Guests - Juan Ciscomani, Kelly Walker, Dan Butierez, Betsy Smith

Congressman Ciscomani Discusses Border Security and Congressional Updates

Congressman Juan Ciscomani recently led nine freshman congressmen on a tour of Arizona's border, providing them with firsthand experience of border security issues. "Instead of just me being up there preaching it, I said, 'Why don't you come down and we'll set up a whole two days of meetings and tours for you,'" Ciscomani explained.

The tour included visits to ports of entry and a night tour with Art Del Cueto of the Border Patrol Council to observe border conditions after dark. Ciscomani emphasized the unique challenges of Arizona's border compared to Texas, noting, "Arizona has a vast desert, a lot of ground to cover, very rough terrain. There are parts where it's just impossible to build a structure or any kind of wall. So we need higher technology and more agents in those areas."

The impact of the Trump administration's border policies has been immediate and dramatic. "I mean, you couldn't have believed these numbers just a few months ago," Ciscomani remarked. "We were unfortunately breaking records for the wrong reasons just a year ago in the February numbers of 2024. And Biden obviously had no control."

During President Trump's joint address to Congress, he noted that his administration had been repeatedly told they needed new laws to address the border crisis. Instead, as Ciscomani recalled, "One of my favorite lines from the address was when he said, 'We were told all the time that we needed a new law, that we needed a new law.' And then he said, 'It looks like all that we needed was a new president.'"

While executive orders have allowed for immediate action, Ciscomani stressed the importance of codifying these measures into law: "Legislation takes longer than executive orders, which is why he came in with these executive orders so we can get off the ground, send the right message of security to everybody in the world."

Border Patrol has warned lawmakers not to become complacent despite early successes. "One of the things that we've heard from Border Patrol, which they begged us, is 'Don't take your foot off the pedal because the cartels are regrouping,'" Ciscomani said. "This is not an organization that's a billion-dollar enterprise or more that they're just going to walk away from it."

The conversation touched on the recent designation of certain cartels as terrorist organizations, which provides new legal tools for enforcement. While human smuggling has decreased significantly, drug trafficking remains a major concern. "Fentanyl is so much easier to smuggle through because obviously it's smaller. You need less of it, so it's very lethal for a lot of reasons," Ciscomani noted.

Relations with Mexico have improved under the new administration. "This is part of the point that the conversations with Mexico are ongoing, them stepping up to the plate and helping on their side to tackle this issue," Ciscomani explained. "To their credit, they've done more in the last two months than they had been in the entire Biden administration because no one was holding their feet to the fire."

Congressional Budget and Government Funding

The conversation shifted to recent congressional action to avoid a government shutdown. Ciscomani explained that the continuing resolution (CR) passed by Congress differs from previous stopgap measures: "This CR was even different than most than the other ones that I've seen because this gave the executive branch of the president more freedom to operate."

While a CR essentially continues the previous year's budget without increases for areas like defense spending or border security, the current measure provides additional flexibility for the administration. According to Ciscomani, Democrats attempted to use their votes as leverage: "How they were selling their vote to the CR basically was to say, 'We need to tie the hands of President Trump and the DOGE efforts in order for us to be able to vote for the CR.'"

Despite this, Republicans maintained unity, with Senate Democrats ultimately providing some necessary votes for passage. Ciscomani indicated that the next major budget focus will be reconciliation, where "we're going to put a lot of this, the funding that we're looking for for defense and also for Homeland Security and for key issues and also shave off a lot of unnecessary spending."

He praised the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for exposing wasteful government spending, noting that constituents frequently mention their shock at these revelations. "People are just stopping me. And the thing they bring up, that is the thing they bring up the most. They say, 'I am shocked.' They say about all that's being found in the waste in government."

Ciscomani refuted claims that reconciliation would target Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security: "Those are all absolute lies. And we need to continue to fight back on that, not be silent and assume that people are going to know that they're lying. You can't legally touch Medicare and Social Security through reconciliation. You can't. And then the resolution that we passed has nowhere in there anything about Medicaid."

Remembering Congressman Raul Grijalva

The conversation also touched on the recent passing of Congressman Raul Grijalva, who represented Arizona's CD7 for 22 years. Ciscomani offered his condolences and reflections: "I knew Raul Grijalva both personally and professionally. We were on opposite sides practically on every turn politically and on policy. But he was always kind and he welcomed me to the delegation when I got elected."

With Grijalva's passing, a special election will be held for his seat. Despite CD7 being a heavily Democratic district, Ciscomani expressed optimism about Republican chances: "I think we should make a play for every seat out there. I don't think we should concede anything."

He drew parallels to the recent defeat of Proposition 414 in Tucson: "414 might have seemed an impossibility as well, and local would have. So I think people overall on both sides—not just Republicans or only independence, but even a lot of Democrats—are really tired of the same old approach and the good old boys club and government in Washington specifically working as just another day at the office as usual."

Kelly Walker on Parental Rights and School Policies During COVID

Kelly Walker, a parents' rights advocate who formerly lived in Arizona, joined the program to discuss his ongoing efforts against what he describes as school overreach during the COVID pandemic. Walker, who opened a coffee house in October 2018, recounted how parents began coming to his shop during lockdowns seeking relief from restrictive policies.

"We had people coming to our coffee shop talking about how the school policies were driving kids to suicide and mental health disorders," Walker explained. "And I looked at the literature, I looked at the scientific literature, and that matched what people were saying."

Walker described a particularly troubling incident: "A young man went out in the desert, shot himself in the head. We found out later that he did this when the police came for him, and he said, 'I'm not going back.' Because now that the schools were closed, he was in an abusive home."

After attempting to volunteer as an advisor to the Vail School District and being rejected, Walker began advocating for parents. He discovered that school districts were receiving significant federal funding to maintain CDC guidelines: "I discovered that the reason why was that Vail School District, along with other school districts in Arizona around the country, were getting millions of dollars from the CDC. I believe it was about 5.5 million dollars went to the Vail School District to keep these so-called CDC guidelines in place."

Walker described a contentious school board meeting on April 27, 2021, when over 200 parents gathered to voice concerns about these policies. "The first time I was the first one in the door, I wanted to help people be heard. And now the media story, which was false, was that because the parents were out, the meeting was canceled and they insisted on going anyway. That wasn't the case. They canceled the meeting after the parents arrived."

According to Walker, rather than addressing parental concerns, school officials demonized them. He claims that Darcy Mentone, the PR person for the Vail School District, had called the Pima County Sheriff's Department ahead of the meeting to complain about him.

Walker alleges that the situation in Vail was the origin of a broader federal response targeting parents: "I found out through FOIA documents—and I have been up to Capitol Hill, I was invited up by Jim Jordan, who put a team on this issue—that the time, the date, all the instances point to John Caruth and the Vail School District coordinating with the National School Board Association, with Merrick Garland's DOJ, and eventually the Biden administration."

He claims this coordination led to parents being designated as "domestic terrorists" under the Patriot Act, resulting in arrests of parents in multiple locations. Walker himself was arrested for trespassing, and he mentioned Jennifer Mahuta in Sahuarita, Arizona, who was allegedly imprisoned for five days to "make an example of her."

Walker has been working with members of Congress, including meeting with Paul Gosar, Andy Biggs, and Eli Crane, as well as reaching out to members of the Trump administration. He is creating a documentary about these experiences and indicated that several congressmen are discussing potential executive action: "I can't name names, but there are some congressmen talking with the Trump administration about an executive order to bring relief and restitution to these targeted families."

Daniel Butierez Announces Run for CD7

Daniel Butierez joined the program to discuss his recently announced candidacy for Arizona's Congressional District 7, following the passing of Congressman Raul Grijalva. Despite CD7 being traditionally Democratic, Boutieres expressed optimism about Republican chances.

"I saw an interview with K-Gun 9, and they've actually said you're going to be surprised because they interviewed people all over the South Side, and they're going to vote who they want to fill the seat as anybody who will care about the community. And they don't care if it's a Democrat or a Republican," Boutieres stated.

He believes that President Trump has initiated a political shift that will continue to grow: "I think Trump started something that's just going to continue to grow. He did an amazing job pulling Democrats and switching Texas, and I believe we're going to do the same thing here in Pima County."

The district includes three ports of entry along the border, which Butierez views as economically significant: "They're sinking trillions of dollars into expanding them. Arizona, this is going to be a big thing in Arizona. And for that reason, I think this CD fight is going to be huge."

When asked about the concerns of district residents, Butierez mentioned deportation fears: "In this district, especially here in Pima County, they're concerned about the deportations. And let them know that, you know, Trump, there is no way Trump's going to deport grandma."

He has been working to address these concerns through engagement with the Hispanic Alliance and other community groups: "We want to set up a class there and I've had people that are not here illegally come in and talk, and I've let them know that the Republicans are going to start coming in here with classes to help these people get the things they need so they're not worried about this."

Butierez, who runs a painting company that hires homeless individuals, has been actively involved in community service: "Over in the South Side, we did a big church. We did it in two weekends. We had 12 other businesses getting involved and donate food material. And we're getting ready to do John Valenzuela's Youth Center in South Tucson."

He emphasized his personal connection to the district's challenges: "Seeing as I was born and raised in this town and I haven't understood of everybody in this town, and I've been in the shoes of the majority of the city, and I've overcome some of the hardships that they're dealing with. I'm someone that can actually guide them to success."

Butierez announced a campaign kickoff event for March 24th at Phillips Plaza and mentioned that petition signing would soon be available through the Secretary of State's site, accessible via his Facebook page.

FBI Leadership Changes and Secret Service Adjustments

Betsy Smith, spokesperson for the National Police Association, discussed recent developments at the FBI under Cash Patel, who was endorsed by the Association. "We are so thrilled with what Cash is doing," Smith remarked. "He's such a humble guy, so he's not constantly running around looking for a camera. You know what he's doing? He's doing the job."

Smith highlighted Patel's recent accomplishments, including "helping Rick Grinnell retrieve hostages to putting over 200 street gang members back behind bars." She also noted his swearing in of Dan Bongino as deputy director of the FBI.

According to Smith, Patel is reorganizing the FBI to focus on the administration's priorities: "He is going to elevate the people who want to be apolitical, who want to do the job." She explained that agents don't need to have voted for Trump to advance, but "what you do have to do, and this is every administration, is you have to support the Constitution. You have to support the law, and you have to support the administration's legal duties."

Those who don't align with these priorities "are going to find yourself in Casper-Wyoming or Huntsville, Alabama, or Hattiesburg, Mississippi," Smith noted, while clarifying that Huntsville already has a significant FBI presence at Redstone Arsenal.

The conversation shifted to President Trump's decision to remove Secret Service protection from Hunter Biden and Ashley Biden. Smith explained that Hunter Biden had been traveling to South Africa with 18 Secret Service agents, while Ashley Biden had 13 agents assigned to her.

"President Trump looked at it, and, you know, remember, he's got a new Secret Service Director. He looked at it with his new director, and he said, 'We're going to take away the Secret Service protection of Hunter Biden,' which is his right to do," Smith explained. "This is nothing extraordinary. The only people who get Secret Service protection after they're out of office is the president in the first place. Joe Biden and Dr. Jill have their Secret Service protection and will for life."

Smith estimated that Hunter Biden's trip to South Africa would have cost taxpayers approximately half a million dollars in Secret Service protection alone for a 14-day vacation. She characterized the situation as "a grift" and suggested that Dan Bongino's leadership at the FBI might lead to further investigations into the Biden family.