Call Center Company in Yuma, AZ

YUMA, AZ (AZFamily) — New details have emerged in the case of a Yuma Border Patrol agent, Ramon Marquez, accused of engaging in a sexual relationship with a teen girl who was in the youth Border Patrol Explorer Program he helped oversee.

New court documents show the sexual relationship between Marquez, a married father of two, and a 16-year-old girl began in December 2024 and continued through late April, when the investigation was launched.

In a report, investigators said Marquez engaged in multiple encounters with the girl. These incidents reportedly occurred during Explorer program activities, out-of-town trips and even at USBP facilities.

In one instance, detectives said a video shows the girl at Marquez’s home, where a young child can be heard crying in the background. Investigators believe the child is Marquez’s son.

While only one victim has been identified so far, court records reveal this was not the first time Marquez had engaged in inappropriate texting with a child.

The inappropriate behavior was first reported by another Border Patrol agent who observed concerning interactions involving Marquez.

A second report came from another teenage girl in the Explorer Program. She told investigators that Marquez had sent her inappropriate text messages about a year earlier and was facilitating meetups outside of official program activities.

Marquez is facing 14 counts of sexual conduct with a minor and one count of sexual exploitation for allegedly recording sexual acts involving the teen.

“This person knew that there were boundaries and expectations,” said Dominique Roe-Sepowitz, an ASU professor and expert in sex trafficking.

Roe-Sepowitz said cases involving law enforcement officers carry added concern because of the authority those individuals hold. “People in power can take advantage of those who have less power,” she said.

Roe-Sepowitz stressed the importance of proper oversight in youth mentorship programs to protect participants from abuse. “There needs to be checks and balances in all programs,” she said. “I don’t think we need to enter relationships with kids or kids leadership or sports with the idea that adults are predators, but we do need to make sure kids are not alone with coaches.”

Marquez is not in custody. He posted bond following his arrest and according to statements made to detectives, he has been placed on administrative leave.

Arizona’s Family reached out to Yuma Border Patrol for an update on the status of the Explorer Program and whether additional safeguards will be implemented, but has not yet received a response.

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YUMA, AZ (AZFamily) — Finding affordable housing continues to be a challenge for many working-class families in rural Arizona, but a new development in Yuma is offering hope.

Vistara is opening its doors to hundreds of residents, offering affordable two and three-bedroom apartments. More than 200 families will be able to move in once all the project phases are complete.

Frank Gonzalez, a retired agricultural mechanic, was among the first residents to move into phase one of Vistara, which includes 80 apartment units. He had been living with his sister for over a year before making the move.

“I lived with my sister for over a year, so you can imagine how hard that was and trying to find a place,” Gonzalez said.

He decorated his new two-bedroom apartment with a photo of his great-granddaughter, who can now come and visit him.

“I am very thankful because some of the places in town you don’t want to bring a little girl to. This is awesome,” he said.

RELATED: Yuma approves new housing development for farmworkers

The apartment’s developer, Bethel Development Inc., said the project became a reality through collaboration with the city of Yuma and the Arizona Department of Housing.

“The tax credit allocation is really the financial backbone to make something like this happen,” Scott Lauinger with Bethel Development said.

The Arizona Department of Housing provided $25 million in federal low-income housing tax credits, ensuring rents in the community will remain well below market rates for the next 30 years.

“The tax credit program is really designed to serve affordability needs for households making 60% or less of the household median income,” said Lauinger.

With a median income of around $60,000 in Yuma, families earning between 40% to 60% of that may qualify to rent an apartment at Vistara, where rents start at just $600. Yuma Councilman Chris Morris said rural communities need more affordable housing and that the city has been collaborating with developers to help make projects like this easier to build.

“We want to provide opportunity for our community and opportunity starts with having a home that you can afford that is safe and that you can raise your family in,” said Morris.

Gonzalez, who lives alone, said his only other option would have been a cheap mobile home, as he struggled to find affordable housing. He feels fortunate to call Vistara home.

“It’s awesome, I’m thankful,” said Gonzalez.

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YUMA, AZ (AZFamily) — Three people are hurt, including two firefighters, after a massive fire engulfed a Yuma business on Friday morning.

According to Rural Metro Fire-Yuma County, the fire started around 9 a.m. near 13th Street and Engler Avenue. Due to the size of the blaze, Rural Metro requested help from the Yuma Fire Department and crews from both departments worked to contain it.

Rural Metro Battalion Chief Jeff Woodruff said that one firefighter was hospitalized with a muscular-type injury from moving a hose. The second firefighter twisted their ankle and refused hospitalization.

Chief Woodruff added that the man who was inside the business had severe burns.

Yuma Fire says there were multiple reports of brief power outages in the area. Arizona’s Family confirmed that the Yuma DMV lost power for only about 10 minutes and experienced minimal disruption.

The chief said that the public should not be concerned about fumes in the air at this time.

“Most of it’ll thin out before it gets anywhere near the public. This is industrial area, so there shouldn’t be any real hazard to anybody,” Woodruff explained. “For the firefighter’s safety, they do go in where its self-contained breathing apparatus.”

Rural Metro initially reported that the fire was at the AA Sydcol, a recycling plant, but later stated that it was burning at a business east of the plant.

The public is urged to avoid the area to let crews work. Investigators are still working to determine what sparked the fire.

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YUMA, AZ (AZFamily) — The Yuma Sector Border Patrol is planning a new immigration checkpoint along Interstate 8.

It will replace Yuma Sector Border Patrol’s former checkpoint near Telegraph Pass, which was shut down in October 2023 after a truck crashed into the site, injuring eight people, including two agents.

Yuma Border Patrol Chief Justin De La Torres said that the checkpoint was established in the 1980s. While it served its purpose, he said it is now outdated. He said it will be relocated further east to better align with traffic patterns in the area.

De La Torre said the move will strengthen border security by allowing agents to keep a closer watch on travelers heading north and east toward Phoenix.

While immigration remains the checkpoint’s primary focus, agents are also working to stop the trafficking of drugs and weapons through the region. These checkpoints across the southwest have resulted in thousands of arrests over the years for illegal drug and weapon trafficking.

“Agents also have the authority to make arrests without warrants for crimes committed in our presence, so there’s times where we encounter drug smuggling, weapon smuggling, and other laws that we enforce and we have made several arrests in those checkpoints because of that authority,” said De La Torre.

As illegal border crossings have declined, there’s been a slight uptick in drug seizures along the southern border since January. In March alone, the Tucson and Yuma sectors reported over 100 drug busts.

In addition to building a new checkpoint, Yuma border patrol has begun work to close gaps in the border wall. Crews are installing new steel panels and plan to deploy advanced technology to help detect activity in the remote desert areas.

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A cobalt processing facility that would boost the U.S. supply of the critical mineral is on track to begin construction in late 2025.

Once built, the facility in Yuma County would be the only cobalt processing facility in the U.S.

Cobalt is a mineral in high demand for its use in electric vehicle batteries, aerospace products and defense technologies.

EVelution Energy is the company developing the project, which will be located in Wellton in Yuma County, near the California state line. The company says it plans to design and operate a carbon-neutral solar power facility that would treat and recycle 70% of its water and transport its tailings, waste byproducts of the processed ore, to the local landfill to minimize the risk of contamination on the property and surrounding land.

“Our plant is basically a best-in-class green facility … That’s why we got unanimous approval from the Yuma County Board of Supervisors because we addressed all the concerns of the stakeholders,” said Gil Michel-Garcia, the co-founder, executive vice president and general counsel of EVelution Energy.

Since the project was unanimously approved by the Yuma County Board of Supervisors in 2023, the company has secured $200 million in long-term financing through the Export-Import Bank of the United States, a federal agency that provides loans, guarantees and insurance to domestic companies.

EVelution Energy is now looking to raise the rest of the funds through federal programs. This includes a $64.8 million debt financing through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, which allows investors to apply for a green card by investing in U.S. companies located in rural or high-unemployment areas. The company is also looking at raising $57.5 million under the Qualified Opportunity Zone program, which provides tax incentives to U.S. investors who invest in economically depressed areas.

Why cobalt?

Cobalt is a critical mineral, considered essential to the economy and national security, which could be vulnerable to supply-chain disruptions.

“It’s absolutely crucial for high heat-resistant parts that are contained in almost every military application, aerospace and defense application you can think of,” Michel-Garcia said about the use of cobalt. “From the inside of engines to the covering of the supersonic missiles, to stealth bombers, to radar targeting systems, to permanent magnets, all of them contain cobalt metal in some form or another.”

EVelution Energy founders said the company was being considered to help supply the U.S. reserve of critical minerals. At full capacity, the company said the Yuma facility would be capable of supplying 30% of U.S. demand.

About 75% of the world’s cobalt is produced by the Democratic Republic of Congo, then sent abroad and processed into cobalt sulfate for electric vehicle batteries. More than 70% of the cobalt sulfate is refined in China, and most of the remainder is processed in Finland and Indonesia.

With China’s dominance in the market, interest in processing cobalt in the U.S. is growing. The recent tariffs imposed on China by the White House also have benefited EVelution Energy.

“They've exempted critical minerals imports,” Michel-Garcia said about the Trump administration’s tariffs. “All of our imports would come in tariff-free, and they would prevent our competitors, the Chinese, from being able to export products into the United States.”

EVelution touts commitment to sustainably, job creation

The company highlighted its responsibility to source cobalt ethically. Of the total cobalt mined in the DRC, about 15% to 30% is produced by unregulated artisanal small-scale mining, the source of reported human rights violations, where children are put to work and miners work in unsafe conditions, according to a paper published by New York University and Stern Center for Business and Human Rights.

To help companies source minerals responsibly, countries and businesses have created initiatives and guidelines to follow. One organization, the Responsible Business Alliance, created the Responsible Minerals and offers an assessment of which smelters and refiners have systems in place to source minerals responsibly, among other tools. The Organization for Economic Co-operation, an international organization, has also published guidance for sourcing minerals responsibly from conflict-affected and high-risk areas.

EVelution Energy says it is committed to identifying and mitigating human rights abuses, child labor and other issues in the cobalt supply chain and aims to do business with companies that follow these published guidelines and initiatives.

A study conducted by a third-party consultant estimated that the cobalt processing facility would create 3,300 direct, indirect and induced jobs in Yuma and generate more than $750 million of economic activity.

“This is a facility that is not only strategically important for the country from a national security perspective, it's a facility that's going to generate a ton of jobs and economic activity,” Michel-Garcia said.

Through a partnership with Arizona Western College, EVelution Energy will help develop a critical-mineral metallurgical processing program at the college’s Wellton campus, close to the facility. These newly trained professionals could be part of the 100 employees working at the facility. The training program likely would begin in 2027, Michel-Garcia said.

Jobs at the plant would include security and administrative personnel, electricians, welders, machinists and processors, Michel-Garcia said.

“Our goal is to make every effort that we can to hire local residents and to allow this opportunity to retiring veterans from the nearby bases,” he said.