Free Republic

Republicans seeking to put more teeth in the party's immigration platform ran into opposition from delegates who largely argued they didn't want to conflict with Sen. John McCain's positions. But the divide over hot-button topics such as "anchor babies" and "amnesty" was further complicated by McCain's public shift in the wake of his failed "comprehensive immigration reform" bill, with the presumptive Republican presidential candidate now acknowledging the strong mandate to emphasize securing the borders. The platform will be put before the party's delegates for a vote on the opening day of the convention Monday in the Twin Cities. Today, the...

U.S. officials have arrested a man in East Los Angeles who is suspected in the gruesome 1998 killing of 19 men, women and children in Baja California...... Mancada, 33, is accused of being one of several military-clad gunmen who stormed a ranch in El Sauzal, near Ensenada, on Sept. 17, 1998, pulled victims from their beds, herded them onto a patio and shot them to death. Among the victims were children ages 2 and 1. ... Mancada, 33, told U.S. immigration officials that he crossed into San Ysidro in December 1998 and spent the last decade living in California and...

A new and more nuanced national report about fertility shows a significantly higher share of babies are born to immigrants in California than in any other state, even as a lower-than-average share of the state's births are to poor women and women on welfare. Nationally, the U.S. Census report shows that more American women are skipping motherhood or are waiting longer to have children, a trend already evident in California, where birthrates to women in their 40s have tripled the past two decades. "Women are delaying their childbearing until they complete their educations," said Jane Lawler Dye, a family demographer...

When Lupita Sanchez applied for a passport, she didn't expect her U.S. citizenship would be called into question. But three months after completing her application - 38 years after she was born in Brownsville - Sanchez received a shocking letter from the U.S. State Department...explaining that her application had been closed, "Once you obtain U.S. citizenship, you may execute another application for a U.S. passport." Sanchez...has been voting and paying taxes in the U.S. for 20 years. But along with hundreds of other South Texans delivered by midwives, the validity of Sanchez's birth certificate, and her citizenship, is being called...

A 10-year-old boy was among four Oakland youths who carried out a string of residential burglaries during the past month, stealing laptops, iPods and other electronic equipment, investigators say. The youths would travel into Alameda on bicycles during daylight hours and target properties where no one was home, making off with items that were easily carried in backpacks, according to police. The group includes two brothers, who are ages 10 and 15, and their 12-year-old sister. The third boy is 15 years old and their friend. Investigators did not disclose the names of the suspects because they are minors. When...

SPOKANE — The state Republican Party adopted a platform Saturday that includes a provision aimed at opposing automatic citizenship for babies born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants. The state party approved a similar platform plank at its 2006 convention that proved controversial. The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution recognizes citizenship for all persons born in the United States. "Immigration is an issue that a lot of our party activists feel strongly about," state Republican Party Chairman Luke Esser said. "And it's certainly a very defensible position. It's not at all something that's based on race concerns. It's a...

The teenage birthrate in California increased in 2006 for the first time in 15 years and costs taxpayers $1.7 billion a year - or $2,493 per baby, according to a report released Wednesday by the Oakland-based Public Health Institute. ... The financial losses cover a range of things, said the study's authors, from public assistance to foster care to diminished future taxable wages and spending power among the parents. "The costs are really starting to climb now. That's not money we can afford to lose," said Dr. Norman Constantine, a clinical professor of public health at UC Berkeley and lead...

Yes, this is a vanity...but an important one. Calling all Freepers to support Buddy Witherspoon for US Senate. He's going up against Lindsey Grahamnesty on June 10th. We've got an opportunity to throw this guy out of office for good. Remember Graham spoke before La Raza and stated: "We're going to tell the bigots to shut up!" watch the video here: Witherspoon needs donations. I don't even live in South Carolina but have donated to his campaign. Let's give Grahamnesty the boot.

If you are looking for an eyerolling, maudlin Mother's Day story, you don't have to go any farther than the pages of the Washington Post to get a doosie. You see, Ashley Surdin of the Washington Post gave us a tear-jerker of a tale about how the border fence between Mexico and the United States keeps Mothers from being with their children. Yes those mean Americans and their insistence on border security hurts Mommies. To that all I can say is, Oh brother! In fact, the Post is even claiming that those poor Mexican Mothers can't put their fingers through...

At eleven years old, a Douglas elementary school girl finds herself pregnant and under the protection of Child Protective Services. The name of the girl was not released due to her age. In late January or early Februar 2008, when her homeroom teacher and the school nurse noticed the slight swell of her tummy, the girl dismissed her girth as a tumor, a Douglas police report stated. When her grandparents, who have legal custody of the girl, were questioned, they told Douglas detectives that she ate too much and that’s why she was gaining weight. By the middle of March,...

Supervisor says county spends more than $1 billion a year on benefits to illegals. According to new data from the Department of Public Services, nearly a quarter of Los Angeles County's welfare and food stamp benefits goes directly to the children of illegal aliens, at a cost of $36 million a month. "The total cost for illegal immigrants to County taxpayers far exceeds $1 billion a year - NOT including the millions of dollars for education," said Antonovich. "With $220 million for public safety, $400 million for healthcare, and $432 million in welfare allocations, illegal immigration continues to have a...

An anchor baby is defined as an offspring of an illegal immigrant or other non-citizen who becomes a citizen at birth. These children may qualify for welfare and other state and local benefit programs. Additionally, the child may sponsor other family members for entry into the United Sates when he or she reaches age 21 (chain migration). The sheer numbers are staggering. According to the 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868 to ensure citizenship for the newly emancipated slaves, "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States." The...

As if Katie Couric didn't already have enough problems. Weighed down by record-low ratings at the anchor desk of "CBS Evening News," and by reports suggesting she will leave that post two years before her multimillion-dollar contract expires, Couric now has civil rights groups — mostly Hispanic — on her back. And for good reason.

As if Katie Couric didn’t already have enough problems. Weighed down by record-low ratings at the anchor desk of “CBS Evening News,� and by reports suggesting she will leave that post two years before her multimillion-dollar contract expires, Couric now has civil rights groups — mostly Hispanic — on her back. And for good reason. The CBS newscast that carries her name recently aired a one-sided and inaccurate report about illegal immigrant women who give birth to their children in the United States. The news story challenged the broader constitutional law of birthright citizenship and stated — without providing the...

VIDEOSPHOTOS Paying For Immigrant Births Pregnant women from Mexico are crossing the border to have their babies in the U.S. Byron Pitts reports on the debate over who should foot the bill for the children of illegal immigrants. | Share/Embed (CBS) It was 5 a.m. and CBS News national correspondent Byron Pitts is with a woman who is nine months pregnant. She's rushed to a south Texas hospital to undergo a C-section - a $4,700 medical procedure that won't cost her a dime. She qualifies for emergency Medicaid. She gave birth to a healthy, 8 1/2 pound baby boy -...

A Rogers High School student accused of attempted kidnapping and trying to rob his employer recently had started therapy for personal problems, an advocate for the boy’s family said Tuesday. Jim Miranda, a lawyer and Hispanic rights advocate in Bella Vista, said Eduardo “Eddie” Hernandez, 17, suffers lingering effects because he stayed behind in Mexico as a boy while his mother came to the United States to work. “There is a certain amount of resentment that comes with being left behind in Mexico,” Miranda said. “The boy has some issues to work out, and his mother had recognized this and...

On March 4, voters in the Texas Democratic primary will choose between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The battle is shaping up to be a health-care Alamo. Twenty five percent of people living in the Lone Star state are uninsured, according to the U.S. Census. That's the highest rate of any state. Sen. Clinton has issued the challenge, telling Sen. Obama "I'll see you in Texas." She promises to provide health coverage for "every single one of the nation's 47 million uninsured," and she accuses Sen. Obama of offering a "band aid" solution that would leave about a third of...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Monday decried anti-immigrant perceptions in the United States and argued that Mexican immigrants complement American workers. On his first trip to the U.S. as Mexico's president, Calderon said he is working to combat anti-Americanism in Mexico and to improve job prospects there to reduce migration. He said he hopes that Americans resist anti-Mexican sentiments. "The worst thing that happened in this country is this anti-Mexican or anti-immigrant perception of people. We need to contain this," Calderon said after a speech at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. "I need to change...

This is a video of John McCain at an Arizona Townhall Meeting answering (or rather NOT answering questions) of the people attending. http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1073039/dont_ask_mccain/

McCain's love of amnesty will be a key issue. He supported amnesty in 2003 by name, proposed it in 2006 and 2007 without calling it amnesty, and says that anyone who says that he ever supported amnesty is a liar. He has insulted Americans who advocate border security and has cursed at the thought of building a border fence. The presence of Juan Hernandez in the background of the McCain campaign tells us that John McCain is as weak on border security now as he ever was. Dr. Juan Hernandez, a dual citizen of the US and Mexico, and past...

*Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas is a fairly famous institution and for a variety of reasons:* *1. John F. Kennedy died there in 1963* *2. Lee Harvey Oswald died there shortly after* *3. Jack Ruby-who killed Lee Harvey Oswald, died there a few years later..by coincidence* *'On the flip side, Parkland is also home to the second busiest maternity ward in the country with almost 16,000 new babies arriving each year. (That's almost 44 per day---every day)* *A recent patient survey indicated that 70 percent of the women who gave birth at Parkland in the first three months of...

About every six months the population of the U.S. increases about as much as the population of Tallahassee. Who are these hundreds of thousands of new citizens? They are newborns, children of illegal aliens born in the United States - "anchor babies." This quirky legal right then allows the mother's parents and siblings to remain, and later a whole bunch of their relatives to immigrate legally. That's why they are also known as "jackpot babies." Just consider Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, the second busiest maternity ward in the U.S. in 2006. 70 percent of the women giving birth in...

About every six months the population of the U.S. increases about as much as the population of Tallahassee. Who are these hundreds of thousands of new citizens? They are newborns, children of illegal aliens born in the United States - birthright citizens, "anchor babies" - not illegal aliens. This quirky legal right then allows the mother's parents and siblings to remain, and later a whole bunch of their relatives to immigrate legally. This why they are also known as "Jackpot babies." Just consider Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, the second busiest maternity ward in the U.S. In 2006, 70 percent...

From the back of the Culinary union hall on Friday, all that could be seen were hundreds of upraised hands -- black, brown and white -- clapping to the chant "Sí se puede." They were clapping along with Geoconda Arguello Kline, an immigrant from Nicaragua who came to Las Vegas for a low-skilled job in a hotel. She learned English. She saved enough to buy a home for the family she was raising. She took advantage of job training programs to move up in her work, and she became active with the union. Now Kline, "Geo" to the union's members,...

Mike Huckabee yesterday contradicted his own top immigration surrogate, announcing he will not support a constitutional amendment to end birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to illegal aliens. It was a stark reversal after The Washington Times reported that James Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project, said Huckabee promised to pursue an amendment to the Constitution. In an article in yesterday's editions, Huckabee's spokeswoman did not challenge the former Arkansas governor's statements to Gilchrist...But by yesterday afternoon, Huckabee had backed away..."I do not support an amendment to the Constitution that would prevent children born in the U.S....

Now, I know most of the Republican candidates have changed certain of their positions. But I have to say, when I read this story this morning, I was floored. Heading into South Carolina, where illegal immigration appears to be the biggest issue among Republicans, Huckabee is going to support a constitutional amendment prohibiting birthright citizenship? Did I not hear him in several debates, including on Sunday, admonishing those of us who've long opposed birthright citizenship, about God's children coming out of the shadows? Is this not the same man who only a few months ago supported McCain-Kennedy? Romney has explained...

Mike Huckabee wants to amend the Constitution to prevent children born in the U.S. to illegal aliens from automatically becoming American citizens, according to his top immigration surrogate — a radical step no other major presidential candidate has embraced. Mr. Huckabee, who won last week's Republican Iowa caucuses, promised Minuteman Project founder James Gilchrist that he would force a test case to the Supreme Court to challenge birthright citizenship, and would push Congress to pass a 28th Amendment to the Constitution to remove any doubt. The former Arkansas governor thinks the case against U.S. Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and...

A controversial new anti-illegal-immigration ad by GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul has sent his libertarian supporters into high dudgeon, but it's getting rave reviews from border-security hawks, including some Homeland Security officials. In a surprise move, the strict constitutionalist has taken aim at the 14th Amendment as part of a proposal to control growing illegal immigration. U.S. Rep. Paul, R-Texas, proposes repealing the provision that gives automatic citizenship to children born in the U.S., even if their parents enter the country illegally.

A controversial new anti-illegal-immigration ad by GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul has sent his libertarian supporters into high dudgeon, but it's getting rave reviews from border-security hawks, including some Homeland Security officials.st nations."Eastern

PHOENIX — The architect of Arizona's new employer sanctions law, which takes effect Tuesday, is crafting a series of new measures aimed at people who entered the U.S. illegally. Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, says he is introducing measures this legislative session to: � Deny regular birth certificates to babies born in Arizona unless at least one parent proves citizenship. � Expand the state crime of trespass to cover anyone in the U.S. without authorization. � Require proof of legal presence in the U.S. to register a vehicle or get a title. � Deny workers' compensation benefits to undocumented workers injured...

Now that he has become a front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination, Mike Huckabee is feeling the heat from other Republican candidates, who are scrutinizing his record as governor of Arkansas for evidence of "liberal" or "Democratic" inclinations. One leading rival, Fred D. Thompson, has accused Huckabee of having "championed" an effort to permit illegal immigrants to benefit from in-state tuition rates at state universities. Huckabee has denied the charge, saying that his support was limited to a much more restrictive scholarship program. Huckabee's denials fly in the face of the record. THE FACTS During his annual State of the...

A Roswell school resource officer has been barred from local campuses after he pulled a pregnant 18-year-old high school senior out of class and referred her to immigration authorities for deportation to Mexico. The student was determined to be an illegal immigrant, and Roswell Police Chief John Balderston defended the officer's actions. But the police chief said Roswell Independent School District Superintendent Michael Gottlieb requested the officer's removal from schools "because he (Gottlieb) didn't want the officer checking on the immigration status of the students." The student's removal from the school Dec. 5 has prompted an outcry from Hispanic residents...

Editor’s Note: By participating in the historic Spanish-language debate on Univision, Republican candidates finally realized that they need Latino votes. But is it “too little, too late?" NAM editor Elena Shore monitors Spanish language media. The first Spanish-language Republican presidential candidate debate couldn’t have come at a better time for the GOP. Latino support for the Republican Party has dropped substantially when the Latino vote is more important than ever. The candidates’ jostling over who is tougher on immigration has alienated Latinos even further. Seven of the eight Republican presidential candidates showed up at the University of Miami Sunday with...

Arizona voters may be asked to decide whether to prohibit the state from issuing birth certificates to children of non-U.S. citizens and require hospitals to check the citizenship of parents of newborns. Those are key provisions of a proposed initiative filed Friday for possible inclusion on the November 2008 ballot, and a leading legislative critic of illegal immigration says he plans similar but separate legislation to take the issue to voters. Della Montgomery, the woman who filed the proposed initiative with the Secretary of State's Office, did not immediately return a call for comment Monday, but the proposed “Birthright Citizenship...

BLUFFTON -- Sun City Hilton Head residents got face time with Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani on Friday morning, and while his talking points focused primarily on the economy, Sun City attendees seemed most interested in his immigration policy. Illegal immigration, Giuliani said, needs to be stopped "right at the border." He supports building a fence along America's 2,000-mile border with Mexico and said he would use technology -- cameras as well as heat and motion detection equipment -- to "change behavior" and encourage people to come into the country legally instead. "Legal immigration is good for us," he said....

BLUFFTON, S.C. (AP) -- Republican White House hopeful Rudy Giuliani said Friday he wouldn't try to change laws that make citizens of children born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants, noting that it's a matter determined by the Constitution. "That's a very delicate balance that's been arrived at, and I wouldn't change that," Giuliani said in response to a question while campaigning at Sun City Hilton Head, a sprawling retirement community down the South Carolina coast from Charleston.

BLUFFTON, S.C. (AP) — Republican White House hopeful Rudy Giuliani said Friday he wouldn't try to change laws that make citizens of children born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants, noting that it's a matter determined by the Constitution. "That's a very delicate balance that's been arrived at, and I wouldn't change that," Giuliani said in response to a question while campaigning at Sun City Hilton Head, a sprawling retirement community down the South Carolina coast from Charleston. In Wednesday night's Republican debate, Giuliani and nomination rival Mitt Romney traded accusations of being soft on illegal immigration, and Giuliani took...

An undocumented immigrant went into labor after being apprehended by Border Patrol officials Thursday evening. The woman, whose name, age and nationality are unknown, was caught at about 5:30 p.m. after cross-ing the Rio Grande into east Brownsville. She told Border Patrol agents that she needed medical attention and was taken to Valley Baptist Medical Center-Brownsville, where she went into labor. Stationed outside the woman’s hospital room was Border Patrol Agent Ortiz, who refused to give his first name. The sound of her baby’s heartbeat — amplified by an ultrasound — could be heard through the door of her hospital...

It’s been my opinion for a while that Fred Thompson could be the only top-tier major-party candidate I could comfortably support in the general election. That’s because all the other top-tier candidates have more or less an open-borders policy, which they try to conceal with fool-the-yahoos rhetoric. The latest e-mail from NumbersUSA’s Roy Beck supports my view that Thompson stands out for his immigration views: I find myself overwhelmed with a sense of thanksgiving that – after three decades as a journalist observing reckless, thoughtless federal immigration policies attack the lives of the American people – I can clearly see...

The USCCB Committee on Migration sent a delegation to the U.S./Mexico border region to study the plight of unaccompanied minors and human trafficking victims. The ever-growing problems with these populations are some of the gravest and many times most overlooked symptoms of the broken and out-dated immigration system currently employed by the United States. The delegation met with a broad cross-section of agencies and individuals involved with or knowledgeable of these populations to gain critical insights and to understand their needs. The delegation also met with Church officials, government officials, community-based organization, and other with important perspectives. Programs established to...

Illegal immigrant blames 'broken system' for husband's death November 02, 2007 6:00 AM NEW BEDFORD — After his second deportation to Guatemala, Ricardo Gomez Garcia made yet another perilous journey across the U.S. border to reunite with his wife and autistic son following their six-month separation. Within 24 hours of arriving home to his city apartment, the 40-year-old illegal immigrant died at St. Luke's Hospital. His widow is questioning whether his death is related to inadequate medical treatment he received at an El Paso, Texas, detention center, where he was held for six months after being arrested in the March...

Back in 2002, I wrote this.... "Personally, I’d love to see our government abolish the 14th Amendment. One of the original intents of the Amendment was to make the children of slaves U.S. citizens in an effort to better assimilate them into American society. That good intention has been taken advantage of by people coming across the border eight-and-a-half months pregnant. The United States may just be the only country that allows foreign nationals automatic citizenship for their offspring and the fact that it is obviously now being abused is an understatement." It's comforting to know that Fred Thompson has...

SEATTLE -- A problem in Canada's hospitals is sending scores of pregnant women south of the border to have their babies. Carri Ash of Chilliwack, B.C. was sent to the U.S. to have her baby after her water broke on Sunday, ten weeks ahead of schedule. "And they came in and said 'you're going to Seattle,'" she said. Ash's hospital couldn't handle the high-risk pregnancy. Doctors searched for another hospital bed, but even hospitals in Vancouver, B.C. didn't have a neo-natal bed. "So two provinces didn't have enough room, so I have to go to another country," said Ash. Ash...

Why women go overseas to give birth IN April 2003, Simone Headley, then eight months pregnant, packed up her husband and daughter and journeyed to a hospital in Georgia, United States, to give birth to her son. The boy, now four, has a US passport and a Jamaican naturalisation certificate, and Headley says when he reaches college age, he will benefit from the host of scholarships offered to Americans. This, she said, was her only reason for going through the trouble and expense of having her child in America. The opportunities for him will be limitless compared to Jamaica, she...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 — Democrats and their allies mapped out a strategy on Friday that they hoped would enable them to override President Bush’s expected veto of a bipartisan bill providing health insurance for 10 million children, most of them in low-income families. Democratic leaders said they would highlight the contrast between the president’s request for large sums of money for the Iraq war and his opposition to smaller sums for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as Schip. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, said, “It’s ironic that in the very same week that the president says he’s...

The Constitution is simple, short and easy to read. There is no excuse for any reporter to write about it, without reading it. The latest example is an article about anchor babies in the Orlando Sentinel today (29 September) by Jim Stratton. The article concerns a comment about anchor babies by Fred Thompson, Republican candidate for President. If you haven’t followed the illegal immigration debate, anchor babies are children born on US soil of illegal immigrant parents. The babies get citizenship. Then, the provisions for “reuniting families” kick in, and the baby assists the parents in becoming legal. It is...

When Fred Thompson said it might be time to review the practice of granting citizenship to every child born on American soil, he didn't acknowledge the seismic shift such an idea represents. Citizenship by birth has been prescribed by the Constitution since 1868 -- and upheld for 109 years by the Supreme Court -- but the Republican presidential candidate made it sound anachronistic. "I think that law was created at another time and place for valid reasons," the former U.S. senator from Tennessee said earlier this month. "It probably needs to be revisited." Thompson's comments have angered Hispanic leaders --...

WASHINGTON - Immigration groups are mounting a new effort on the long-debated DREAM Act by trying to attach the education and citizenship measure to a defense bill moving through the U.S. Senate this week. The DREAM Act, which would give illegal immigrants legal status partly through higher education, has long been a major priority for many education groups. It also was included in comprehensive immigration legislation that failed earlier this year. After that defeat, however, advocates said they believed the DREAM bill was less controversial than other immigration proposals and vowed to add it to other legislation moving through Congress...

A common misconception is that the Constitution through the Fourteenth Amendment confers citizenship upon everyone born in the United States, whether or not they were born to an illegal alien. Actually, the Constitution itself does not provide citizenship to those born of illegal parents; the Supreme Court only said it did in an 1898 decision known as 'U.S. v. Wong Ark Can', and it is politically correct to accept this Supreme Court decision while ignoring others. The problem is that the court majority in the Wong Ark Can case, as is so often today, 'made law' according to their personal...

GAINESVILLE - The Dr. Phil bit is Fred Thompson's comedy gold. The Republican presidential candidate uses it every time he greets a crowd.It goes like this: "I was in an airport not too long ago and a lady came running up to me and says, 'Can I have your autograph please? My husband and I are just the biggest fans of yours. We watch you on television all the time.' "I said, 'Why, yes, ma'am.' "But before I could sign my name she said, 'How long you gonna be in town, Dr. Phil?' " Laughter washes over the crowd, and...