Southwest
Arizona nonprofit provides safe place and support for homeless, pregnant moms: 'Owe my blessings to them'
A network of homes for vulnerable pregnant women in Arizona has assisted over 1,000 women since its first home opened in May 2000 — and it’s looking to expand even more in the New Year of 2024.
Back in the late ’90s, “Five young women made a commitment to live together in community and create a home that could welcome others,” Laura Magruder, chief executive officer of Maggie’s Place, told Fox News Digital.
Inspired by their Catholic faith and the Catholic Worker tradition, the five co-founders “shared a common interest in social justice and establishing a ‘house of hospitality,’” said Magruder, who joined the organization in 2013.
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“The women spent months discussing, researching and laying the groundwork,” she said.
Along with the help of friends and volunteers, the five turned a vacant bungalow in downtown Phoenix that was built in 1926 into “The Magdalene House,” said Magruder.
The five founding members of Maggie’s Place, pictured circa 1999. The first Maggie’s Place home opened on May 13, 2000. (Maggie’s Place)
“Maggie’s Place was born nine months after construction began when the house welcomed its first mothers and opened its doors on May 13, 2000,” she said.
“The celebration, taking place on Mother’s Day,” she said, “marked the transition from a good idea to an active, dynamic home and community life.”
While the organization was inspired by Catholic teaching, it is not affiliated with the Church. People of any faith or no faith background at all are welcomed at its homes.
That first year, five women called Maggie’s Place their home, she said.
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The mission of the organization is to “provide safe housing and a nurturing community for homeless pregnant women, empowering them to thrive throughout their lifetime.”
Since its opening in 2000, Maggie’s Place has expanded to five maternity homes — and “Maggie’s Place” as a nonprofit organization has grown in scope as well.
“Over the years, we have added layers to the support we provide, including case management, workforce development and therapeutic partnerships,” she told Fox News Digital.
Today, a total of 30 women and their newborn children can be housed each night.
Today, a total of 30 women and their newborn children can be housed each night.
In 2024, an additional four beds are set to open. The homes are all located in Maricopa County, Arizona.
Each house, said Magruder, provides shelter for four to seven women at a time.
“Over 1,100 women have resided in a Maggie’s Place home, and over 600 babies have called Maggie’s Place their first home,” said Magruder.
A team of AmeriCorps members live at Maggie’s Place homes in the greater Phoenix area and assist with programming. Four AmeriCorps members are shown here at a Family Success Center event. (Maggie’s Place)
To live at Maggie’s Place, a woman must be over age 18, pregnant, homeless and willing to live in the community, says its website.
Residents of Maggie’s Place are free to stay until their child’s first birthday.
The support offered by Maggie’s Place does not end, however, when the mother and child move out.
“We have workforce development programs onsite and a housing specialist to assist [the] mom[s] in moving out into a safe and secure place,” said Magruder.
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Additionally, Maggie’s Place operates the “Maggie’s Place Family Success Center,” which “provides long-term programming for moms and their children,” regardless of whether their children were born at a Maggie’s Place home or not, said Magruber.
“We also have a small apartment complex focused on family reunification,” she explained. “This property has a nightly capacity to serve four to eight families.”
Guided by its core values of love, hospitality, community and excellence, Maggie’s Place has a goal of being “the premier service provider in Maricopa County to our moms, babies and families, breaking the cycle of generational trauma to transform our community.”
‘Need outweighs demand’
The group’s work, however, is far from complete, it says.
“In Arizona, the need outweighs the demand,” said Magruder. “So we will continue to strengthen the program offerings at our Family Success Center and open/build new homes as opportunities arise.”
“I owe all my blessings to them.”
“AB,” a former Maggie’s Place resident, found herself homeless at 28 weeks pregnant.
“I had two bags packed and $20 to my name,” she said in a narrative shared with Fox News Digital.
“AB” lived at Elizabeth House, pictured above, after she found herself homeless and nearly penniless at 28 weeks pregnant. (Maggie’s Place)
In desperation, she called Maggie’s Place, and was placed in the organization’s “Elizabeth House” in Tempe.
She safely delivered her son — and was able to take him home from the hospital a day later.
“Maggie’s Place provided me with housing while I worked on resources to provide for my son,” she said.
Prior to her pregnancy, AB had struggled with alcohol and drug use, as well as a gambling addiction.
“I went to support groups and therapy while living” at Maggie’s Place, she said.
“Maggie’s Place provided me with housing while I worked on resources to provide for my son,” said one young mom. (iStock)
When her son was four months old, she moved into an apartment. Now an alumna of Maggie’s Place, she still attends its programming through the Family Success Center.
She said Maggie’s Place saved her from homelessness.
She is currently in counseling, is working a job and has been sober for three years, she said.
AB also credits Maggie’s Place with saving her life.
“Maggie’s Place gave me the tools I needed to be a good provider for my son,” she said. “I owe all my blessings to them.”
Maggie’s place is a 501(c)3 organization. “We provide a nurturing and stable home, nutritious food, infant supplies, access to medical care, and programs that are trauma informed, focused on building resiliency and strengthening families,” the group says on its website (maggiesplace.org).
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Southwest
ICE head says agents facing ‘constant impediments’ after migrant seen ramming cars while trying to flee
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Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons argued on Tuesday that federal immigration agents are facing “constant impediments” and “constant attacks” after video showed a suspected illegal migrant in San Antonio ramming cars in an attempt to flee.
The video shows the migrant in a car ramming into vehicles that were blocking them in from the front and the back, as the individual attempted to evade arrest.
During an appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity,” Lyons was asked if rhetoric from Democrats criticizing ICE can be tied to incidents like these.
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Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons argued that federal immigration agents are facing “constant impediments” and “constant attacks.” (Reuters/Leah Millis)
“When we hear elected officials calling upon individuals to impede or obstruct ICE law enforcement operations nationwide, you’re going to see incidents like this,” Lyons responded. “You saw the officers and agents attempting to apprehend a criminally illegal alien, and there they are using their car as a weapon.”
Lyons said one of the agents went to a hospital with neck injuries after their vehicle was struck in the incident.
“Every day, this is what the men and women of ICE are facing,” he claimed. “It’s constant impediments, constant attacks like this. And it’s not safe for my folks, it’s not safe for the public. It really needs to stop.”
He also purported that “criminal gangs” are organizing groups to impede or obstruct immigration enforcement operations.
New video shows a migrant in a car ramming into vehicles that were blocking them in from the front and the back, as the individual attempted to evade arrest. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“It’s a constitutional right to go out there and protest. But when you have organized criminal gangs, which these are, that are organizing these groups to, again, impede or obstruct law enforcement operations … that’s a criminal act. I will tell you that Homeland Security investigations, my folks, the FBI, we’re investigating these and people can be held accountable because you can’t organize groups to go out and impede law enforcement. It’s a criminal act, and we have to act swiftly to prevent this from spreading,” he said.
Lyons was also asked about recent comments from Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, who vowed to prosecute any ICE agent who commits unlawful acts during operations in the city while stressing that his threat does not apply to “honest, decent, moral” agents.
“The men and women of ICE, the men and women of HSI, they’re not committing any crimes,” Lyons argued. “So he doesn’t have to worry about arresting any of my folks, because what we’re doing is we’re enforcing the law. We are out there every day making this nation and his city safe again. So he shouldn’t worry about the men and women of ICE. What he should worry about is the sanctuary policies that have these criminal aliens go back to his neighborhoods and commit heinous crimes like fentanyl trafficking, human trafficking, rape of a child. He should focus on those and let law enforcement do law enforcement work.”
PHOTOS RELEASED OF RENEE NICOLE GOOD, THE US CITIZEN KILLED BY ICE IN MINNESOTA
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said one of the agents went to a hospital with neck injuries after their vehicle was struck in the incident. (Christopher Dilts/Getty Images)
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This comes on the heels of a recent incident in Minnesota, where Renee Nicole Good, a U.S. citizen, was fatally shot by masked ICE agent Jonathan Ross, who fired into the driver’s windshield and open window from the side of the vehicle and subsequently exclaimed “f—ing b—-” as the car crashed into another parked vehicle.
Democrats and local residents have condemned the shooting as a murder and called for Ross’ prosecution, while the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers have defended the incident by arguing that it was a justified shooting.
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Southwest
WATCH: Horse-mounted officers capture previously deported child predator at border
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Horse-mounted Texas Department of Public Safety officers captured a previously deported illegal alien child predator close to the border.
In a statement Tuesday, the state agency said officers from its Border Mounted Patrol Unit made “multiple” illegal immigrant apprehensions on New Year’s Day as part of an effort called Operation Lone Star.
The agency said the operation took place in Maverick County along the U.S. border with Mexico, just south of the town of Del Rio, Texas.
Among those arrested by Texas DPS officers was Marcio Steven Izaguirre, a 41-year-old Honduran illegal alien and child predator, according to the agency. DPS shared body camera video of the arrest in which horse-riding troopers discovered Izaguirre hiding in thick desert brush.
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Mounted Texas DPS officers arrested Marcio Steven Izaguirre, a 41-year-old Honduran illegal alien and child predator, on New Year’s Day. (Courtesy of Texas Department of Public Safety)
The video shows two mounted troopers riding quickly through rocky desert terrain and eventually discovering Izaguirre. The officers shouted commands for Izaguirre to exit the brush and handcuffed him and led him away in front of their horses.
The agency said it was alerted to the illegal’s presence by a drawbridge camera set off on a private ranch around 10:30 a.m. New Year’s Day.
DPS said, through further investigation, troopers learned that Izaguirre was a previously deported felon with multiple deportations dating back to 2004. The agency said Izaguirre also has a lengthy criminal history, including convictions from 2008 for furnishing alcohol to a minor, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and child molestation out of Cobb County, Georgia.
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In 2025, Adan Delgado-Ortega was captured hiding in brush after crossing illegally into Texas with multiple deportations since 1998 and convictions for assault and weapons charges. (Texas Department of Public Safety)
The agency said it has since referred Izaguirre to U.S. Border Patrol.
Lt. Chris Olivarez, a Texas DPS spokesperson, said in an X post Jan. 1 that mounted officers, along with Border Patrol and aided by K-9 “Bona,” apprehended five illegal immigrants on New Year’s Day.
Olivarez said the operation prevented gotaways and was a way of “keeping Texas safe.”
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Texas law enforcement patrols the border between the U.S. and Mexico. (Fox News)
Texas makes up well over half of the U.S. border with Mexico, around 1,254 miles. It is the only southern border state to explicitly ban sanctuary jurisdictions. Texas also requires state and local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
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Texas law also mandates that local sheriffs cooperate with federal immigration enforcement by seeking to enter federal 287(g) agreements under the federal Immigration and Nationality Act.
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Southwest
Uvalde trial halted after key witness changes testimony
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The trial of a former Uvalde, Texas, school police officer accused of not doing more to save lives in the 2022 shooting that left 21 dead was halted after a key witness reportedly changed her testimony.
Adrian Gonzales has pleaded not guilty to 29 counts of child abandonment or endangerment following the attack at Robb Elementary. He could be sentenced to a maximum of two years in prison if he’s convicted, prosecutors said.
Former teacher Stephanie Hale testified on Tuesday that she saw the shooter on the south side of the campus, the same area where Gonzales was located, according to Texas Public Radio.
However, defense attorneys objected, arguing her testimony was different compared to statements Hale made to a Texas Ranger during a 2022 investigation when she placed the shooter closer to Gonzales than previously indicated, the outlet added.
TRIAL UNDERWAY FOR FORMER UVALDE SCHOOL POLICE OFFICER ACCUSED OF SLOW RESPONSE TO SHOOTING
Former Uvalde school district police officer Adrian Gonzales leaves the courtroom during a break at the Nueces County Courthouse in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Eric Gay/AP)
The jury in the trial was then dismissed until Thursday as attorneys are preparing arguments on motions related to Hale’s testimony, the report said. The judge in the case is expected to hear those arguments on Wednesday, and the defense has raised the possibility of a mistrial, Texas Public Radio also reported.
Gonzales, who was among the first to respond to the attack, arrived while the teenage assailant was still outside the building. The officer allegedly did not make a move, even when a teacher pointed out the direction of the shooter, special prosecutor Bill Turner said Tuesday during opening statements in the trial.
Former Uvalde school district police officer Adrian Gonzales, right, and his attorney Nico LaHood, left, arrive in the courtroom at the Nueces County Courthouse in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Eric Gay/AP)
The officer only went inside Robb Elementary minutes later “after the damage had been done,” Turner said.
FORMER UVALDE SCHOOL POLICE CHIEF, OFFICER INDICTED OVER RESPONSE TO ELEMENTARY MASS SHOOTING
“When you hear gunshots, you go to the gunfire,” Turner added, noting that Gonzales, a 10-year veteran of the police force, had extensive active shooter training.
Attorney Nico LaHood makes opening arguments during a trial for former Uvalde school district police officer Adrian Gonzales on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Eric Gay/AP)
An indictment accused Gonzales of putting children in “imminent danger” of injury or death by failing to engage, distract or delay the shooter and by not following his training. The allegations also said he did not go toward the gunfire despite hearing shots and being told the shooter’s location.
Gonzales’ attorneys disputed accusations that he did nothing at what they called a chaotic scene, saying that he helped evacuate children as other police arrived.
Adrian Gonzales, a former police officer for schools in Uvalde, Texas. At right is a memorial dedicated to the 19 children and two adults killed on May 24, 2022, during a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. (Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office/AP/Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
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“The government makes it want to seem like he just sat there,” defense attorney Nico LaHood said on Tuesday. “He did what he could, with what he knew at the time.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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