Congressman-elect Juan Ciscomani, who will represent a large part of Tucson when seated in January, has priorities that include border security, the economy and health-care access.
Congressional District 6 is turning to red with the election of Ciscomani, a Republican who says he’s anti-abortion, pro-Second Amendment and for additional border security measures.
Formerly CD 2, the district runs from midtown Tucson through Graham and Greenlee counties and most of Cochise County and up into Casa Grande.
Now held by Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick, who didn’t run for reelection, the district became less Democratic and more competitive due to redistricting prior to the November election.
Ciscomani has most recently been a senior advisor to Republican Gov. Doug Ducey on regional and international affairs. He previously served as a senior program development specialist at the University of Arizona and was also vice president of outreach for the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Ciscomani has said Congress also needs to deal with inflation, the rising cost of living, and the high cost of gas and grocery prices. Other top issues include election integrity, Second Amendment rights, supporting first responders and veterans, energy independence, First Amendment rights and being anti-abortion.
Another priority is access to health care, which he said comes down to having affordable options, including access to Medicaid and Medicare for people who need it and affordable private insurance, as well as not denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions.
He spoke with the Arizona Daily Star about some of these priorities.
Wants voter ID cards
Cochise County supervisors finally certified the results of the general election, under court order, on Thursday, which certified votes Ciscomani needed to win over Democrat Kirsten Engel.
The two Republican supervisors on the three-member board had refused to certify because of concerns over the validity of the election, which the state elections director said are baseless.
The day before the election was certified, Ciscomani told the Star that “there’s a lot of speculation on both sides,” but that “the county has a duty to certify their results, and it’s time for them to do that.”
Ciscomani has been mainly silent on baseless claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
When asked by the Star in October whether Joe Biden was duly elected president, Ciscomani wouldn’t give a direct answer.
“Joe Biden is sitting in the White House today, no one’s denying that,” he said during the October interview. “And I’m not going to get into what exactly happened in 2020.”
Juan Ciscomani and Kirsten Engel discuss claims that the 2020 election was stolen. Video by Andrea Morabito For the Arizona Daily Star.
Ciscomani told the Star on Wednesday that he wants “voter ID cards or some kind of ID required to vote.” Currently in Arizona, voters without photo ID can show two forms of identification without a photo.
Voters narrowly struck down a ballot measure in November that would have tightened voter identification requirements and would have eliminated the non-photo-ID alternative.
States have different voter ID laws. Opponents of voter ID legislation say photo ID requirements deprive some Americans, who cannot afford one or get the documents needed to get one, of their right to vote.
‘Title 42 should be left in place’
On border security, Ciscomani said there needs to be more investment in technology and personnel at the border and that Title 42 should be left in place.
Title 42 is a public health policy enacted because of the pandemic that allows the U.S. to immediately expel migrants from the country. A federal judge recently struck down Title 42, and the policy will end on Dec. 21.
Back in May, a different federal judge blocked the Biden administration from ending Title 42, and since then the administration expanded it to include Venezuelans, whose numbers at the border were increasing. Since taking office, the Biden administration has expelled around 2 million migrants under the health policy.
Title 42 ending is going to have a negative impact for the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona, Ciscomani said.
“This is another mistake by this administration,” he said. “They continue to make matters worse with whatever little engagement and attention they do give the issue.”
One criticism of Title 42 is that it is a public health policy that is being used in place of immigration law. Without Title 42, migrants entering the country undocumented will be processed under current immigration law.
“We need to leave policies like Title 42 that have been working and have been a very useful tool for our Border Patrol agents and our customs agents to be able to weed some people out from the illegal crossings that we’re seeing,” Ciscomani said. “The record numbers are and continue to go higher and higher, both on people crossing illegally, on drugs, specifically fentanyl, and also on migrant deaths in the desert.”
More than 800 migrants are known to have died along the U.S.-Mexico border in fiscal year 2022, a large portion of whom drowned in Texas’ El Rio Bravo. That’s up from 600 known deaths in fiscal year 2021, which set a record then.
In Southern Arizona, there were 183 migrants whose bodies or remains were recovered in 2022. In 2021, that number was 237 — a record; and in 2020, it was 211.
Title 42 may be making things more dangerous for migrants because many more are attempting to cross more than once after being quickly expelled from the U.S. to Mexican border towns. The rate of people apprehended who tried crossing more than once in a year’s time increased in 2022 to 36%.
Ciscomani said lifting Title 42 sends the wrong message to those who are considering irregular migration to the United States.
“It’s another typical message of the Biden administration saying that ‘the border is open’, and this is only going to make matters worse,” he said.
Opioid epidemic and border security
Increasing amounts of fentanyl and other drugs that pass through Arizona ports of entry are intended for the entire U.S., but Arizona has also seen the effects of the potentially lethal drug.
Fentanyl has emerged as the leading cause of death in youths ages 6-19 in Pima County.
Ciscomani said that as a father of six, the opioid pandemic is something that keeps him up at night.
The federal government needs to partner with states and local communities around prevention awareness and health issues related to the opioid pandemic, he said, as well as bolstering border security.
“We need to be tackling the border security piece. And that’s going to help with the flow of fentanyl.”
Anti-abortion with exceptions
Two other highly divisive topics that Ciscomani takes a position on are abortion and gun laws.
He said he is anti-abortion with exceptions for rape, incest and protecting the life of the mother. He also said laws and regulations about abortion should be left up to individual states.
“The Supreme Court spoke, and they pitched it back to the states where it belongs,” he said about the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade this summer. “It’s up to the states now, the state Legislature and the governor. And I am sure that this is going to be one of the issues that we’re going to be seeing them dealing with next session or the next couple of sessions.”
When asked if he would vote against any federal legislation on abortion that did not have an exception for rape, incest and protecting the life of the mother, he declined to give a direct answer.
“My position is that I’m pro-life, and I would support exceptions for the life of their mother, for rape and for instance,” he said. “That’s what I would like to see if something comes up. But this shouldn’t be coming up at the federal government. This is going to be coming up in the states.”
When it comes to gun laws, Ciscomani said, “I am a supporter of the Second Amendment, and I don’t want to infringe upon the rights of law-abiding citizens to be able to own and bear arms.”
