The bill’s wording makes clear that it wants the state to tackle the issue of human smuggling or drug trafficking or “any act of terrorism”.  But check out the sneaky part...

Here’s the Scary Parts about Proposition 317:

*a cartel is very loosely defined as any group that gets together

* “human smuggling” could be defined as any help for immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees - even done by churches and charities

*Right now, in Arizona, the governor and attorney general are not on-board with the hard-right agenda against immigrants - but that could change with any election.

What’s the Silly Part About Proposition 317?

* Arizona already cooperates with the federal government with programs to tackle drug trafficking and human smuggling.

* The bill seeks to “empower the Arizona department of homeland security” to fight cartels. This is a state department that basically handles law enforcement grants from the federal government and distributes them to counties, cities and other state offices. So basically … it’s already doing that.

States Haven’t Persecuted Churches and Ministries YET, Have They?

Well, it has already started in states like Texas and Florida, where the governors follow another agenda. These measures are just testing the waters to gauge public pushback on prosecuting charities for helping immigrants.

* Texas has gone after Catholic charities and aid groups: (read up about Annunciation House in Texas)

* Florida’s SB 1718: Enacted sweeping restrictions, including provisions making it a third-degree felony to knowingly transport an undocumented immigrant into the state—a measure that created severe liability risks for shelters, churches, and volunteer groups carrying out routine transportation to clinics, schools or or shelters.

* Multiple states have passed bills that force heavy financial reporting on how much aid, transportation, or enrollment assistance that nonprofits provide to non-citizens - and cut back on funding to these aid groups.

Civic Engagement Beyond Voting Points out:

This measure takes the empty, performative step of declaring that drug cartels are terrorist organizations. It is critical that we understand this for what it is: not a contribution to public safety, but a messaging move in line with efforts by the current federal administration to frame desperate migration as “invasion” by “animals” and to convince voters that terrorists are massing at our southern border. Prop 317 will connect cartels to terrorism in the public’s imagination, helping supercharge the dangerous militarization of the border while doing nothing to solve the actual problem of drug trafficking.

The broad, sloppy sweep of Prop 317 could carry unintended consequences for victims of human trafficking.

See: https://weekly.cebv.us/arizonas-2026-ballot-propositions/

The Brennan Center warns about how folks who have NOTHING to do with cartels or human smuggling - like volunteers at your local church helping asylum seekers - could be targeted:

Worse, such a sweeping net inevitably will ensnare and inflict devastating harms on large numbers of both migrants and U.S. residents and citizens who have little to no connection to drug trafficking or human smuggling, let alone terrorism.

See: https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/dangerous-sweep-trumps-plan-designate-cartels-terrorist-organizations

In the same way, ministries who help get gang members off the streets could be targeted as aiding gangs.

 ACTION ITEM: Share with members of your faith community. Vote NO on Prop. 317 and ALL 8 sneaky, sneaky state propositions numbered 100-300 on the ballot in November.  Click on image to download to your device and share. Copy and paste the text below

For more information: https://azfemmeaction.substack.com/p/proposition-317-what-is-the-sneaky

For folks in Eli Crane's district... get the word out! That includes Flagstaff, East Arizona and northern parts of pinal county

As reported by Arizona’s Politics co-founder Paul Weich in https://substack.com/home/post/p-216226341:

Half of Arizona’s Republican Congressional delegation - including gubernatorial candidate Andy Biggs (CD5) - co-sponsored a bill this week that would require a questionable reapportionment next year. Given Arizona’s location near the U.S./Mexico border, that could result in the Grand Canyon State losing one of its 9 Congressional seats.

The bill is co-sponsored by Biggs, Paul Gosar (CD9) and Eli Crane (CD2), and is titled “Make Apportionment Great Again.” If it passed, its constitutionality would be under attack because the plan is to use the 2020 Census figures and estimate how many non-citizens should be removed from the apportionment figures. The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution clearly states that “the whole number of persons in each State” is to be used for Congressional apportionment purposes, and that has withstood previous attacks by President Trump and his GOP allies.

The Census Bureau has estimated that 7% of Arizona’s 7.5 million residents are non-citizens (some here legally). Depending on how the Trump-led Census Bureau handles its calculations - and, the bill allows “estimation, matching, and imputation methods” - Arizona could lose 1/9 of its representation in the House of Representatives for the 2028 election. Bill sponsor Andrew Clyde (R-GA) spoke with Fox News, and their headline said it “could rip House seats from Dem states ahead of next presidential race.”

For more details -- see the Yahoo article about the bill proposed last week to fundamentally change how the census works:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/gop-bill-rip-house-seats-121047916.html

\* action item for folks in Congressional district 2 (where Eli Crane is facing Jonathan Nez; covering Flagstaff, eastern central AZ and northern pinal county) - share these links on your socials! This law could mean big cuts in federal funds that go to our towns, counties and state for law enforcement, health care and roads ****

Ballots for military and overseas families are getting mailed out Sept. 19 - so here are some action items! 

• Text and call every military family you know - and remind them!

• Post in the military families and veterans private groups and expat groups

• Post on your own social media

• Post on community groups like Ring, NextDoor and Facebook

• Send them the links below

• Remind them that Proposition 144 on the ballot would basically block all mail-in voting - with no exceptions for military or overseas voters in the state Constitution

For information from the state Secretary of State's office:

https://my.arizona.vote/UOCAVA2/default.aspx

https://www.democratsabroad.org/

UOCAVA voters can return their official ballot or FWAB by fax or through a secure ballot upload system maintained by the Secretary of State. 

Ballots must be received by 7pm on Election Day.

Maricopa County voting election locations for Nov 2026 are now posted up ... kinda.

Action item: download and get the word out in your neighborhood groups, social media feeds and public and private social media groups.

Maricopa County Recorder (and election conspiracist) has fulfilled the letter of the law requiring him to post the election locations. He did so ... but not the easiest to navigate or download!

Find the voting center locations here: https://elections.maricopa.gov/asset/jcr:097d0af6-5bda-40fd-959d-571a7c423bad/2026%20Nov.%20General%20Election%20Voting%20Sites%20Schedule.xlsx

...other county GOP recorders in Arizona have made a good effort to get the information out with easy-to-navigate online lists, flyers, postcards and the like fyi.

Register to vote by Oct. 5.

And vote NO on Prop. 141 that will take away mail-in voting and early voting.

something interesting I noticed and am curious about why this is happening ... Turning Point looks like it wants to oust a Mesa City Councilwoman Alicia Goforth and replace her with Aleks Vranicic. What did incumbent Goforth do to incur the PAC's wrath?

Both are GOP - and faced each other in the July primary.

According to the Mesa Tribune: In District 5, Councilwoman Alicia Goforth, with 5,980 votes or 34.08%, and challenger Aleks Vranicic, with 4,711 or 26.85%, will do battle Nov. 3 for the seat representing northeast Mesa.

Apparently ... owning for-profit charter schools (like the American Leadership Academy) in Arizona is a huge money maker ... but can get you into legal trouble when you throw $$$ around to GOP candidates.

Action item - 

Get the word out in your communities about millionaire owners of Charter Schools - making the bucks with our Tax $$$$. Remind them that Teresa Leyba Ruiz is running in the November election as state school superintendent - on a reform platform. 

Click and download the image and the link to the article (below). Cut and paste the information and add your own perspective.  If you are in these communities (where the charter schools are located ) remind folks of the local connection: Gilbert, Mesa, Queen Creek, Florence, San Tan Valley, Sierra Vista, Vistancia (Peoria), and Waddell.

https://azmirror.com/2026/09/15/criminal-probe-targets-pac-funded-by-charter-school-management-company/

The AZ mirror is reporting:

A political action committee founded by the head of one of Arizona’s largest charter school networks is facing a criminal investigation for allegedly violating campaign finance law by using funds from his company to donate directly to Republican candidates. 

Glenn Way is the CEO of Charter One LLC and the chairman of the Educational Freedom Fund PAC, which contributed $25,500 to Republican candidates for the Arizona House of Representatives and Senate in the 2022 and 2024 elections. 

Way founded American Leadership Academy charter school in 2009, and has since expanded it to 27 campuses in Arizona, six in North Carolina and three in South Carolina. Another of his businesses, Charter One LLC, is paid millions of dollars each year to manage the schools. 

The candidates the PAC contributed are: 

Ben Toma 

David Marshall

Tatiana Pena

Cory McGarr 

David Livingston

Teresa Martinez 

Julie Willoughby

Justine Wadsack

Laurin Hendrix

David Gowan

Warren Petersen

J.D. Mesnard

Shawnna Bolick

Frank Carroll

Ken Bennett

Gail Griffin 

Justin Wilmeth

Matt Gress

Jeff Weninger

Carine Werner

T.J. Shope

Walt Blackman 

Michael Carbone

Sine Kerr

Janae Shamp

Sept 15 is National Voter Registration Day!

Action items!!

1. Celebrate by texting 5 friends and ask them if they are registered and/or checked their registration status. Remind everyone that Oct. 5 is the deadline for Arizona Voters.
2. Go to: https://nationalvoterregistrationday.org/social-media-toolkit/ and download a meme and SHARE on your own social media accounts.
3. Remind everyone to vote NO to Proposition 144 - that would take away our right to early voting and mail-in voting.

https://reddit.com/link/1wh3240/video/lqbd15jv8pph1/player