Tucson, Arizona, markets itself to the Nation using many Buzzwords and Catchphrases: Pioneer, 3rd in the Nation, Sanctuary City, Climate Action Hub. Then, Mayor Regina Romero takes vow after vow to promote her stance on human rights.
Tucson’s mayor vows to protect families from separation. Regina, with her creative accounting and offsetting, is third in the Nation for climate initiatives.
Fellow Tucsonans,
“Climate change is a threat to our public health, our economy, and our way of life. Tucson is one of the fastest-warming cities in the country and we are already feeling the effects of a warming planet. Extreme heat, wildfires, and prolonged drought are detrimental to our people and our economy, but they are especially felt by our Black, Indigenous, and brown communities.”
“This is why, under my leadership, the City Council declared a Climate Emergency in 2020 that set Tucson on a path to carbon neutrality by 2030…”
Mayor Regina Romero
City of Tucson
I am perplexed if Mayor Regina Romero and her team of City Council Members would care to address how the City of Tucson, since 1955, has taken part in one of the most controversial areas of world history, which leads to genocide & child trafficking. Each year since 1955, Tucson and Mayor Romero, since 2019, have welcomed thousands of vendors who occupy hundreds of thousands of square feet across the city to take part in what is billing itself as “The largest, oldest, and most prestigious gem and mineral show in the world.”
On average, these shows with worldwide vendors pump well over $100 million into Tucson’s economy each winter. The impact has world consequences beyond comprehension.
Mining is so controversial regarding climate change and human rights that Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden drafted a 164-page report published in 2023 on Recommendations to Improve Mining on Public Lands. Five months later, with ZERO implementing Biden administration mining recommendations, Regina Romero posted a thank-you message to the Tucson Gem and Mineral Society on her Instagram.

I explored three of Tucson’s gems and minerals supply lines.
TANZANIA-
A top producer of Tucson gems and minerals, including aquamarine, garnet, ruby, sunstone, tanzanite, and tourmaline. It can all be purchased via Tucson Gem and Mineral Shows.
-Tanzania Tier 2 Human Trafficking Operation
The US Department of State has this published about Tanzania’s Human Trafficking:
Due to inconsistent use of formal identification procedures and limited protection services, authorities reportedly deported, detained, and arrested potential trafficking victims for alleged “prostitution” or immigration crimes without screening for trafficking indicators. The government continued to rely on civil society organizations to provide most victim services without providing financial or in-kind support. Although the 2008 anti-trafficking law became applicable to Zanzibar in 2022, it was not implemented due to a lack of awareness among officials, undermining overall anti-trafficking efforts on the archipelago.
MYANMAR (BURMA)-
A top producer of Tucson’s gems and minerals, including 90% of the world’s rubies, spinel, peridot, garnet, iolite, and imperial jade. It can all be purchased via Tucson Gem and Mineral Shows.
-Myanmar Tier 3 Human Trafficking Operation, aka the worst score
2010 Brian Liber wrote Child Labor, Health and Welfare Issues in Asia’s Gem and Jewelry Sector. He detailed the use of children in Burma to mine jade and rubies. His findings were so accurate and disturbing that the United States Department of Labor published his report.
The US Department of State has this published about Myanmar Human Trafficking:
During the reporting period, the military continued a policy or pattern of employing or recruiting child soldiers as well as a policy or pattern of use of children and adults for forced labor.
AFGHANISTAN-
A top producer of Tucson’s gems and minerals, including lapis and lazuli, Can now be purchased via Tucson Gem and Mineral Shows.
-Afghanistan Tier 3 Human Trafficking Operation, aka the worst score
The US Department of State has this to say about Afghanistan Human Trafficking:
In addition, there was a pattern of employing or recruiting child soldiers and a pattern of sexual slavery by the Taliban (bacha bazi — a practice in which men exploit boys for social and sexual entertainment). The Taliban did not make efforts to address labor trafficking and sex trafficking, nor did it identify or protect any trafficking victims. The Taliban continued to undermine the rights of women, members of minority groups, and other vulnerable populations.
Tucson Leadership is touting anti-deportation policy, climate initiatives, and “keep families together” when Tucson’s crucial economic boost is gems and minerals, which does not work as part of Tucson officials’ offsetting and creative accounting.
Romero can claim to want to keep migrants safe when they flee countries whose gems and minerals fuel her economy; they are fleeing partly because the world desires the gems and minerals Tucson demands.
Romero can claim green initiatives when the pollutants her policy opposes are caused by the resources fueling Tucson’s economy and the world’s desire for the gems and minerals Tucson sells.
Romero can claim to take a vow on human rights and then have Tucson cash in on one of the world’s most controversial resources.
Romero can and will, but Tucson will never be able to legally or ethically claim US leadership in Human Rights or Carbon Neutrality because no amount of offsetting or creative accounting can hide Tucson’s role in human trafficking and climate change. The $100 million plus into the economy is hardly a cent compared to the hundreds of millions in gems and minerals sold in Tucson. It is time Tucson officials focus on paving roads and crime, with a full TapouT of its woke agenda rooted in the most incredible hypocrisy of the city’s truth.
That’s a ban on the world’s most ethical and sustainable diamonds and gemstones in the third-most climate-focused city in the Nation.
No one should forget that Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and ICE special agents seized counterfeit jewelry worth an estimated $1 million from booths at a previous Tucson Gem Show. Regina’s claims of human rights and carbon neutrality are also counterfeit. I might challenge the bookkeeping. ICE is disrespected by Mayor Romero’s administration at every opportunity, yet without ICE, Tucson would be at greater risk of fraud, greed, and corruption. The Tucson Gems and Minerals shows are such a hotbed of crime that undercover operations are in place to fight child trafficking. In 2023, Veterans for Child Rescue had Counter-Trafficking Ops at the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show.
The very idea that Tucson officials tout human rights and climate change initiatives amid the above controversial facts is absurd. For the record, I believe in climate change. It has and will always exist, but I do not fear it. Fear of something being politically weaponized to hide dirty deeds is a waste of energy, pun? Tucson Mayor Regina Romero is first in the nation for political weaponization of climate change. She defines hypocrisy with her offsetting and creative accounting as she grabs federal funds. I am offended that Hippo.com ranked Tucson third in the Nation for climate change initiatives. I will challenge the claim with Richard McCathron, the President & CEO of Hippo. The Securities Exchange Commission and Arizona Insurance Commission must also consider the ethical and legal aspects of Hippo’s publication.
As Tucson, AZ, Mayor Regina Romero walked onto the Democratic Convention stage to endorse Kamala Harris, the term tone-deaf should have flashed the screen; all I saw was a hypocrite fueling child trafficking by hosting The Largest Gem Show In The World. The party I once believed in has lost all sense of reality. Fuel is Mayor Romero’s buzzword, but she needs to look up fueling. Mayor Regina Romero, Silence on Climate Change and Human Rights is requested. Would the mayor selling blood diamonds please sit down, and would a forensic accountant contact me?
FACT: MINING AND QUARRYING ARE THE THIRD HIGHEST CHILD LABOR INDUSTRY. Third, it is used correctly in this instance. Hippo, take note.
FACT: 40,000 Congolese children, some as young as six, are mining cobalt in the Congo—truth matters.
Maybe Hippo Insurance gave Tucson the wrong award. Mistakes happen, or is offsetting child labor and child trafficking the way to carbon neutrality?
“Extreme heat, wildfires, and prolonged drought are detrimental to our people and our economy, but they are especially felt by our Black, Indigenous, and brown communities.” Mayor Regina Romero
FINAL FACT: More Black, Indigenous, and Brown children will die in 2025 from mining the gems and minerals fueling Tucson’s supply lines than will die from Tucson’s climate change. When a child dies in an Afghanistan mine in 2025, the heat will never be the cause of death; under US Federal Labor and Trafficking Laws, the cause of death will be confirmed as a Child Labor Violation- Mining.
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We’d like to thank Niko Roswell for the Op-Ed. As a reminder, authors’ opinions are their own and may not represent those of Grok Media, LLC, GraniteGrok.com, its sponsors, readers, authors, or advertisers. Submit Op-Eds to steve@granitegrok.com
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