Free Republic

Open borders are the only path to defeating President Donald Trump, a Salon writer claims.In a piece titled “Everyone’s wrong on immigration: Open borders are the only way to defeat Trump and build a better world”, Salon writer Anis Shivani claims that there is no distinction between a legal and illegal immigrant; immigration law is “racist”; and “open borders are the only way to go.” Shivani adds: We are in a situation of chaos, breeding technical illegality, because federal regulations have become too complex. Comprehensive immigration reform of any type would make these laws even more cumbersome by drastically curtailing...

Both Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) visited the United States' southern border in the beginning of 2017, but they met with two different groups of people. Pelosi appeared over the weekend at a respite center in the Rio Grande Valley that aids immigrants released from Border Patrol and reportedly accommodated undocumented immigrants in the past. Cruz visited the border in February and said he likes to meet with Border Patrol in the area whenever he comes. "Every time I come to the border, I try to listen and ask questions to border...

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton supports President Trump’s claim that noncitizens are voting in U.S. elections, saying prosecutors in his own state have won convictions for voter fraud. “I know it’s an issue because I deal with it,” Mr. Paxton told The Washington Times. “We just got a conviction on an illegal that voted in an election.” Putting a number on how many illegal votes were cast is difficult, however, because local election officials aren’t looking for that kind of fraud. “They’re complicit in allowing it to happen,” he said. “I guarantee it is happening — whatever people say.” Mr....

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) got handcuffed in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Chicago today after arriving with a list of demands and staging a sit-in. One of the things the congressman was protesting was a series of tweets issued by ICE last week warning that those covered under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program weren't necessarily safe from removal. "DACA is not a protected legal status, but active DACA recipients are typically a lower level of enforcement priority," ICE tweeted. "Deferred action may be revoked anytime especially when someone commits a crime or poses a national security...

--SNIP-- Ritchey highlighted the ongoing strain between ICE and Philadelphia, a so-called sanctuary city, which limits its cooperation with federal immigration agents. She said ICE had issued detainers — requests to hold prisoners beyond their normal release times — for several of the people arrested but that Philadelphia “released the individuals from custody” instead of honoring the requests. She said that created “a situation that puts the public at unnecessary risk.” Late Monday night, Mayor Kenney issued a response to Ritchey’s statement. “Like ICE, we want to keep Philadelphians safe but we can’t do that if we are asked to...

The man investigators say is responsible for the tragic ending of a birthday celebration has been booked into the Baton Rouge to face murder charges in the death of a 16-year-old boy. The East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office identified the victim as Darius Plummer, 16, of Baton Rouge. Louisiana State Police identified the suspect as Octavio Bringas, 49. He is charged with second-degree murder. "I can't believe it; I can't believe it," said Derrick Ambrose, the victim's cousin. "I'm trying to grasp it right now." Ambrose added that Plummer left his home Monday morning to go to a friend's...

Don't open the front door if immigration officials knock. If you are taken into custody, tell them your name and nothing else. Definitely don't sign anything. That is some of the advice being given in New York City and around the country at training sessions, put on by advocacy organizations, aimed at helping immigrants living in the country illegally get in as little trouble as possible if they encounter U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. Called "know your rights" training, the sessions have been pushed by some groups as a way to prepare for a possible crackdown on illegal immigration...

Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks offers insightful commentary on Ryan-Care.

After Democratic lawmakers’ years of shrieking and televised temper tantrums over how shutting down the federal government somehow approximates treason, Democrats have suddenly embraced the tactic in their quest to keep the nation’s borders wide open for Muslim terrorists and illegal aliens. Democrats are threatening to force a shut-down of the government after it runs out of operating funds after April 28. Outnumbered in both houses of Congress, and facing a Republican in the White House for the first time in eight years, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and other Democrats say they will oppose efforts to finance President...

Nearly 500 jurisdictions are now sanctuary cities, according to a group that’s tracked the issue for more than a decade, and who said there’s been a massive surge in the number of places trying to thwart federal immigration agents since President Trump’s election. The Ohio Jobs & Justice Political Action Committee (http://www.ojjpac.org/sanctuary.asp) has added more than three dozen new cities and counties to its list in 2017 alone, as jurisdictions rush to try to shield illegal immigrants from what they expect to be a new push for deportations under Mr. Trump. “More will be coming,” said Steve Salvi, founder of...

An illegal immigrant will be deported after admitting to raping a 15-year-old girl during a New Year’s Eve party. Leonel Jardines Martell, 23, pleaded guilty to statutory rape after performing a sex act on a minor during a party in 2014, the Gaston Gazette reported. At the time of the crime, Martell was celebrating his birthday when the victim arrived with a friend. The victim was younger than most at the party, where alcohol and marijuana were present.

One of the fundamental ways scientists measure the well-being of a nation is tracking the rate at which its citizens die and how long they can be expected to live. So the news out of the federal government Thursday is disturbing: The overall U.S. death rate has increased for the first time in a decade, according to an analysis of the latest data. And that led to a drop in overall life expectancy for the first time since 1993 Most notably, the overall death rate for Americans increased because mortality from heart disease and stroke increased after declining for years....

Federal police handcuffed Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez for refusing to leave an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Chicago on Monday. Gutierrez was there to attend a meeting between ICE officials and immigration activists, lawyers, community leaders, and elected officials. When the Illinois representative did not get the answers he wanted, however, he decided to stay. “They were asking about specific cases and about the general conduct of ICE and deportations,” said Doug Rivlin, Gutierrez's director of communications, The Hill reports. “The congressman has decided that he did not get the answers he was looking for from the ICE...

The Trump Administration seems determined to devise new forms of bureaucratic cruelty for immigrants: The latest policy proposal from the Department of Homeland Security would separate children from their parents at the US-Mexico border if they’re caught trying to enter the country together illegally. The policy is intended as a deterrent, but the plan is bound to backfire, swamping agencies with children while doing nothing to address the root cause of migration. It would be both diabolical and ineffective. Under the current policy, parents (usually mothers) and their children caught at the border who want to apply for asylum are...

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats will not vote for a must-pass government funding bill next month if it includes money for construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. "That will not stand," Schumer, D-N.Y., warned Monday in a Senate floor speech. "It would be inappropriate in our judgement to insist on the inclusions of such funding in a must-pass appropriations bill that is needed by the Republican majority to avoid a government shutdown." A short-term funding measure expires in April.

Senate Democrats are warning Republicans of a shutdown showdown if President Donald Trump insists on including funding for a wall along the Mexican border in April’s government funding bill. “We believe it would be inappropriate to insist on the inclusion of such funding in a must-pass appropriations bill that is needed for the Republican majority in control of the Congress to avert a government shutdown so early in President Trump’s Administration,” the Senate Democratic leadership team, along with Appropriations ranking Democrat Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, wrote in a letter to be circulated Monday. The letter was directed to Senate...

Senate Democrats said Monday that they will block any spending bill that includes money for President Trump’s border wall, even if it leads to a government shutdown, saying it’s up to Republicans to resist touchy issues in the looming spending debate. In a letter led by Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, top Democrats also said they will insist that bills allow Planned Parenthood to collect taxpayer money. But though Democrats are in the minority and would have to filibuster to block the bills, they insisted it’s Republicans who will be blamed for a government shutdown.

A 35-year-old illegal alien, twice released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under the Obama administration, reportedly shot a 15-year-old girl, killing her and their unborn child with whom she was 9 months pregnant, the Houston Chronicle reported on March 9. ICE initially arrested Armando Garcia-Ramires of Mexico in January of 2011 through the Criminal Alien Program of San Antonio, but released him a month later, ICE spokeswoman Nina Pruneda said. In April 2016, ICE arrested him again and then again released him the following month.

Full Title: UN official Claims that the US Can't Deport Illegal Immigrants Because it's a Breach of their Human Rights The UN human rights chief said Wednesday Donald Trump's attempts to deport illegal immigrants could breach their human rights. (Jordanian Prince)Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein also said he was 'dismayed' by the Trump administration's attempts to 'intimidate or undermine' journalists and judges, and expressed concerns about the impact of a Trump order that bans people of six mostly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Zeid chronicled a litany of human rights concerns worldwide, including 'chilling indifference' among some leaders in the...

A 30-year-old man was booked into Grand Forks County Correctional Center in North Dakota after calling emergency services 44 times in less than a week, for the purpose of pledging his support to ISIS and express his anger towards President Donald Trump. Mohamed Aweis Mohamed is accused of harassment and calling 911 for no other reason than to vent his frustrations, apparently claiming that felt he "had no freedom" in the U.S. and wanted to "go home", while saying he supports ISIS and "dislikes women". In early February a Grand Forks Police officer met with the suspect and checked his...