Free Republic

Republicans often rail about undocumented immigrants. But Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, an expected GOP presidential candidate, took it a step further Monday by sounding some critical notes about the number of those who immigrate to the U.S. legally. "In terms of legal immigration, how we need to approach that going forward is saying -- the next president and the next Congress need to make decisions about a legal immigration system that’s based on, first and foremost, on protecting American workers and American wages. Because the more I’ve talked to folks, I’ve talked to [Alabama Sen. Jeff] Sessions and others out...

"....This development, perhaps one of if not the biggest of the 2016 presidential campaign so far, comes as Walker has taken a commanding lead in polls in all three of the first GOP primary states: Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. The reason why this development is so significant is that the two establishment-backed candidates, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, both have an in-depth understanding of the immigration issue and come down on the side that supports special interests’ desire for a massive increase in legal immigration that hurts American workers. Meanwhile, Sens. Ted Cruz...

The administration granted amnesty to at least one known gang member under President Obama’s program for Dreamers, and as many as 20 others may also have been approved, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee revealed Tuesday. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency charged with approving amnesty applications, admitted it broke its own rules in approving the gang member for tentative legal status, agency chief Leon Rodriguez said in a letter to Sen. Charles E. Grassley. “Based on standard procedures and processes in place at the time, the [deferred action] request and related employment authorization should not have been...

Monday on Newmax TV’s “America’s Forum,” political commentator Dick Morris said the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPA) fast track being supported by many Republicans has a provision that allows for the “free flow of workers” between countries, essentially creating a backdoor to “unrestricted immigration.” Morris said, “This is huge. I hope everybody listening takes action call your senator about it. If he is a Republican he is voting wrong. “I dont think that people understand that in this deal which is a trade agreement among Australia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Japan, Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, and Chile, there’s a provision for free...

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a likely 2016 GOP presidential candidate, pledged to protect American workers from the economic effects, not only of illegal immigration but also of a massive increase in legal immigration. During an interview with Glenn Beck, Walker became the first declared or potential 2016 GOP presidential candidate to stake out a position on immigration fully in line with that of Senate Judiciary Committee subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest chairman Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL). He also noted that he has been working with Chairman Sessions on the issue to learn more about it. Walker is now...

Monday on Newmax TV’s “America’s Forum,” political commentator Dick Morris said the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPA) fast track being supported by many Republicans has a provision that allows for the “free flow of workers” between countries, essentially creating a backdoor to “unrestricted immigration.” Morris said, “This is huge. I hope everybody listening takes action call your senator about it. If he is a Republican he is voting wrong. snip It means literally that congress would not have the authority to restrict immigration because a treaty supersedes a statute under our constitution.”

Rubio’s right that this is a hypothetical and that nothing like the Gang of Eight bill could pass the House right now. But Mickey Kaus is right that it’s a darned fine gotcha, a way to gauge how far Rubio’s willing to go in renouncing his signature “achievement” as a senator. What if Rubio defeated Hillary next year and the party’s leadership decided to capitalize by doing something splashy to show Latino voters that the new, Rubio-led GOP was ready to engage them like never before? A bill like the Gang of Eight bill getting past the House isn’t...

TEL AVIV – While U.S. government agencies have strongly denied a Judicial Watch report claiming there are ISIS camps near the U.S. border with Mexico, lawmakers have expressed fears the global jihadist organization is linking up with deadly Mexican drug cartels. Such a partnership would not only help to facilitate the smuggling of jihadists into the U.S. but could ultimately translate into a devastating terrorist attack on American soil, such as an Electro Magnetic Pulse, or EMP, catastrophe. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Northern Command and the Texas Department of Public Safety all have denied the...

A federal appeals court signaled Friday that it is unlikely to allow President Barack Obama’s request to go ahead with a new round of relief for illegal immigrants, making it likely that the White House will have to take its legal case to the Supreme Court within days. The oral arguments before the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans were being closely watched by both sides in the heated immigration debate as a sign of whether the administration will be able to move forward with its plan to grant quasi-legal status and work permits to about 4...

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...