I see further polarization...

WASHINGTON - There was no conciliatory phone call, no heart-to-heart talk to soothe the tensions. No one knows exactly when President Barack Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain went from bitter rivals in the 2008 presidential campaign and foes over health care and national security to bipartisan partners. Yet in recent months, an alignment on high-profile domestic issues - not to mention an eye on their respective legacies - has transformed Obama and McCain into Washington's most unexpected odd couple. The Arizona senator is a regular visitor to the West Wing and in near-daily contact with senior White House officials....

Florida drivers who unsuccessfully contest red light camera tickets will have to pay $250 in administration fees, in addition to the cost of the ticket, under a new state law that took effect this month. The state legislature authorized the higher administration fees despite revelations earlier this year that state and local governments surreptitiously reduced yellow light times at intersections with red light cameras in order to induce more red light-running and more ticket revenue. Local governments often view the red light cameras as revenue makers, serving as a form of hidden tax on motorists. However, the enhanced “tax” money...

[Citing First Amendment, ACLU sues to stop panhandling arrests] PHOENIX - The American Civil Liberties Union wants a federal judge to block police in Arizona from enforcing a law making begging a crime, calling it an infringement on free speech. ACLU attorney Dan Pochoda said the measure is unconstitutional because it makes people subject to arrest not because they are loitering, but because of what they are saying. He contends asking someone for money is no different from politicians seeking support on the same public streets. The lawsuit is most immediately aimed at the city of Flagstaff which, in an...

Yet in recent months, an alignment on high-profile domestic issues — not to mention an eye on their respective legacies — has transformed Obama and McCain into Washington’s most unexpected odd couple. The Arizona senator is a regular visitor to the West Wing and in near-daily contact with senior White House officials. McCain, in an Associated Press interview, said that he and Obama "trust each other." For Obama, the senator has become a rare Republican backer of important elements on the president’s second term agenda, including immigration overhaul, stricter background checks for gun buyers, and perhaps a fall budget deal....

The U.S. Department of Education has officially opened an investigation into allegations that an Arizona high school’s campus-wide “Redneck Day” amounted to a federal civil rights violation. The kerfuffle giving rise to the investigation arose back in May at Queen Creek High School on the outskirts of Phoenix. The student council hatched a plan to energize students for prom week that included a faculty adviser-approved “Redneck Day.” The point was to dress like �“ and spoof �“ “Duck Dynasty,” an A&E reality TV show which follows a wealthy, eccentric Louisiana family.

PHOENIX -- Last month's U.S. Supreme Court ruling voiding a key section of the Voting Rights Act requires the lines for the state's 30 legislative districts to be redrawn before the 2014 election, an attorney for Republican interest is contending. In legal papers filed in federal court late Friday, attorney David Cantelme said the Independent Redistricting Commission's own data shows that it overpopulated some of the districts and underpopulated others. The result, Cantelme said, was to politically disadvantage Republican candidates to the benefit of Democrats. Cantelme also pointed out to the three-judge panel hearing his legal challenge that the commission's...

Meghan McCain is getting her own show on a new TV network targeting the generation of Americans known as millennials. "Raising McCain" will debut on Pivot, a general entertainment network that launches Aug. 1. It's described as a documentary-talk series for viewers ages 15 to 34. McCain will star and serve as executive producer. The 28-year-old author and blogger told the Television Critics Association on Friday that the show lets her "be crazy, be myself and talk about issues."(continued)

The U.S. Department of Education has officially opened an investigation into allegations that an Arizona high school’s campus-wide “Redneck Day” amounted to a federal civil rights violation. The kerfuffle giving rise to the investigation arose back in May at Queen Creek High School on the outskirts of Phoenix. The student council hatched a plan to energize students for prom week that included a faculty adviser-approved “Redneck Day.” The point was to dress like – and spoof – “Duck Dynasty,” an A&E reality TV show which follows a wealthy, eccentric Louisiana family. It’s not exactly clear how dressing like a hillbilly...

Kansas laws could be targeted as the U.S. attorney general on Thursday announced a new federal offensive against state restrictions on voting rights. Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday that he is shifting resources in the Justice Department to pursue more legal action against state-by-state voting restrictions. He said his efforts will begin with Texas and expand to other states where voting issues have surfaced. Joan Wagnon, chairwoman of the Kansas Democratic Party, applauded Holder’s speech and said she’s considering contacting the Justice Department over the issue of more than 12,000 Kansas voters whose registration is “in suspense” because of...