Venezuelan teens came to Arizona for basketball, but were left homeless.
They were teenagers from Venezuela, drawn to Arizona’s Elite 1 Academy with hopes of playing college basketball or making it to the NBA.
Robinson Dominguez, 19, said he was kicked out of Elite 1 Academy because he was injured. He is now living with a Valley family while he finishes high school.
Luis Velasquez and Robinson Dominguez said they were promised safe housing, meals, an education and the opportunity to make money to help their families back home. Almost all it, they say, was a lie.
They were teenagers from Venezuela, drawn to Arizona’s Elite 1 Academy with hopes of playing college basketball or making it to the NBA.
Robinson Dominguez, 19, said he was kicked out of Elite 1 Academy because he was injured. He is now living with a Valley family while he finishes high school.
Luis Velasquez and Robinson Dominguez said they were promised safe housing, meals, an education and the opportunity to make money to help their families back home. Almost all it, they say, was a lie.
Read full story here.
The fate of thousands of unaccompanied children is decided in immigration court
PHOENIX – They arrive at the federal courthouse each Friday, their hair neatly combed, dressed in the best clothes they own or can borrow.
At the U.S. border between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, about 3,300 unaccompanied children were apprehended in 2016. The sector encompasses 125,500 square miles and 268 miles of international border. (Photo by Maria Esquinca/Cronkite News)
The oldest is 17 years old. The youngest is 5. All of them are unaccompanied minors living in shelters, waiting to be reunited with a parent or guardian, granted asylum, or deported back to their home country.
PHOENIX – They arrive at the federal courthouse each Friday, their hair neatly combed, dressed in the best clothes they own or can borrow.
At the U.S. border between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, about 3,300 unaccompanied children were apprehended in 2016. The sector encompasses 125,500 square miles and 268 miles of international border. (Photo by Maria Esquinca/Cronkite News)
The oldest is 17 years old. The youngest is 5. All of them are unaccompanied minors living in shelters, waiting to be reunited with a parent or guardian, granted asylum, or deported back to their home country.
Read full story here.
Arizona has some of the least restrictive gun laws in the country
PHOENIX – With every mass shooting – from the 26 people killed and 20 wounded in a Texas church this weekend to the 58 dead and 515 wounded at a Las Vegas concert in October – comes the call for stricter measures to prevent mass shootings and domestic terrorism.
But in states like Arizona, which has some of the least restrictive gun laws in the country, it rarely happens. No permits are required to purchase or own a firearm. Although background checks are required for purchases from federally licensed dealers, nothing is required for person-to-person private sales.
PHOENIX – With every mass shooting – from the 26 people killed and 20 wounded in a Texas church this weekend to the 58 dead and 515 wounded at a Las Vegas concert in October – comes the call for stricter measures to prevent mass shootings and domestic terrorism.
But in states like Arizona, which has some of the least restrictive gun laws in the country, it rarely happens. No permits are required to purchase or own a firearm. Although background checks are required for purchases from federally licensed dealers, nothing is required for person-to-person private sales.
Read full story here.
Industrial waste pollutes America’s drinking water
PHOENIX – In Ringwood, New Jersey, Ford Motor Co. dumped more than 35,000 tons of toxic paint sludge onto lands occupied for centuries by the Turtle Clan of the Ramapough Lenape tribe, poisoning groundwater with arsenic, lead and other harmful chemicals.
Today, more than 43 years after the dumping ended, those toxins are still in the groundwater and threaten a reservoir providing drinking water to millions of residents.
PHOENIX – In Ringwood, New Jersey, Ford Motor Co. dumped more than 35,000 tons of toxic paint sludge onto lands occupied for centuries by the Turtle Clan of the Ramapough Lenape tribe, poisoning groundwater with arsenic, lead and other harmful chemicals.
Today, more than 43 years after the dumping ended, those toxins are still in the groundwater and threaten a reservoir providing drinking water to millions of residents.
Read full story here.