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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, October 1, 2021 Nine Progressive Organizations Join Forces To Say: Our Country Can’t Build Back Better If We Leave Immigrants Behind; Democrats Can and Must Deliver Citizenship Through Reconciliation “Voters risked [their] lives and showed up in record numbers in multiple states, including twice in Georgia, to vote for a White House and Congress that would advance our interests, NOT to vote for a parliamentarian.” Washington, D.C. - United We Dream Action, Black Voters Matter, The Frontline, Indivisible, Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA), Make The Road New York, MoveOn, the Sunrise Movement, and the Working Families Party have come together again - following their full-page ad in the New York Times reminding Democrats that they hold all the power to deliver citizenship this year - to respond to yesterday’s news from the parliamentarian. For these organizations and their millions of members, citizenship for millions of immigrants is a top priority because we cannot fully recover as a country from COVID-19 and four years of Trump’s white supremacist immigration policies without including immigrants as part of that recovery. Greisa Martinez Rosas, Executive Director of United We Dream Action, said: “Our lives are at stake. Keeping millions of people from a pathway to citizenship means leaving them behind under the looming threat of deportation, denying them health care, better wages, employment, and educational opportunities, and other basic human rights. We know what the right choice is and from the beginning, Democrats made us a promise that they would be the better party for Black, Brown, low-income and middle-class people. They can and must deliver on that promise by ensuring that citizenship stays in the reconciliation package. We are holding them solely accountable.” Alejandra Gomez, Co-Executive Director of Living United for Change in Arizona, said: "Yesterday’s news that the Parliamentarian has rejected Plan B is incredibly disappointing, but our fight to pass immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship continues. Folks should be reminded that the Senate Parliamentarian is an unelected official standing in the way of immigration reform that is 30 years overdue. Our communities led the way in 2020 to give Democrats control of Congress and the White House, our expectation is that Democrats must continue pursuing other alternatives to pass a pathway to citizenship. Too many of our family members, coworkers, and friends are living in limbo, and in the shadows fearing deportation. While still risking their lives during a deadly pandemic to keep our country moving forward. We need Senator Sinema and Senator Kelly to champion a clear path forward and not hide behind the parliamentarian. " Yaritza Mendez, Co-Director of Organizing at Make the Road New York, said: “We are frankly outraged by the Senate parliamentarian’s most recent opinion—which is just that, an opinion. Despite strong precedent for including such immigration measures in the reconciliation process, she has indefensibly allowed her bias to guide her to recommend excluding citizenship for immigrants from this package. Senator Schumer and Senate Democrats must proceed as planned to ensure a path to citizenship—which will benefit the economy as well as our communities—part of this package. We know they are not bound to follow this unacceptable opinion.” Varshini Prakash, Executive Director of Sunrise Movement, said: “The reality is Democrats have full power and ability to pass citizenship through reconciliation, and this made-up, non-binding Senate rule does not stop it from passing. We’ve been calling for ‘No Climate, No Deal’ in the reconciliation process. But there is no climate justice without migrant justice. When we say ‘no climate, no deal,’ we mean ‘no protection for Dreamers, TPS status, and farm and essential workers, no deal.’ We mean no citizenship, no deal.” Cliff Albright and LaTosha Brown, co-founders of Black Voters Matter, said: “Black voters risked our lives and showed up in record numbers in multiple states, including twice in Georgia, to vote for a White House and Congress that would advance our interests, NOT to vote for a parliamentarian. And yes, our interests include immigration reform and a pathway to citizenship. Black immigrants exist. In fact, they as well as other immigrants were many of the essential workers who continued to show up for this country when it was needed. Now Congress must show up for them.” Natalia Salgado, Federal Affairs Director and Treasurer of Working Families Party National PAC said: “Immigrants have been the backbone of this country since its inception, now is not the time to turn our backs on our neighbors, coworkers, and friends. We cannot afford to wait any longer for comprehensive immigration reform, especially not based on what an unelected parliamentarian says. Lawmakers must act now to provide a pathway to citizenship for the millions in our country living under the threat of deportation and family separation.” Tiffany Flowers, Campaign Director of The Frontline: "Many Black and Brown immigrant workers risked their health on the frontlines of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. We cannot thank them by cutting them out of the conversation about our nation's recovery. Democrats in Congress must go bold, stay on track to deliver what they promised: a pathway to citizenship in the reconciliation package. Failure to do so will result in the same consequences of the past: an uneven recovery that leaves too many of us behind." Mary Small, National Advocacy Director of Indivisible, said: “Senate Democrats must reaffirm their full-throated support for a pathway to full citizenship. Many of those seeking a path to citizenship risked their lives to keep communities across the country alive by performing essential services during a deadly pandemic. Any efforts to create an inclusive economic recovery must recognize their contributions and ongoing membership in our communities. Senate Democrats have an opportunity and undeniable obligation to pass a reconciliation bill that includes citizenship.” Rahna Epting, Executive Director of MoveOn, said: “Unelected parliamentarians should not be able to overrule the will of the people nor decide the fate of 8 million people. Democrats ran on and won on reforming the immigration system and providing a path to citizenship. This legislation is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for them to live up to their promises. They cannot let arcane Senate norms get in the way. This is not a time for politics as usual or half measures.”

PRESS RELEASES LUCHA IS IN FULL SUPPORT OF WENDY ROGERS CENSURE Press Release 03.04.2022 Read LUCHA CALLS ON KELLY & SINEMA TO PASS PROTECTION FOR IMMIGRANTS Press Release 11.19.2021 Read TURN YOUR BACK ON US, WE WILL TURN OUR BACKS ON YOU Press Release 01.19.2022 Read LUCHA CELEBRATES PAID FAMILY LEAVE & AFFORDABLE HOUSING Press Release 02.01.2022 Read PARLIAMENTARIAN RULES AGAINST PAROLE PROGRAM Press Release 12.16.2021 Read CAN'T BUILD BACK BETTER & LEAVE IMMIGRANTS BEHIND Press Release 10.01.2021 Read

LUCHA (Living United for Change in Arizona) announces the list of endorsements for 2024 Primary and General Arizona Elections. See the list of candidates, important voter information, and important election dates. Living United for Change in Arizona is led by changemakers fighting for social, racial, and economic transformation. We are committed to human dignity, inclusion, equity, and collective growth. We work to reclaim our shared power alongside our families and community.  AZ GENERAL ELECTION 2025 Living United for Change in Arizona is led by changemakers fighting for social, racial, and economic transformation. We are committed to human dignity, inclusion, equity, and collective growth. We work to reclaim our shared power alongside our families and community. Our Priorities Protecting Our Schools Preserving Healthcare for our Community Defending in Public Education VOTER GUIDE 2025 Our healthcare, our schools, and our community's future are on the line. Read It Here VOTE On or Before November 4 IMPORTANT DATES. OCT 6 Voter Registration Deadline OCT 28 Last Day to Mail Back Your Ballot OCT 7 Early Voting Begins NOV 4 Election Day (Vote in Person or Drop Off Your Ballot by 7pm ) OCT 24 Last Day to Request a Ballot IMPORTANT LINKS. CHECK VOTER REGISTRATION. CHECK FIND POLLING LOCATIONS. FIND TRACK YOUR BALLOT. TRACK VOTER DASHBOARD. VISIT FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS. If I didn’t vote in the latest elections, can I still vote in the general election? YES! Even if you didn’t vote in the latest elections, you can still vote. You can vote even if you haven’t voted in many years! Just make sure you’re still registered by checking your voter registration here. I registered a few years ago – am I still able to vote, or do I need to re-register? If you’ve registered to vote at your current address, you should still be able to vote. But it’s important to check and make sure you’re still registered, just in case! Use this link to check. How can I get a mail-in ballot? You can get a mail-in ballot sent to you for every election by signing up for the Active Early Voting List. Use the link here. Can I leave parts of the ballot blank? YES! You can leave parts of the ballot blank. Vote the whole ballot or vote part of the ballot – but no matter what, vote! PAID FOR BY VICTORY PAC & LIVING UNITED FOR CHANGE IN ARIZONA (5716 N. 19th Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85015) AND NOT AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE OR CANDIDATE'S COMMITTEE.

During a hearing about a border wall bill, GOP state Sen. Janae Shamp asked a civilian speaker a graphic question about rape. By Morgan Fischer | February 3, 2026 As far as polite conversation goes, questions about vaginas, anuses and rape probably fall a good bit short. Monday at the Arizona Legislature, one such question caused quite a ruckus. The incident took place during a meeting of the Arizona Senate’s Military Affairs and Border Security Committee. Members of the public had packed the hearing room to express their displeasure with a number of Republican-pushed immigration bills, particularly one from far-right state Sen. Wendy Rogers that would set aside $20 million essentially to pay towns to build their own border walls. Immigration activist Albert Rivera, who has also pushed for continued court oversight of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, was one of those who spoke against the bill. Standing at a microphone, the 20-year-old argued that the money allocated in Rogers’ bill should be spent on other issues facing the state, calling the bill a “waste of time” and “un-American to the core.” He also accused lawmakers of caring only “about following the Trump agenda.” Rivera had said his piece and moved away from the microphone when GOP state Sen. Janae Shamp, a red “Trump Was Right About Everything” Stanley tumbler in front of her, summoned him back to answer a particularly graphic question. “Sir,” Shamp began, “do you know what it’s like to be in the operating room with a 23-year-old woman who’s been tied to a tree and raped so much you can’t tell the difference between her vagina and her anus? Do you know what that looks like?” While Shamp didn’t name the woman, Rivera and many in the room assumed she was speaking about the murder of 22-year-old Augusta University student Laken Riley by an undocumented man who had entered the country illegally. Riley’s death has been used by many Republicans as a talking point to clamp down on illegal immigration. Notably, as many on the right have pointed out ad nauseam, Riley’s killer was caught and released by border agents after entering the country illegally, suggesting a lack of border wall may not have been the problem. It was an odd question, but Rivera mustered a response. “I feel sorry for that woman who died, and by no means am I trying to justify anything that that guy did. It was horrible what he did,” Rivera told Shamp. But, he added, “the fact that you continue to use that as an excuse is disgusting.” Shamp began to ask another question after saying, “That’s not what I was referring to.” But Rivera began to walk away again as others in the hearing room told him he didn’t need to engage in a graphic tit-for-tat with Shamp that had little to do with his testimony. Then things boiled over. GOP state Sen. David Gowan, the committee’s chairperson, piped up and pointed at Rivera, telling him that he needed “to stand at that podium” and answer Shamp’s questions. Democratic state Sen. Sally Ann Gonzales, who had voiced an objection to Shamp’s original question, then stood up and said Rivera didn’t need to answer any questions at all. Rivera, still standing by the podium, asked Gowan, “Are you trying to intimidate me here?” Gowan said Rivera either needed to answer Shamp’s question or “he can stand all the way out of the committee” room. He then turned to Gonzales and told her to sit down. Putting her hands on her hips, Gonzales refused. Gowan asked her if “you’re going to disobey the chair,” at which point Gonzales demanded that the Senate’s rules attorney be called into the room to weigh in on just what the chair can do. Gowan maintained that Rivera needed to answer Shamp’s question or leave. Rivera took Option B, watching the rest of the hearing from the lobby. Last week, Rivera decided to leave the a hearing of the same committee, over another slate of anti-immigration bills, after another activist was kicked out for a disruption. The rules attorney finally arrived and sided with Gowan, saying it is “appropriate for him to keep decorum however he sees necessary” and that it’s “up to the chairman” if Gonzales could stand or not. The rules attorney also said the Gowan could compel a member of the public to either answer a question from a senator or leave. Gonzales expressed her disapproval, saying, “It is not right to make members of the public answer any questions that they do not want to answer.” She asked for a vote to appeal Gowan’s answer-or-leave directive but was shot down by Gowan. At that point, Democratic Sens. Catherine Miranda and Kiana Sears and more than 30 members of the public in the room also rose in protest. They all remained standing for the rest of the committee hearing. Bill advances Rogers’ bill eventually passed out of committee with only Republican votes. Republican Timothy Dunn said the bill was needed because “cartels and drug runners are still active,” while Rogers blamed undocumented immigrants for the increased cost of housing as justification. But Sears called the bill “absolutely ignorant” and “careless,” and Miranda said the proposed law caused more “confusion” and “fear.” Sears also told Gowan that she stood because “I’m disappointed that we compelled a member of the public to actually answer a question,” adding that, “I believe that any citizen, anyone who comes in to speak, has the right to come and go as they please.” But Gowan doubled down on his decision to compel Rivera to speak or leave, calling it “just a rude situation.” Vivian Serafin, an attendee who also stood to protest Gowan, said after the hearing that the chairman was “on a bit of a power trip.” “You’re not going to silence any of our voices. You’re not going to tell us how to speak,” said Serafin, who also works for the immigration organizing group Living United for Change in Arizona. "We’re not going to allow them to stifle our voices or control it in any way.” Reached after the meeting, Miranda told New Times she’s “going to stand with my colleague” and called the demonstration a “smaller sense of the atmosphere” compared to the near-daily protests outside the senate building. “All we have and all we can do is publicly tell the facts. The United States is under chaos, so we have to just keep speaking,” Miranda said, adding that the anti-immigration bills are “going to get vetoed” by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. “Thank goodness for the veto pen,” Miranda said. Neither Shamp nor Gowan responded to requests for comment on the incident. Speaking to New Times after the vote, Rivera thanked everyone who stood, including the three Democratic senators. The gesture “it almost brings me to tears” and “really warmed up my heart that there were so many other people standing up for me,” he said. Rivera then grabbed a bullhorn from another activist and continued to make his voice heard from the grounds outside the senate building “We can’t sit back. We can’t just idly sit back and say, ‘Oh well, we can’t do anything,’” Rivera told New Times. “We have to stand up.”

Speaking outside one Zipps location raided Monday night, activists blasted ICE intimidation tactics and use of force. By Morgan Fischer | January 28, 2026 “Several dozen” people were detained by federal agents as a result of the Monday night raids on Zipps Sports Grill locations in the Valley, immigration activists said at a press event Tuesday afternoon. “We don’t know how many,” Beth Strano, the executive director of Borderlands Resource Initiative, told Phoenix New Times. But, she added, “it’s safe to say that dozens” were detained. Neither ICE nor the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona immediately returned messages seeking the number of arrests made during the raids. The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Monday afternoon that Homeland Security Investigations — a division of ICE and the Department of Homeland Security — was serving warrants “at 15 locations throughout the Phoenix area.” The warrants were served as “part of a months-long criminal investigation,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said, and were “executed as part of a criminal investigation into felony violations of federal law.” The release did not mention Zipps nor specify the federal laws allegedly violated, but federal agents were seen raiding all 14 Zipps locations in the Valley. Some individuals were detained, and Phoenix’s network of rapid responders went out to each location to track activity and saw dozens of people arrested, Strano said. Strano and other activists spoke Tuesday in front of the Zipps at Park Central in midtown Phoenix, where more than 200 protesters had gathered the night before to document and jeer at HSI agents raiding the restaurant. At the presser, longtime immigration activist and former state legislator Raquel Terán criticized immigration agents for going after hard-working immigrants. “Workers should not be the target,” Terán said. “These are people who are providing for their families. Basic human thing, provide for your family. Work.” It is not yet clear if the raids were part of a general immigration sweep. Similar raids on other restaurants in the past year have resulted in federal charges for illegally employing and transporting undocumented workers. That led activists to speculate that the raid on Zipps may be the result of a failed I-9 audit, a process that verifies employees’ legal authorization to work in the country. Immigration agents have used them recently to conduct raids on other restaurants in Arizona, including El Taco Loko, Taco Hiro and a sushi chain. But Strano said the show of force, with masked and armed federal agents at each site, was over the top. “I-9 audits are a normal part of business. We’ve had I-9 audits in our state for a long time,” Strano said. “They don’t usually look like this. This is overkill. It’s intentionally overkill.” Strano thinks the company’s failed I-9 audit is an “excuse” for federal immigration officers to get a judicial warrant, but the “collateral damage” is why they’re actually there. Immigration groups, such as Puente and Borderlands, said Zipps employees informed them that agents allowed more “white-looking” employees to leave the restaurant after it was raided “without a lot of asks or information,” Strano said. But “other folks were asked to stay,” and agents checked IDs, took photos and asked for employees’ social security numbers. Strano said that Zipps employees who didn’t work Monday night called Puente and Borderlands to report that ICE agents are now showing up at their homes. Valley residents can report ICE sightings to Puente’s Migra Watch hotline by calling 480-506-7437. “We’re going to continue to respond for people who are being targeted by this administration,” Terán said. “The community came out and stood in solidarity.” Though the Zipps raids appear to be more of a targeted operation compared to the general immigration sweeps conducted in other cities, they also resulted in the use of force against some protesters and observers who gathered to document them. Dozens of people were pepper-sprayed at multiple Zipps locations; at the 32nd Street and Shea Boulevard location, an ICE agent maced protesters standing on the sidewalk as his vehicle drove away. Protesters at Zipps locations in Scottsdale and Tempe were also hit with pepper spray, according to activists. The Greenway location in Scottsdale, which was the last location targeted by agents, was hit the hardest. Terán was there and said three or four people were taken to the hospital, including one person who had a seizure. Strano believes federal immigration agents’ show of force aimed to “make people feel powerless.” But it appeared to have the opposite effect. Hundreds of people showed up at Zipps locations across the Valley on Monday to oversee activity and protest federal immigration enforcement in their communities. She thinks that’ll only continue. “There were so many organic community responders last night that just heard this was happening,” she said, “and drove to their nearest Zipps and were like, ‘Not OK with me.’” Terán and others decried “escalation of violent tactics” by federal agents, pointing also to the recent shooting deaths of legal observers Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, both of whom were U.S. citizens. Democrat Rep. Yassamin Ansari, who was also among the crowd outside the Park Central Zipps location Monday night, criticized the administration for “trying to gaslight the American people from believing what they saw with their own eyes” and the “despicable” and “ongoing authoritarian takeover of the United States of America.” Organizers also called on Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs — both Democrats — to speak out against ICE’s presence in the Valley. Hobbs and Gallego have both criticized the Trump administration in the past, but neither has been as vociferous about it as, say, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes. “We are in the most violent of times being carried out by this administration,” said Alejandra Gomez, the executive director of Living United for Change in Arizona. “This is violence now on the American people.” Read Original Article Here

By Micaela Marshall | January 27, 2026 PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Protestors gathered for a rally in central Phoenix Tuesday afternoon in response to Monday’s raids at Zipps Sports Grill locations across the Valley. “ICE of out Phoenix! ICE out of Phoenix!” a couple of hundred people chanted while marching from Zipps on Central Avenue near Thomas Road to the ICE Phoenix Field Office down the street. Some elected officials and activists are demanding ICE agents leave Arizona, calling the recent search warrants traumatic and chaotic. While questions pile up about what exactly happened and why, anger continues to build. “It does not matter if you are undocumented or a citizen, it does not matter if you are protesting or just living your life, all it takes is being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Alejandra Gomez with Living United for Change in Arizona, or LUCHA. The restaurant chain is at the center of controversy after Homeland Security Investigations and other federal agencies raided 15 Zipps locations across the Valley on Monday. “Direct assault on the dignity of immigrant workers and a chilling reminder of how law enforcement actions can tear right through the fabric of our community,” said Beth Strano with Borderlands Resource Initiative. Immigration attorney Juliana Manzanarez ran from her nearby law office to witness it for herself and speak with workers. “Everything happened really quickly. They came in, they shouted, they cleared the restaurant, and they said that they were detained while they were making this investigation,” said Manzanarez. Arizona Democrat Rep. Yassamin Ansari was on scene, too. “This is despicable, as the daughter of immigrants who fled an authoritarian regime to come to this country for a better life and opportunity to see the ongoing authoritarian takeover of the United States of America,” said Ansari. We don’t know what prompted the search warrants or if any actual arrests were made. All the U.S. Attorney’s Office will tell Arizona’s Family is that this was not an ICE sweep or raid, but instead related to a long-term criminal investigation involving felony violations. “This type of operation shouldn’t be carried out with masked agents and pepper spray and mace,” said Manzanarez. Speakers at the rally were calling on Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and Gov. Katie Hobbs, both Democrats, to stand up to ICE and force the agency out of our state. Gov. Hobbs posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that she’s gathering details about the raids and criticized the Trump administration for not giving her office enough notice about the searches. Read Original Article Here