Free Republic

Several prominent Republicans are trying to push immigration restrictionist groups to the fringe of the debate by challenging their conservative credentials and attacking their stance on population control, The Washington Post reports. GOP heavyweights like Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and power broker Grover Norquist are backing an effort to inform conservatives about the history of groups like the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), NumbersUSA and the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS). (SNIP) Those organizations are now the leading conservative voices against immigration, both legal and illegal, and have received the endorsement of Republicans like Senators Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and...

While the administration struggles to move forward with its plan to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants, the list of foreigners trying to get into the United States legally has surged to 4.4 million, over 100,000 more than last year, according to the State Department. Those on the list either have a family member who is a U.S. citizen or green card holder, sponsoring their entry, or an employer wants them. The list grew by 100,085 over last year. And more than a quarter of them, 1,323,978, are Mexican. ... unlike illegals slipping over the border, many of those on the...

A contingent of Texas Republicans are trying to repeal a 14-year-old law that allows immigrants to attend the state's colleges at in-state tuition rates, but Latino party members in the state see keeping the state's "Dream Act" crucial to growing the party with Hispanic voters, reports The Wall Street Journal. "This is a mission to uphold what we believe is Republican heritage, a Republican legacy," said GOP activist Artemio Muniz, who sees maintaining the law vital to the party's voting bloc in Texas, where Latinos equal nearly a third of the state's voters. And through the years, members of his...

Only yesterday Jeb Bush was the Republican flavor of the week, the favorite of the Republican establishment, those wonderful folks who yearn for a nice man who oozes political propriety and respectability. Establishment Republicans — Rockefeller Republicans, they were once called — live in dread of frightening the horses. They’re something like the young man sent off to college with his mother’s entreaty to remember his raising ringing in his ears: “Remember, son, what you have been taught, go to church, say your prayers, avoid worldly temptations, stay away from loose women, and pay no attention to those who mock...

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said in an interview broadcast Sunday that a step-by-step, long-term approach is the only option for immigration reform. ADVERTISEMENT "We can't do it in a massive piece of legislation," Rubio, who announced his presidential candidacy last week, said in a wide-ranging interview for CBS's "Face the Nation." "I know, 'cause I tried," Rubio added.Rubio outlined in the CBS interview the steps he would take for reform, stressing it would start with an E-Verify bill to track entrance and exit of migrants to improve border security, followed by modernizing the legal immigration system to make it "less...

California’s chief law officer, Attorney General Kamala Harris, declared this week, “an undocumented immigrant is not a criminal,” a statement in direct contradiction to federal law. Illegally entering and remaining in the country is a federal crime. By stating that those who illegally enter or remain in the United States are not in violation of law is simply incorrect. However, many of these “undocumented immigrants” are not being prosecuted under the current administration. Last November, President Obama declared effective amnesty for an estimated five million illegally present aliens. Since then, Representative Luis Gutierrez has traveled the country, partnering with fellow...

The hopes of up to some 5 million undocumented immigrants hung on arguments heard in front of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Friday, as President Obama’s controversial go-it-alone approach to immigration reform faced a critical legal hurdle.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), a 2016 GOP presidential candidate, said he believes that President Barack Obama’s first executive amnesty for so-called DREAMers—the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)—is “important” and he won’t reverse it himself if elected president. He delivered these remarks in a Spanish-language interview he gave to Univision’s Jorge Ramos. “I believe DACA is important. It can’t be terminated from one moment to the next, because there are already people benefiting from it,” Rubio said in Spanish on Ramos’s television program, according to an English translation provided by the media service Grabien. “But yes, it is going to...

Undocumented Immigrant Not A Criminal,’ California Attorney General Says April 17, 2015 LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — California Attorney General Kamala Harris made waves this week after telling the San Francisco Chronicle that “an undocumented immigrant is not a criminal.” On Friday, in an exclusive interview with CBSLA, Harris echoed that comment. “An undocumented immigrant is not a criminal,” she reiterated. “I’m a career prosecutor. I’ve personally prosecuted everything from low-level offenses to homicides. Unfortunately, I know what crime looks like. I know what a criminal looks like who’s committing a crime. An undocumented immigrant is not a criminal.” Those comments,...

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), a 2016 GOP presidential candidate, said he believes that President Barack Obama’s first executive amnesty for so-called DREAMers—the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)—is “important” and he won’t reverse it himself if elected president. He delivered these remarks in a Spanish-language interview he gave to Univision’s Jorge Ramos. “I believe DACA is important. It can’t be terminated from one moment to the next, because there are already people benefiting from it,” Rubio said in Spanish on Ramos’s television program, according to an English translation provided by the media service Grabien. “But yes, it is going to...

Protesters' Chants Filter Into Court's Immigration Action Hearing BY SUZANNE GAMBOA A panel of federal appeals court justices peppered lawyers with questions Friday in a closely watched case that is holding up President Barack Obama's move to shield millions of immigrants from deportation. Throughout the hearing, chants and drumming by supporters of Obama's action who were protesting outside the courtroom filtered into the packed courtroom. A coalition of 26 states, led by Texas, sued to block Obama's action which also provides work permits to many of the immigrants who would get the deportation deferrals. The hearing was on an appeal...

Illegals being processed at the McAllen Border Patrol Station in Texas last year. President Obama’s White House Task Force on Creating Welcoming Communities unveiled its recommendations Friday for a national strategy to “integrate” millions of immigrants and refugees into cities and towns across the U.S. The chair of the task force, Obama’s domestic policy adviser Cecilia Muñoz, said her focus is on making sure Obama’s historic immigration policies get “institutionalized” so they will live on long after she and her boss are gone from the White House. Obama created the task force Nov. 21 when he announced his plan...

There were few positive signs for the White House Friday as President Barack Obama’s latest executive actions on immigration were debated in front of a federal appeals court. During more than two hours of oral arguments before the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans, Obama’s own statements about his immigration moves were used by a Republican-appointed judge to put a Justice Department lawyer on the defensive.

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Two conservative U.S. appeals court judges expressed skepticism on Friday over arguments to lift an injunction blocking President Barack Obama's efforts to overhaul immigration law without congressional action. Administration lawyers were in court to ask a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel to lift the injunction, issued in February by a federal judge in Texas, halting the president's executive action intended to shield 4.7 million undocumented immigrants from deportation.

Two conservative U.S. appeals court judges expressed skepticism on Friday over arguments to lift an injunction blocking President Barack Obama's efforts to overhaul immigration law without congressional action. Administration lawyers were in court to ask a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel to lift the injunction, issued in February by a federal judge in Texas, halting the president's executive action intended to shield 4.7 million undocumented immigrants from deportation. The programs angered many Republicans who accused the president of executive overreach and granting amnesty to lawbreakers, but drew praise from immigrant rights advocates, more than 100 of whom rallied...

Explanation: Galactic or open star clusters are young. These swarms of stars are born together near the plane of the Milky Way, but their numbers steadily dwindle as cluster members are ejected by galactic tides and gravitational interactions. In fact, this bright open cluster, known as M46, is around 300 million years young. It still contains a few hundred stars within a span of 30 light-years or so. Located about 5,000 light-years away toward the constellation Puppis, M46 also seems to contain contradictions to its youthful status. In this pretty starscape, the colorful, circular patch above and right of the...

Explanation: While most spiral galaxies, including our own Milky Way, have two or more spiral arms, NGC 4725 has only one. In this sharp color composite image, the solo spira mirabilis seems to wind from a prominent ring of bluish, newborn star clusters and red tinted star forming regions. The odd galaxy also sports obscuring dust lanes a yellowish central bar structure composed of an older population of stars. NGC 4725 is over 100 thousand light-years across and lies 41 million light-years away in the well-groomed constellation Coma Berenices. Computer simulations of the formation of single spiral arms suggest that...

Low-wage workers are rising up to protest their wages and call for a drastic increase in the minimum wage. The disgruntled, largely fast food, workers — spurred by labor organizations such as the Service Employees International Union — staged a rally this week calling for a $15-an-hour minimum wage. They insist the current economy is unfair to low-wage workers.

President Obama’s executive actions on immigration will be tested on Friday when a federal appeals court considers whether to lift an order blocking the actions to allow millions of immigrants without legal status to remain in the United States. Lawyers from the federal government and 26 states opposed to Obama’s immigration policies will make oral arguments in front of a three-judge panel from the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans, the most conservative circuit in the country. ADVERTISEMENT The administration is seeking an emergency stay lifting a Texas judge’s order freezing Obama’s November executive actions, which could...

Cameras placed along Texas' 1,200-mile border with Mexico have captured the stream of illegal immigrants sneaking into the country on a daily basis. The network of more than 1,000 motion detectors, similar to those used to film wildlife, have been placed strategically in areas that have not been secured - where Mexican citizens can cross and evade capture with ease. They helped border guards apprehend nearly 30,000 suspects and led to 88,400 pounds of drugs being seized in 2014 as part of Operation Drawbridge. The system has also had a significant impact on Mexican cartels and their ability to smuggle...