Free Republic

This is why we keep close watch on Congress.  In a bipartisan effort accomplished quickly and virtually under the table, Sens. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) -- in Senate Appropriations markup of the War Supplemental bill -- obtained approval of an amendment that would create an amnesty for illegal alien farm workers.  The measure, called the Emergency Agriculture Relief Act, was added to the War Supplemental bill in a 17-12 vote last Thursday. Known as the AgJob amendment, the Feinstein-Craig measure revived instantaneously the controversy that caused conservatives to lash out at the White House and Congress last summer. ...

Today the feds will announce a huge nationwide crackdown on illegal immigrants, especially gang members. The goal is to take some of the more violent illegal immigrants off the streets. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says the crackdown serves as an example of how important the issue is. "For many years, the way we dealt with illegal immigration was we paid political lip service to toughness. I think we've got to show the public that we are serious about enforcing the laws."

SAN DIEGO: A U.S. Customs agent who leaped from a moving patrol boat onto a boat carrying undocumented immigrants was shoved into the ocean during a struggle for control of the fleeing vessel yesterday. The agent jumped aboard the boat as it was speeding south from the waters off Ocean Beach, a Coast Guard spokesman said. The boat first was spotted by a lifeguard rescue boat near the Ocean Beach pier, a lifeguard spokesman said. When lifeguards approached the boat to conduct a safety inspection, the boat took off heading south. San Diego Harbor Police and U.S. Customs and Border...

Despite congressional opposition, the Bush administration is fully committed to beginning within weeks a pilot test that will allow Mexican trucks to operate freely across the U.S. A spokesman for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Ian Grossman, told WND the agency plans to grant the first authority for a Mexican trucking company to operate its long-haul rigs throughout the U.S. as early as the end of this month.