Thousands gathered at the Arizona Capitol on Thursday for a major May Day rally opposing policies tied to President Donald Trump. Demonstrators pushed for immigrant, labor and LGBTQ+ rights.
May 1 –- recognized globally as International Labor Day –- has become a focal point for grassroots organizing in the United States. Arizona protesters highlighted concerns about proposed Medicaid cuts, veteran care and attacks on civil rights.
Erica Connell is Arizona’s state liaison for 50-50-1, a protest movement formed in response to what it calls authoritarian shifts in U.S. governance.
"Everybody here has an issue – if it's Social Security, Medicare, women's rights, body autonomy – you name it, there's something that represents everybody," she said.
Chris Hill, a 20-year Army veteran, said he’s spent 35 years running health care organizations in and out of the military. He said the administration’s policies are making veteran care ineffective.
"I talked to a counselor. She was given an email 20 minutes before her group session with four veterans and told she no longer worked there. That's not the way we treat our veterans," he said.
Protesters said the stakes are high as they continue to organize nationally.
Elizabeth Brown says she attended the march to support immigrant families like her nephew’s.
“My nephew is married to someone from another country who's here legally, but with the way things are going, one day, they could pick her up and the children, we don't know," she said.
Organizers of the event said nearly 50 community groups were present and helped mobilize supporters.
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Nearly 1,800 formerly homeless Arizonans could be at risk of losing shelter as the Trump administration seeks a major overhaul of federal funding for homelessness programs. -
FEMA has awarded about $700,000 to Arizona and the Havasupai Tribe to fund hazard mitigation projects. The money came from a program the federal agency had nixed but was reinstated by the courts earlier this year. -
Phoenix households cut from SNAP can apply for a $600 credit toward their APS or SRP electric bill and $100 for gas or public transportation. -
Planned Parenthood Arizona clinics are once again providing care for patients insured through Medicaid. Services for Medicaid patients had been on pause since September. -
The U.S. Agriculture Department says Arizona’s error rate for food stamp applications was 10.8%; that’s higher than the national rate of 10.6%. If that number doesn’t come down, it’ll cost the state in penalties, thanks to provisions in the "Big Beautiful Bill Act."
