PHOENIX – President Donald Trump said Tuesday he will exclude undocumented immigrants in the 2020 Census when it comes to allocating seats in Congress, a move critics called unconstitutional and unenforceable.

Opponents immediately vowed to sue over Trump’s memorandum, which comes a little more than a year after the Supreme Court rejected the administration’s attempt to include a citizenship question on the 2020 Census.

“Today’s memorandum from Donald Trump to Lyin’ (Commerce Secretary) Wilbur Ross epitomizes the lawlessness of this administration,” said a statement from Thomas Saenz, president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. “As the Supreme Court has long held, persons are persons under our Constitution, regardless of immigration status.”

MALDEF and the American Civil Liberties Union both said they would sue if the administration carries through on the order.

Navajo leaders said the tribe could begin moving toward the phased reopening of the reservation as early as next week, but they continued to urge members to take precautions to keep the number of COVID-19 cases trending downward.

Despite the optimism, the Navajo Nation already announced it will continue a reservation-wide weekend lockdown for at least the next two weekends, which would be the 16th and 17th such lockdowns.

“July 27 is the day” leaders expect to announce a decision, Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said Tuesday during an almost two-hour virtual town hall meeting. “We’ve got health care experts that are going to give us updates about what’s happening all around us, and we’re going to make an informed, data-driven decision.”

Nez issued a challenge, saying that if residents can get the number of new infections down to fewer than 50 a day for 14 days “that will support reopening certain places for Navajo usage.” He said the number of cases has been below that level since July 15; the Navajo Department of Health reported 24 new positive COVID-19 cases Monday.

No new deaths were reported Monday on the reservation, where the death toll stands at 422.

PHOENIX – Conservationists expressed anger and frustration over the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision not to hear an appeal to stop construction of the southern border wall. But they’re moving ahead on other legal fronts while monitoring construction as it chews through land marked by towering saguaros and home to the endangered jaguar.

“It’s upsetting that they’re not willing to consider the (Trump) administration’s obvious abuse of the law to fast-track border wall construction,” said Laiken Jordahl, borderlands campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson.

The appeal had sought to block 145 miles of steel-bollard barrier construction in Arizona, California, Texas and New Mexico, arguing that dozens of environmental, health and safety laws were illegally waived to speed wall construction.

In Arizona, construction on sections of the U.S.-Mexico border wall continues across the San Pedro River, which begins in Mexico and flows north into Arizona near Hereford. Activists contend this barrier will halt the natural cross-border migration of wildlife and make flooding worse.

In today's coronavirus news: AZ has passed the 150K threshold in cases … hospitalizations are trending downward as Arizonans embrace masks … Gov. Doug Ducey is expected to give more guidance to schools tomorrow as State Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman calls for metrics rather than calendar dates to determine when it is safe to return to schools … Ducey calls on Congress to extend the unemployment benefit that provides an extra $600 a week to out-of-work Arizonans … and more details below.

The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Arizona crested the 150,000 mark as of Wednesday, July, 22, afteror the state reported 1,926 new cases this morning, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.

Pima County had seen 13,900 of the state's 150,609 confirmed cases.

A total of 2,974 people have died after contracting the virus, including 392 in Pima County.

Maricopa County topped the 100,000 threshold today with 100,543 of the state's cases.

Hospitals remain under pressure, although they report in slight decrease in recent days in the number of Arizonans hospitalized with COVID-19-related symptoms. The report shows that 3,094 COVID patients were hospitalized yesterday in the state, down from a peak of 3,517 on July 13 but a slight bump from yesterday's 3,041.

A total of 1,369 people visited ERs yesterday with COVID symptoms, a jump up from Monday's 1,243 but still lower than the the peak of 2,008 on July 7.

A total of 870 COVID-19 patients were in ICU beds yesterday, a slight bump up from yesterday's 865 but still lower than the peak number of 970 on July 13.

Citing a drop in the total number of cases on a week-to-week basis, Gov. Doug Ducey said last week that mask-wearing and steps to reduce the interaction of people in large groups had resulted in some positive signs regarding the spread of the virus.

But Ducey warned the state still had a long road ahead in the fight against COVID-19.

"I want people to get their heads around this," Ducey said. "There's no end in sight today."

Figures from Pima County show that on a week-by-week basis, cases here may have also peaked in the week ending June 27, with new cases reaching 2,300. Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry noted that the two subsequent weeks could still be adjusted upwards, but during the week ending July 4, 2,092 cases were reported. However, Huckelberry noted that the week ending July 4, the county saw a peak of 37 deaths, up from 18 the previous week.

While coronavirus cases may be on a slight downward trend in the state, Ducey urged Arizonans to stay vigilant by staying at home and wearing masks while practicing social distancing when out in public to continue the fight against the virus.

"There will be no victory laps," said Ducey, who praised measures set by local authorities to require masks were helping to reduce spread, but once again stopped short of a statewide mandate.

The Pima County Democratic Party has withdrawn its support for Kevin Kubitskey, one of two Democrats competing for the party's nomination in the Aug. 4 primary.

Earlier this week, Kubitskey's estranged daughter, Makyla Cleary, said on Facebook that she had been mentally, physically and sexually abused by him. Her post:

To all my friends and family on Facebook Kevin is my biological father and he is currently running for sheriff of Tucson Arizona. Kevin physically, sexually and mentally abused me from the age of 6 until I was 12 and finally had enough courage to tell someone about the horrendous things he was doing to me. An order of protection was placed on me and my mother and a court process started we went to court for a couple of years and when we were gathering people to testify on my behalf Kevin decided to give his rights up to me so that he would not face the backlash of the truth coming to the public. Kevin is a man who has severe anger issues and uses the badge as a shield of protection. I’m asking that everyone please take the time to go vote against him as it is not safe to have an abuser and predator as our sheriff.

Kubitskey, who is divorced from Cleary's mother, denied the allegations on Facebook, saying he "would not do anything to my daughter to cause her harm" and that she had "mental health issues." He acknowledged a ] blamed his primary opponent, sheriff Chris Nanos, of orchestrating the post and dragging his daughter into the campaign. Nanos was a longtime Sheriff's Department officer who was appointed to the seat in 2015 but lost his bid to win it at the ballot box, losing to Republican Mark Napier. Napier is seeking reelection this year.

In a statement, the Pima County Democratic Party Executive Committee said it was withdrawing its support based on Kubitsky's response.

"Our decision to withdraw support is based on the manner by which his campaign responded to those allegations," the committee wrote in a prepared statement. "His response included the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive medical information about a family member and an accusation that a political opponent orchestrated the release of the allegations. Running as a Democrat is a privilege, and we hold all our candidates to the highest ethical standards."

The statement continued: "We condemn any candidate who exploits this decision, or the allegations that gave rise to it, for political gain. We support work to ensure women’s physical, economic and personal safety."

Kubitskey's full Facebook post:

Federal law enforcement shootings have escaped the kind of scrutiny that gave rise to the local policing reforms of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Experts say that’s no accident: federal agencies are not transparent, making public oversight difficult.

One such agency is ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations, whose agents have been involved in shootings nationwide. Most of the victims have been black, Hispanic or Native American, according to the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism.

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Click here to read their biggest stories as soon as they’re published.

This election, one of President Donald Trump’s most influential advocates is 26-year-old Charlie Kirk, who has developed a unique bond with the first family. The conservative star dines with the president at Mar-a-Lago and rang in the new year there. During each of the last two winters, he used the club to hold a formal fundraiser for his nonprofit, Turning Point USA, that featured Donald Trump Jr.

At a Turning Point event in June, the president, addressing the crowd, said, “Let us also show our appreciation to my good friend, Charlie. I’ll tell you, Charlie is some piece of work who is mobilizing a new generation of pro-American student activists.” On a Turning Point webpage soliciting donations, Trump Jr., a close friend of Kirk’s, is quoted as saying, “I’m convinced that the work by Turning Point USA and Charlie Kirk will win back the future of America.”

The tax-exempt charity says its mission is to educate “students about the importance of fiscal responsibility, free markets, and capitalism.” As its profile has risen, its revenue has ballooned, reaching $28 million, a sevenfold increase in four years.

Arizona lawmakers and advocates were unsparing Monday in their praise of the late Rep. John Lewis, using words like hero, giant and legend for the man one described as “living, breathing history.”

The Georgia Democrat, who played a leading role in the civil rights movement from the 1960s until now, died Friday of pancreatic cancer, according to a statement from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who said Lewis was “revered and beloved” in Congress.

Tributes poured in from across the country and from Arizona, where some officials recalling crossing paths with Lewis and others said they were inspired by his example.

“What do you say when somebody who is living, breathing history leaves? My first thought was who’s going to carry on the legacy?” asked Flagstaff Mayor Coral Evans. She said that even though this “freedom rider” has died, someone needs to pick up the torch from Lewis.

Some lawmakers couldn’t say anything: After tweeting Friday that he was “heartbroken,” Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Phoenix, said there would be “no official quote coming from me or my office right now about the passing about John Lewis. This just hurts too much.”

Heartbroken was a common refrain among Arizona lawmakers, almost all of whom had something to say about Lewis, 80.

Lewis was born Feb. 21, 1940, in Alabama, the son of sharecroppers, according to his congressional bio. While finishing his last year at Fisk University in 1961, he volunteered to be a Freedom Rider, Blacks and whites who rode through the South to protest segregation by crossing the color line in whites-only facilities.

From 1963 to 1966, he was chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. He led the 1965 voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, that became known as the “Bloody Sunday” march after police attacked the marchers, fracturing Lewis’ skull in the process.

He was elected to Congress in 1986 and continued serving, even after announcing in December that he was being treated for stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

PHOENIX – The federal government is currently not accepting new applications for protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, despite a federal court’s order Friday that it resume doing so.

A U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesperson said Monday that “Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice are reviewing the court decision, and USCIS has no further comment at this time.”

The order Friday by U.S. District Court Judge Paul Grimm in Maryland came almost a month after the Supreme Court overturned the Trump administration’s plan to eliminate DACA. The Obama-era program deferred deportation for undocumented immigrants who were brought to this country as children, and granted them work, driving and other privileges.

The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Arizona climbed past 148,000 as of Tuesday, July 21, after the state reported 3,500 new cases this morning, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.

Pima County had seen 13,848 of the state's 148,683 confirmed cases.

A total of 2,918 people have died after contracting the virus, including 391 in Pima County.

Maricopa County had 98,988 of the state's cases.

Hospitals remain under pressure, although they report in slight decrease in the number of Arizonans hospitalized with COVID-19-related symptoms. The report shows that 3,041 COVID patients were hospitalized yesterday in the state, down from a peak of 3,517 on July 13 and the lowest number hospitalized since July 2, when 3,013 people were hospitalized.

A total of 1,203 people visited ERs yesterday with COVID symptoms. The number of ER visits hadn’t hadn’t dipped that low since June 29, when 1,077 people with COVID symptoms visited ERs. That number peaked at 2,008 on July 7.

A total of 865 COVID-19 patients were in ICU beds yesterday. That’s the lowest it’s been since July 8, when 861 COVID-19 patients were in ICU. The number in ICUs peaked at 970 on July 13.

Citing a drop in the total number of cases on a week-to-week basis, Gov. Doug Ducey said last week that mask-wearing and steps to reduce the interaction of people in large groups had resulted in some positive signs regarding the spread of the virus.

But Ducey warned the state still had a long road ahead in the fight against COVID-19.

"I want people to get their heads around this," Ducey said. "There's no end in sight today."

Figures from Pima County show that on a week-by-week basis, cases here may have also peaked in the week ending June 27, with new cases reaching 2,300 in that seven-day period. Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry noted that the two subsequent weeks could still be adjusted upwards, but during the week ending July 4, 2,092 cases were reported. However, Huckelberry noted that the week ending July 4, the county saw a peak of 37 deaths, up from 18 the previous week.

While coronavirus cases may be on a slight downward trend in the state, Ducey urged Arizonans to stay vigilant by staying at home and wearing masks while practicing social distancing when out in public to continue the fight against the virus.

"There will be no victory laps," said Ducey, who praised measures set by local authorities to require masks were helping to reduce spread, but once again stopped short of a statewide mandate.

Arizona Senate Democrats released a joint statement following Ducey's press conference urging him to enact a statewide mask mandate, implement more contact tracing and provide more PPE for hospitals and schools.

"We are disappointed again that the Governor refuses to take stronger actions to curb the spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus," the lawmakers wrote. "More aggressive action is needed now to safely open schools in the future no matter what date is picked. Senate Democrats again urge the Governor to take swift and preventative action. Time is not an ally. Act now, Governor to curtail the spread. Lives, not just livelihoods, are at stake."

The looming question this week: Is it safe to reopen Arizona’s schools and universities next week? Ducey said at last week’s press conference that he was in conversations with school leaders and university presidents about the best way to move forward with the school year. Many school officials are anticipating an announcement this week from Ducey regarding a further delay in starting the school year.