Guests: Steve Christy – Pima County Board of Supervisors; Lisa von-Geldern – John Birch Society National Events Coordinator

Pima County Supervisor Christie Criticizes Migrant Support Program

Pima County Supervisor Steve Christie delivered pointed criticism of the county's past involvement in migrant support programs, arguing the initiatives cost taxpayers over $120 million while potentially compromising public safety. Speaking on Winn Tucson, Christie characterized the county's five-year participation in migrant assistance as "a real travesty and deep stain" on both local and national history.

"We've accommodated over half a million non-citizens at roughly $120-130 million of taxpayers' money," Christie stated. "We don't know anything about them, where they're going, and we've given them gifts our own people can't get."

Christie emphasized that Pima County's participation was voluntary, not mandatory. "Pima County should never have been in the asylum-seeking business. It was a choice. We could have turned it down, but we jumped up there with our hands raised under the prior county administrator and board of supervisors."

The supervisor revealed that the county collected administrative fees from federal funding for these programs, though officials maintained it wasn't a "profit center." With the programs now ending, Christie suggested repurposing facilities like the Aho juvenile detention center for law enforcement needs and selling other properties like the Drexel Road call center.

Tech Leaders and Trump's AI Initiative Raises Concerns

Lisa von Geldern of the John Birch Society expressed concerns about the recently announced Stargate initiative, a $500 billion joint venture involving major tech companies to build AI infrastructure and data centers across America. The project includes participation from SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle, and other tech giants.

Von Geldern highlighted potential issues with power allocation for these facilities: "These data centers require tremendous power. Solar and wind won't do for them." She expressed concern that traditional power sources might be diverted to serve AI infrastructure while leaving regular consumers dependent on less reliable renewable sources.

The initiative also includes healthcare components. Oracle's Larry Ellison described capabilities for early cancer detection and personalized mRNA vaccines produced within 48 hours using AI. Von Geldern cautioned about potential risks, citing concerns about mRNA technology and drawing parallels to issues that arose during COVID-19 testing and vaccination programs.

# Looking Ahead: Challenges for the New Administration

Von Geldern emphasized the importance of constitutional governance moving forward: "The work that Trump is doing for us needs to be done constitutionally." While acknowledging that many recent executive orders were necessary to undo previous administrations' actions, she stressed the importance of working through Congress for major initiatives.

Both guests emphasized local engagement as crucial for effective governance. "We need to start paying attention to our government at the city level, at the county level, and all the way up," Von Geldern stated. "Really you should be involved locally in your town and your city first because that's where you're going to have the most impact."