Ted Robbins

High Court Strikes Down Voting Law In Arizona

Ted Robbins — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:04:00 +0000

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(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

On a Tuesday, it's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And I'm David Greene.

When the Supreme Court nears the end of a session, you can feel the drama on a day like yesterday. Some big decisions loomed - cases dealing with affirmative action and gay marriage.

INSKEEP: But on any given day, you do not know which decisions will come down. Yesterday, the court ended the anticipation in Arizona.

In Arizona, An Unlikely Ally For Medicaid Expansion

Ted Robbins — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 21:08:00 +0000

The Arizona Legislature is debating whether to extend Medicaid to about 300,000 people in the state. The expansion is a requirement to get federal funding under the Affordable Care Act.

The big surprise is who has been leading the charge: Republican Gov. Jan Brewer.

Border Drones Fly Into Fight Over Immigration

Ted Robbins — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 21:16:00 +0000

The runways at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., are busy. This is where the Army tests its military drones, where it trains its drone pilots, and where four Customs and Border Protection drones take off and land.

From here, the CBP drones survey the Arizona-Mexico border — mainly looking for immigrants and drug smugglers.

In a hangar next to the runway, Customs and Border Protection officer David Gasho swivels a globe hanging from a drone's underbelly. The globe contains a $2 million surveillance package — a night camera, a day camera, a low-light camera and laser target illumination.

Tough Arizona Sheriff Gets Judicial Reprimand

Ted Robbins — Sat, 25 May 2013 09:55:00 +0000

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SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. A federal judge in Arizona has ruled against the man who calls himself America's toughest sheriff. The judge ruled that the Maricopa County Sheriff's Department has used racial profiling to enforce the state's tough immigration laws. Sheriff Joe Arpaio has maintained that his department has the authority to round up undocumented immigrants. NPR's Ted Robbins has been following the case and joins us now.

Bill Would Put Immigration Verification System To The Test

Ted Robbins — Thu, 02 May 2013 20:35:00 +0000

Some employers around the nation have been using E-Verify to check the immigration status of employees for years. Operated by the Department of Homeland Security, the online system is designed to make it harder to hire unauthorized workers — and harder for those workers to find jobs.

While participation in the program has been voluntary since 1996, the immigration bill now in the Senate would make E-Verify mandatory.

In Arizona, the Tucson-based social services organization PPEP employs more than 500 workers.

With Budget Cuts For Ports, Produce May Perish

Ted Robbins — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 08:02:00 +0000

Budget-cutting from the government sequester that began March 1 could affect U.S. exports and imports, including what we eat.

Customs and Border Protection officers regulate trade at the nation's 329 ports of entry, in harbors, airports and on land.

One by one, drivers approach booths with Customs and Border Protection officers at the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales, Ariz. More winter produce enters here than at any other place in the U.S.

Sequester Cuts Free Some Immigration Detainees

Ted Robbins — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 11:13:00 +0000

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LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency has released hundreds of immigration detainees ahead of Friday's sequester deadline. The decision was made to help bring down the agency's budget, in light of the automatic spending cuts. ICE officials are getting both praise and a lot of heat for the unusual move. NPR's Ted Robbins has the story.

TED ROBBINS, BYLINE: ICE has released people from some of the nation's 250 immigration detention centers. Immigrant rights advocates have qualified praise for what the release means to families.

The 'Line' For Legal Immigration Is Already About 4 Million People Long

Ted Robbins — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 22:51:00 +0000

In the back and forth between Congress and the White House over immigration, both sides seem to agree that people now in the U.S. illegally should wait at "the back of the line" for legal residency — meaning no green card until all other immigrants get theirs.

But that presents a problem, because the wait for a green card can take decades.

Maria has been waiting in line with her husband for 16 years and counting for what the government calls a priority date for legal residency. Because she is in the U.S.

Longtime Lakers Owner Jerry Buss Dies At 80

Ted Robbins — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 21:20:00 +0000

The man who brought Showtime to Los Angeles has died. Under Lakers owner Jerry Buss, the team won 10 NBA championships. His players loved him, and his business smarts helped market the team in ways the league had never seen before. Buss had been hospitalized recently and was undergoing treatment for cancer. He was 80 years old.

Fla. Tomato Growers Think Trade Deal With Mexico Is Rotten

Ted Robbins — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 13:16:00 +0000

Half of all tomatoes eaten in the U.S. come from Mexico, and tomato growers in Florida aren't happy about that. In fact, they're willing to risk a trade war to reverse the trend.

At JC Distributing In Nogales, Ariz., one misstep and you're likely to get knocked over by a pallet full of produce. Forklifts crisscross each other carrying peppers, squash and especially tomatoes from trucks backed into the warehouse loading dock.

"This is a Mexican truck being unloaded," says JC President Jaime Chamberlain.

How A Community Created A Garden From Sadness

Ted Robbins — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 11:15:00 +0000

Brad Holland had big plans for the empty lot he owns in midtown Tucson, Ariz.

"This was going to be my dream house before the economy collapsed," Holland says. "I had a big empty lot and said, 'Wow, a lot of good can come out of this.' "

He and the neighborhood decided to turn it into a community garden. There are 21 plots and about 50 gardeners. They were about to till the soil for planting two years ago when a gunman opened fire in another part of town, killing six and wounding 13.

Immigration Reform Before Border Control, Experts Say

Ted Robbins — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 22:53:00 +0000

Since the mid-1980s, the U.S. Border Patrol has quintupled in size — growing from about 4,000 to more than 20,000 agents.

The government has constructed some 700 miles of fencing and vehicle barriers. It has placed thousands of ground sensors, lights, radar towers and cameras along the border. And Customs and Border Protection is now flying drones and helicopters to locate smuggles and rescue stranded immigrants.

Manhattan Project Sites Part Of Proposed Park

Ted Robbins — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 09:11:00 +0000

Congress is considering whether to turn three top-secret sites involved with creating the atomic bomb into one of the country's most unusual national parks.

The Manhattan Project — the U.S. program to design and build the first atomic bomb during World War II — largely took place at three sites: Los Alamos, N.M.; Oak Ridge, Tenn.; and Hanford, Wash. On July 16, 1945, the first test of an atomic bomb took place at a site in the southern New Mexico desert.

Border Killings Prompt Scrutiny Over Use Of Force

Ted Robbins — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 21:13:00 +0000

The Department of Homeland Security is examining its policy on deadly force along the U.S.-Mexico border. In less than two years, U.S. Border Patrol agents have killed 18 Mexican citizens there — including eight people who were throwing rocks.

Last month, Border Patrol agents responded to a report of two drug smugglers jumping the fence between the twin cities of Nogales, Ariz., and Nogales in the Mexican state of Sonora. As the agents approached, a group of people on the Mexican side began throwing rocks. The Border Patrol says the agents told the people to stop.

Race For Arizona's Open Senate Seat Gets Personal

Ted Robbins — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 21:51:00 +0000

For the first time in nearly a generation, Arizona voters will elect a new senator. Republican Sen. Jon Kyl is retiring after 18 years. His ideological successor is Republican Rep. Jeff Flake, and a lot of people expected Flake to have an easy time of it.

But recent polls suggest Democrat Richard Carmona — a former surgeon general and a Hispanic — has a shot at winning.

Border Patrol Agent's Death May Have Been Accidental

Ted Robbins — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 03:07:00 +0000

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MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. There's new information tonight about the shooting of two border patrol agents along the Arizona-Mexico border earlier this week. One of the agents was killed in that incident. Well, the FBI now says that there are strong preliminary indications that the shooting was accidental and only involved the agents on the scene. NPR's Ted Robbins is following the story and joins me from Tucson. And, Ted, it sounds like the FBI is saying this is a case of friendly fire. What more do you know?

TED ROBBINS, BYLINE: Yeah.

Young Illegal Immigrants Seek Work Permits

Ted Robbins — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 20:17:00 +0000

It's been more than a month since the government began accepting requests for its Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the Obama administration's policy for young people brought to the U.S. illegally as children. Hundreds of thousands of people are eligible for the program. So far, only 82,000 have applied.

Carlos Martinez is one of the 29 people who have actually gotten deferrals. It means that he won't be deported, and that he can get a work permit.

U.S. Border Industry Grows As Immigration Slows

Ted Robbins — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 12:03:00 +0000

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SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

It's been more than a quarter century since the federal government enacted any immigration legislation which wasn't about enforcement and over that time, the government has spend hundreds of billions of dollars on fences, aircrafts, detention centers and agents.

Calexico: Road Songs For Wandering Souls

Ted Robbins — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 06:03:00 +0000

At 11 a.m. on a weekday, Calexico rehearses for its upcoming tour in a cramped studio on the south side of Tucson, Ariz. The stereotypical musician would just be getting up, but lead singer and songwriter Joey Burns has been up since dawn with his twin baby girls.

Trumpet player Jacob Valenzuela arrives late to the rehearsal — and that's because his washing machine broke and he had to deal with a small flood.

U.S. Grows An Industrial Complex Along The Border

Ted Robbins — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 07:38:00 +0000

The United States' southern border bristles with technology and manpower designed to catch illegal immigrants and drug smugglers.

Young Illegal Immigrants Seek To Avoid Deportation

Ted Robbins — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 07:34:00 +0000

Young people brought to the U.S. illegally began applying for a deportation deferral and a two-year work permit on Wednesday. It's the boldest immigration program yet by the Obama administration — putting into effect elements of the so-called DREAM Act even though it has not passed Congress.

Lizbeth Mateo has high school and college diplomas from California and evidence that she has been in the country continuously for at least five years.

A Wild Resting Place For Gunslingers And Cowboys

Ted Robbins — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 07:40:00 +0000

If you're from a state once considered the "Old West," odds are you've heard of a Boot Hill graveyard. Turns out there are a number of Boot Hill cemeteries in the West, so named because many of their inhabitants died violently — with their boots on.

But of all the Boot Hill cemeteries, none is as famous as Boot Hill in Tombstone, Ariz.

It's a tough-looking place. No lawn, just gravel, mesquite trees and cactus. The graves are covered with stones to keep varmints from digging up the bones.

Boot Hill was open only from 1878 to 1884 — it took just six years to fill up with graves.

Loughner's Attorneys Bargain To Save His Life

Ted Robbins — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 09:00:00 +0000

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

In Arizona, the man accused of shooting Gabrielle Giffords at a gathering of her constituents in Tucson last year will be in court today. Jared Loughner allegedly killed six people in that attack and wounded 13 others. He was declared mentally unfit to stand trial, but now that may change.

Ariz. Sheriff Arpaio Grilled On Racial Profiling

Ted Robbins — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 10:05:00 +0000

Maricopa County, Arizona, Sheriff Joe Arpaio made a court appearance Tuesday and faced questioning. Arpaio is accused of racial profiling in a civil class-action lawsuit.

Controversial Ariz. Sheriff's Tactics Go On Trial

Ted Robbins — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 07:04:00 +0000

The self-proclaimed "Toughest Sheriff in America" is facing one of his toughest tests. A trial begins Thursday morning in Phoenix accusing Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio of violating the civil rights of Latino citizens and legal U.S. residents. The class-action civil suit says the sheriff went over the line in his efforts to crack down on illegal immigration.

For years, Arpaio's deputies have run what he calls "crime-suppression sweeps." One-, two- or three-day operations in which deputies fan out across neighborhoods in the Phoenix area.

Wild Mustangs Give Patrol Horsepower On The Border

Ted Robbins — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 20:17:00 +0000

It's all new for Achilles: his name, his horseshoes, the surroundings at his home near Nogales, Ariz.

"To break 'em from what they're focusing on, you want to turn 'em from one side to the next," Border Patrol agent Luis Navarro says as he carefully leads Achilles into a round training arena.

Navarro holds the mustang by a short lead, and teaches it commands to trot and to slow down.

Just a few months ago, the 5-year-old horse was roaming the northern Nevada desert in a herd of wild mustangs. Then he was captured by the Bureau of Land Management in a roundup.

Still Unimplemented, Ariz. Law Has Chilling Effect

Ted Robbins — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 21:13:00 +0000

It will be weeks — maybe longer — before the one part of Arizona's immigration law the Supreme Court left standing goes into effect. A lower court has to remove its injunction before local police are required to ask about immigration status. But as NPR's Ted Robbins reports, there's already been a backlash.

High Court Leaves Core Of Immigration Law Intact

Ted Robbins — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 21:18:00 +0000

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AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

To the Supreme Court now and a much-anticipated decision on Arizona's controversial immigration law. The justices struck down most of SB1070, as the law is known. But the court did unanimously allow one key provision to take effect, and that's giving both sides reason to claim victory. We'll delve more deeply into the ruling with Nina Totenberg elsewhere in the program, but now to reaction from Arizona and NPR's Ted Robbins.

And Ted, let's start first with the three provisions of this law that were blocked.

Ariz. Voters Pick Giffords' Aide To Replace Her

Ted Robbins — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Voters in Southern Arizona decided Tuesday who will replace former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords for the remainder of her term: her former district director, Ron Barber. Giffords resigned from Congress in January to focus on recovery from injuries she suffered in a shooting in early 2011. Barber was also injured. His Republican opponent, Tucson businessman Jesse Kelly, narrowly lost to Giffords two years ago.

Early Ballots Could Decide Who Replaces Giffords

Ted Robbins — Fri, 25 May 2012 09:09:00 +0000

Voters in southern Arizona's 8th Congressional District are deciding who will fill the seat formerly held by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. The Democrat resigned in January, a year after she was badly injured by a gunman at a district event in Tucson.

Giffords' resignation set in motion a special election to serve out the rest of her two-year term. Giffords' former district director, Ron Barber, won the Democratic nomination uncontested. Jesse Kelly easily beat three opponents in the Republican primary.

Barber, 66, was wounded in the Tucson shooting and says Giffords asked him to run.