Tucson, Arizona

Civil rights leader and labor organizer Dolores Huerta died Wednesday at age 96. Co-founder of the United Farm Workers union, Huerta coined the rallying cry "Sí, se puede!" during a 1972 Phoenix protest against an anti-labor law and spent decades advocating for farmworkers, women, and civil rights, including later campaigns against SB1070 and for the Equal Rights Amendment.

Arizona officials across parties and government, including Gov. Katie Hobbs, Sens. Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly, Reps. Yassamin Ansari, Greg Stanton and Adelita Grijalva, Attorney General Kris Mayes, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, and Councilmember Betty Guardado, praised her lasting influence on the state and nation. A candlelight vigil was held outside Phoenix City Hall in her honor.

The Arizona Sheriffs' Association (ASA) sent an Oct. 9 open letter expressing "deep concern" over allegations that Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway directed deputies not to respond to calls tied to protests at border wall construction sites, except in cases involving violence. The ASA cited reports from federal and state law enforcement officials describing unanswered requests for assistance involving threats, violence, property damage, and masked out-of-state participants, calling for documentation and investigation.

The dispute centers on CBP's $309.46 million contract, awarded in June 2025, to build 27 miles of border wall in Santa Cruz County, part of the Trump administration's border security push, which has drawn repeated protests and arrests. Hathaway, in response, dismissed the ASA as a politically biased private group with no governmental authority, saying his small office is vastly outnumbered by federal personnel and accusing CBP of mischaracterizing threats to avoid its own security responsibilities. He described protesters as nonviolent and said federal officers, not protesters, used force. The ASA said it stands ready to assist state investigators if asked.

A federal judge in Arizona has ordered the Department of Homeland Security to facilitate the return of Ahmed Soliman, 31, a Phoenix man deported to Equatorial Guinea in April without due process. District Judge John C. Hinderaker found the third-country removal violated U.S. law and Soliman's Fifth Amendment rights, citing "irreparable harm" after months of arbitrary detention, beatings, threats, and incommunicado confinement. DHS must take "all reasonable steps," including issuing travel documents and arranging transport at its own expense, and file status reports every three days. DHS attorneys did not dispute Soliman's account of abuse or that he was deported without a fear screening. The agency has 30 days to appeal.

Soliman, granted protection from removal to Egypt as a gay man, was targeted after speaking out about conditions facing dozens of U.S. deportees held at a decommissioned hotel in Equatorial Guinea under a secretive $7.5 million U.S.-brokered agreement. His case echoes that of Kilmar Abrego Garcia and feeds into an ongoing Supreme Court dispute over third-country deportation protections, with more than 20 others still detained at the hotel.

Federal prosecutors have charged a Tucson, Arizona man with making an interstate threat to injure after he allegedly sent an email threatening to carry out a mass bombing of the White House and release anthrax across Tucson. Jacob Aaron Hicks, 46, was arrested Oct. 7 and made his first federal court appearance the following day.

According to the Department of Justice, Hicks sent the threatening email on Sept. 23 to a Tucson news outlet, which reported it to authorities. The message reportedly included the line, "You Americans will pay. Allah, to Allah." Investigators said Hicks had drafted similar emails intended for other news outlets nationwide, and had previously texted about access to anthrax and C4 explosives to target a federal building. Hicks claimed he had loaned his phone to a homeless person at the time the email was sent. U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine praised the news station and FBI for their swift response.

Growing delays in DACA renewal processing are creating uncertainty for recipients nationwide, including an estimated 16,000 in Arizona. Federal data show the median wait for renewals rose to roughly 70 days between October and February, up from about 15 days previously, with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reporting more than 200,000 pending applications, the highest number on record. Immigration attorneys say processing has become unpredictable, with some later filers receiving approvals before earlier applicants.

The delays carry real stakes: recipients whose work authorization lapses while awaiting renewal lose both employment eligibility and protection from removal proceedings. The Department of Homeland Security says more than 260 DACA recipients have been detained and more than 80 deported. A Tucson immigration judge's recent ruling allowing a case against a DACA recipient to proceed has further unsettled recipients and advocates, who say the program's protections feel less certain than before, even for those who have maintained status for years.

A new state audit has intensified debate over Arizona's Parents as Paid Caregivers program, which pays parents to care for children with severe disabilities. Auditors found the state could have saved up to half a billion dollars in fiscal year 2026 had officials fully implemented cost-control measures required under a 2025 law, including a new assessment tool that Gov. Katie Hobbs suspended amid threatened litigation from advocacy groups.

The program's costs have surged as it expanded from covering adult children to minors during the pandemic; related attendant-care spending rose from $77 million in 2019 to nearly $615 million in 2025, with the parent caregiver program driving much of the increase. About 8,800 children now receive parent-provided care, up from roughly 3,469 in 2023.

Republican lawmakers, including Rep. David Livingston and Senate Majority Leader John Kavanagh, call the program "out-of-control" and want deeper cuts, while Hobbs' office and disability advocates warn that reducing hours could force children into costlier institutional or foster care. A legislative hearing is expected early next year.