8 April 16th - April 22nd, 2026 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | Questions? Feedback? Email me at [email protected] • Follow me on RATING (out of 5 McFly’s) 2026 VOLVO XC60: SCANDINAVIAN CALM WITH JUST ENOUGH SWAGGER 2026 VOLVO XC60 The 2026 Volvo XC60 pulls up The 2026 Volvo XC60 pulls up like it just finished a yoga session like it just finished a yoga session and closed a business deal on the and closed a business deal on the way out. Starting around $51K, way out. Starting around $51K, it sits right in that sweet spot of it sits right in that sweet spot of luxury without screaming for luxury without screaming for attention. Under the hood is a 2.0L attention. Under the hood is a 2.0L turbocharged mild-hybrid making turbocharged mild-hybrid making about 247 horsepower, paired about 247 horsepower, paired with an 8-speed automatic and with an 8-speed automatic and standard AWD. It’s not trying to be a standard AWD. It’s not trying to be a street racer, and honestly, that’s not street racer, and honestly, that’s not the point. It’s smooth, composed, the point. It’s smooth, composed, and quietly confident. and quietly confident. Fuel economy lands around Fuel economy lands around 23/30 MPG, which is solid for 23/30 MPG, which is solid for a luxury SUV in this class. It’s a luxury SUV in this class. It’s efficient enough to not annoy you, efficient enough to not annoy you, but you’re still paying for premium but you’re still paying for premium gas because… Volvo. The plug-in gas because… Volvo. The plug-in hybrid version exists too, and that hybrid version exists too, and that one gets spicy with power, but the one gets spicy with power, but the standard setup is all about balance, standard setup is all about balance, not chaos. not chaos. Inside is where the XC60 Inside is where the XC60 really flexes. This thing is clean. really flexes. This thing is clean. Like, “minimalist house with Like, “minimalist house with no clutter” clean. High-end no clutter” clean. High-end materials, simple layout, and a materials, simple layout, and a big updated screen with Google big updated screen with Google built-in make it feel modern built-in make it feel modern without being overwhelming. It’s without being overwhelming. It’s quiet, comfortable, and borderline quiet, comfortable, and borderline therapeutic to drive. You don’t get therapeutic to drive. You don’t get in this car to rage. You get in it to in this car to rage. You get in it to decompress. decompress. Driving it feels effortless. The Driving it feels effortless. The ride is smooth, the steering is light ride is smooth, the steering is light but precise, and everything just but precise, and everything just works the way it should. It’s not the works the way it should. It’s not the most athletic SUV in the segment, most athletic SUV in the segment, but it doesn’t need to be. It’s more but it doesn’t need to be. It’s more about feeling good than going fast. about feeling good than going fast. The XC60 isn’t trying to win The XC60 isn’t trying to win drag races or flex at valet. It’s for drag races or flex at valet. It’s for someone who wants luxury without someone who wants luxury without noise, tech without frustration, and noise, tech without frustration, and a daily driver that feels like a deep a daily driver that feels like a deep breath. It’s calm, classy, and very, breath. It’s calm, classy, and very, very easy to live with. very easy to live with. Comfort: Value: Fuel Economy: Looks: The Drive: Safety & Security: Overall: Sound System: Bells & Whistles: Last Resort ICE holds Arizona detainees for months. This legal tactic is freeing them. BY MORGAN FISCHER F or eight and a half months, Kelly Yu sat in an immigration deten- tion center in Eloy. An undocu- mented immigrant from China, she was far from her husband and daughter — both U.S. citizens — and far from the chain of West Valley sushi restau- rants they ran together. Yu’s detention became national news. Rep. Greg Stanton and Sen. Mark Kelly visited her in Immigration and Customs Enforcement lockup, and Sen. Ruben Gallego met with her family at one of their restaurants. Local political activists from both sides of the aisle even teamed up to ask the White House for her release. Yes, they noted, Yu had entered the country illegally two decades ago and had a removal order. But she’d also built a family and a business and had become a staple of the community. She should be spared deportation. Despite that advocacy, it seemed the only way she was getting out would be on a plane back to China. But earlier this year, some- thing changed. In late February, Yu was released — not through the advocacy of local representa- tives or public outcry, but thanks to a simple court filing. An attorney for Yu filed a habeas corpus petition challenging the legality of her detention. And it worked. In Arizona and across the country, habeas petitions are the court filing du jour in immigration law. Habeas corpus petitions require the government to justify detaining or imprisoning a person, calling upon the Fifth Amendment’s requirement that no one be “deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” Despite that, habeas petitions are not all that common in modern-day courts. Last March, only two habeas petitions were filed in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. But a lot can change in a year. Last month, nearly 350 habeas petitions were filed in Arizona district court, according to a tracking service. That’s more than were filed in the District of Arizona all of last year. The uptick began in September — nearly 82% of 2025 habeas filings occurred in the last four months of the year — and has continued into 2026. This year, more than 900 of these same petitions were filed in the first three months alone. Yu’s attorney, Bianca Villalpando, filed her first habeas petition in December. She’s since filed between 15 and 20 on behalf of detained clients. So far, only one of them has been denied. “This is never something we’ve ever had to do,” Villalpando said. “This was a big learning curve for a lot of attorneys, because it really came down to like, this was the last resort.” No other options Why have habeas petitions gone through the roof? Because the federal government has left detainees few other recourses. As the Trump administration has pursued a mass deportation agenda, immi- gration authorities have been detaining anyone and everyone they can. ICE also has resisted paroling people entering the country without authorization — that is, releasing them as their immigration cases progress. This has drastically increased the country’s detention population, and the administration is buying up warehouses nationwide to expand its detention capacity. “There’s definitely a policy move toward increasing the number of people in deten- tion,” said Brian Green, a Denver-based immigration attorney who has filed habeas petitions in Arizona, “increasing the deten- tion space around the country, and to make people in the U.S. who are detained uncom- fortable and to disincentivize people coming to the United States.” In July, as a part of this effort, ICE rein- terpreted a federal law to deny bail to anyone who entered the country without legal authorization, which Green called “an extreme position both legally and histori- cally.” Previously, immigrants entering the country would be briefly detained before generally being granted bail and paroled into the country with the condition that they make required court dates and check-ins with immigration authorities. But in September, the Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed the new no-bail policy, which effectively eliminated bond hearings for millions of people, including longtime residents with deep community ties. That includes Yu. At 18 years old, she fled from China while pregnant and sought asylum in the U.S. Her asylum claim was denied in 2004 and she was given a removal order in 2005, and her final appeal was dismissed in 2016. But as her case worked through the immigration system, Yu opened two restaurants and planned to open a third. Then in October 2024 — while Joe Biden was still president — ICE arrested and detained Yu, despite her having no criminal record. She was sent to Eloy, then sent to a detention center in Texas and then released with an ankle monitor after 90 days. In May 2025, with Trump back in office, ICE rede- tained her at an immigration check-in and sent her back to Eloy, where she languished for months. “They’re trying to keep people detained so they can give up,” Villalpando said. “Who wants to be in jail? Especially if you haven’t necessarily committed a crime.” Countless detainees have been in the same position, especially since the proce- dural change in September. So, as a last resort, immigration attorneys began filing habeas petitions to compel ICE to either grant their clients a bond hearing or release them from detention. Detainees have also been filing these petitions en masse on their own, often with the help of the Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project, which provides free legal services to Arizona immi- grants in detention. The group provides detainees with habeas petition >> p 10
