Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting

Even if farmers’ second attempt to limit agricultural expansion succeeds, the restrictions won't reduce existing pumping. ‘All we can do is keep it from getting worse,’ one local grower told AZCIR.

Arizona farmers tried to limit new irrigation in the San Simon Valley a decade ago. The state said no. Since then, applications for large-scale wells have surged, groundwater declines have worsened and parts of the valley have sunk nearly seven feet. Read our latest: azcir.org/news/2026/10...

Election observer trainings. Legal reviews. Tabletop simulations. Across Arizona, officials and voting rights groups are preparing for potential ICE activity at or near polling places in November. Read the latest from our partners at @votebeat.org: azcir.org/news/2026/10...

'Even if you have cancer, that doesn’t necessarily exempt you from having to work,' said Amy Taylor, CEO of Mariposa Community Health Center in Nogales. 'You have to be sick enough with that cancer to be exempt.'

Having a serious medical condition may not be enough to qualify for an exemption from Medicaid work requirements set to take effect in January. A new federal rule adds another hurdle for patients—and potentially millions in costs for Arizona. Read our latest: azcir.org/news/2026/10...

Celestin Dima spent 2+ yrs in ICE custody & was nearly deported to a country where he'd never lived—despite protections he received after fleeing persecution. Now, he has won asylum, giving him a path to citizenship as courts wrestle with the policies that shaped his case. azcir.org/news/2026/10...

Expanded Pell grants promised to make short-term workforce training more affordable for AZ students.But of 60+ programs schools thought could benefit this year, just three are advancing. @molboha.bsky.social reports on the tight rollout, strict reqs that got in the way: azcir.org/news/2026/09...

AZCIR previously reported that fewer undocumented students than anticipated were receiving reduced tuition under AZ's Prop. 308, partly due to its disjointed implementation. Now, the DOJ is suing the state, saying the policy is unlawful regardless of how many benefited: azcir.org/news/2026/08...

'The pool of voters that could be impacted by this is an order of magnitude larger than in some ... other states,' one expert told @votebeat.org's @sashahupka.bsky.social. Read more on the hundreds of thousands of Arizonans who could be removed from AZ's mail voting list: azcir.org/news/2026/08...

'They were detained simply because the government felt it could detain (them), and they weren’t being challenged on it.' ICYMI, our analysis found 120+ immigrants whom ICE continued to hold in AZ after judges barred deportation to their home countries: azcir.org/news/2026/08...

Judges ruled that deporting these immigrants to their home countries could expose them to torture or persecution. ICE detained them anyway—in some cases for over a year—while searching for other countries that would take them. Read our latest investigation: azcir.org/news/2026/08...

ICYMI: Arizona authorized secure treatment facilities for its sickest psychiatric patients in 2019. But the effort repeatedly stalled, leaving many rotating through costly, short-term interventions. Published as part of @cartercenter.bsky.social's Mental Health Parity Collaborative.

In 2019, Arizona lawmakers authorized secure residential facilities for people with serious mental illness who repeatedly cycle through hospitals, homelessness and jail. Seven years later, the facilities still don’t exist. azcir.org/news/2026/08...

ICYMI: A lawsuit brought by two out-of-state investment firms could make it harder for AZ to protect vulnerable groundwater basins. It’s already complicating decisions in other threatened aquifers. azcir.org/news/2026/08...

NEW: A lawsuit brought by two out-of-state investment firms could make it harder for AZ to protect vulnerable groundwater basins. The case centers on the Hualapai Valley, where outside agricultural interests control virtually all of the basin's farmland. azcir.org/news/2026/08...

NEW: More than 1,300 ballots went undelivered in the Navajo County, located in the northeastern quadrant of the state, during last week's primary. That’s not ideal, but it might also be normal. Read my analysis in my newsletter: vbnewsletters.votebeat.org/p/navajo-cou...

ICYMI: Reporter @molboha.bsky.social appeared on AZ PBS last week to discuss her latest story on the state's yearslong, multimillion-dollar effort to get more students to continue their education after high school—only to see enrollment decline: youtu.be/PrfFwL5zyNI?...

Listen to (or read) the full interview here: www.kjzz.org/the-show/202...

NEW: Mohave County is set to debut ballot paper with added security features in Arizona's July primary—despite questions about how well it will work. Read the first story in our new editorial partnership with @votebeat.org: azcir.org/news/2026/07...

NEW: AZ has spent at least $166 million since 2017 trying to get more high school grads to continue their education. Instead, the state's postsecondary enrollment rate has fallen—and ed leaders say AZ lacks the sustained funding and coordination needed to reverse the trend. azcir.org/news/2026/07...

ICYMI: A federal monitoring program was intended to protect those with schizophrenia from a rare blood disorder. Instead, patients throughout the U.S. lost access to antipsychotic medication clozapine, sometimes with fatal consequences. azcir.org/news/2026/06...

A federal monitoring program was intended to protect those with schizophrenia from a rare blood disorder. Instead, patients lost access to their antipsychotic medication, sometimes with fatal consequences. Here’s what happened when families fought back. azcir.org/news/2026/06...

ICYMI: AZ’s three public universities quietly dismantled DEI programs over the past year, following threats from the federal government to cut funds. When AZCIR asked what changed and how, officials declined interviews, records requests and ignored detailed questions. azcir.org/news/2026/04...

Arizona’s three public universities quietly dismantled DEI programs over the past year, following threats from the federal government to cut funding. When AZCIR asked what changed and how, officials declined interviews, denied records requests and ignored detailed questions. tinyurl.com/55yn7ku2

ICYMI: “The idea that we are a place where everybody has to carry their papers is not American,” said Annie Lai, immigrant rights attorney. “That’s not the kind of country that I think a lot of people think we should be.” Our latest, via @allymarkovich.bsky.social azcir.org/news/2026/03...

“This is a move to turn the clock back to a narrower version of who belongs in America” Our latest, via @allymarkovich.bsky.social azcir.org/news/2026/03...

Federal agents in southwest Arizona are now ticketing legal immigrants for not carrying their documents under a 1952 law that’s been rarely enforced for decades. Among those cited are a Canadian green card holder walking to breakfast and an international student at a truck stop.

ICYMI: Nearly three years after AZ Medicaid officials publicly acknowledged a massive fraud scandal targeting Native Americans, the fraud continues and Indigenous residents are still getting exploited by bad actors: azcir.org/news/2026/02...

NEW: Arizona says the worst of its Medicaid behavioral health fraud crisis is over. But nearly 3 years later, questionable sober living homes are still recruiting Indigenous community members, AZCIR's @jasminedemers.bsky.social has found. azcir.org/news/2026/02...

ICYMI: Republican lawmakers are advancing a new wave of legislation targeting abortion in Arizona, even after a judge struck down several existing restrictions and affirmed voters’ 2024 decision to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution. azcir.org/news/2026/02...

NEW: A Maricopa County judge recently struck down several AZ abortion restrictions as unconstitutional. But more than a dozen new bills with implications for abortion access remain in play at the Capitol. From medication abortion to fetal personhood, here’s a closer look: azcir.org/news/2026/02...

Welcome to all of our new followers! We're grateful you're here. If you want to be the first to know about our latest investigations, or get insider background about how our reporters do what they do, sign up for our free, semi-regular newsletter. azcir.org/newsletter/

Amid rumors of increased ICE enforcement in AZ, I want to hear from students and staff at colleges and universities about the vibe on campus and what, if anything, schools are saying about potential ICE visits. Read my latest update and reach out: mailchi.mp/azcir.org/ic...

We wish it weren’t necessary to say that the federal government’s arrest of journalists for reporting on a public event violates the First Amendment’s protection for freedom of the press.

There are still several slots available for this essential training. It's free to attend, and increasingly important in today's reporting landscape. DM if want to hear more, registration link below (deadline 1/15), for training on 1/26.

We traveled to the Ukraine-Slovakia border with @azcir.org's @allymarkovich.bsky.social to document how the Ukrainian border guard uses surveillance drones to ensure no one is exiting the country to avoid the draft. www.youtube.com/watch?v=srcK...

ICYMI: Prop. 139 won majority support in every Arizona district, enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution. Instead of adjusting course, GOP lawmakers pushed new abortion restrictions, reporter @adriana-navarro.bsky.social found—with more coming this session: azcir.org?p=35084

Here it is! My first story with @azcir.org. When I saw AZ lawmakers had introduced laws that would restrict abortion access, I wondered if their actions reflected how their districts voted for Prop. 139. I found it didn't: Each LD voted in favor of the right to abortion care.

NEW: Prop. 139 won majority support in every Arizona district, enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution. Instead of adjusting course, GOP lawmakers pushed new abortion restrictions, reporter Adriana Navarro found—with more coming this session: azcir.org?p=35084

3 years after AZ voters approved in-state tuition for undocumented students through Prop 308, it’s unclear how many have actually benefited. The state had no centralized system to oversee the law's rollout or ensure consistent implementation, AZCIR found. Read our latest: azcir.org/news/2026/01...

It's the last day of our Newsmatch campaign, and we need your help to trigger matching funds by raising another $2,500. Will you help us get there? All donations are double-matched, and new monthly recurring gifts are double-matched at their 12-month value! azcir.fundjournalism.org/newsmatch-20...

We're thrilled to co-host the first 2025 IWMF Newsroom Safety Across America Initiative in Phoenix next month. The safety and security training is free for all freelance and staff reporters. Sign up here: t.co/FUwdg4oRm0 (registration deadline is 1/15/26).