Free Republic

At the age of 21, Sergio has an undying love of politics. He has already interned for two state lawmakers and hopes to pursue a career in politics. He plans to commit himself to changing his community, but there is one catch: Sergio is in the country illegally; he can’t even vote. "It is something that I am really passionate about, but because of my position, it gets really frustrating," Sergio said. A student at San Diego State University, Sergio graduated from San Diego High School with a 4.3 GPA and entered SDSU with a full, privately funded scholarship.

(Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law on Monday a bill allowing illegal immigrants to receive privately funded scholarships to attend the state's public colleges and universities. The bill, dubbed the California Dream Act, passed the state Legislature earlier this month and aims at helping illegal immigrants who have earned a high school diploma after attending at least three years of high school in the state. "At the end of the day, if we're going to continue as a powerful, equal-opportunity society, we're going to have to invest in our people," Brown, a Democrat, said at the signing...

Above: U.S. sailors of the USS Monterey stand next to their vessel in the Black Sea port of Constanta, Romania, Tuesday, June 7, 2011. Advocates for the "DREAM Act" have relentlessly attempted to sell it to a skeptical public through a variety of rhetorical assertions. One of the 2 main components of the DREAM ACT calls for eligible "Dreamers" to serve in the U.S. military to gain a path to citizenship.  Advocates have repeatedly insisted that the DREAM Act is critical to U.S. military "readiness" - that the military needs these "Dreamers" or else we would not have sufficient troops...

Eighteen-year-old Myra Cerecero said she wakes up every morning praying her parents made it home safely."I'm living in a constant state of fear they'll be picked up," said the daughter of illegal immigrants. The American-born Loganville teen was among an estimated 5,000 protesters -- roughly half the crowd organizers had hoped to attract -- who jammed the streets of downtown Atlanta Saturday morning to voice their opposition to House Bill 87, Georgia's crackdown on illegal immigrants. The recently signed bill penalizes those who use false identification to secure jobs as well as government officials who fail to enforce the state's...

Maryland citizens – outraged by the disgraceful passage of the ‘Dream Act’ in-state tuition bill for illegal aliens – rose up and delivered a blow against Gov. Martin O’Malley’s sanctuary state agenda. Needing 56,000 signatures to block the act from taking effect on July 1st, opponents got well over 100,000 signatures! State elections officials say they have certified most of the nearly 56,000 needed to suspend the law and send it to a statewide referendum in November 2012. The law had been scheduled to take effect Friday, but it has been suspended while officials await a final tally on the...

Senator Dick Durbin has never been accused of being the brightest man in ANY room. However as a 3-term Senator one would at least expect him to know the basics of the U.S. Constitution that he swore an oath to defend. No such luck, as Durbin led off the first hearing of his pet 'DREAM Act' by asking all the illegals in his audience to stand up (you know, the ones 'hiding in the shadows') and then says he sees in them our future "doctors, our teachers...our senators, and maybe our president." Uh, Senator, try reading Article 2, Section 1,...

Durbin: Maybe Illegal Alien Will Become President Someday Wednesday, June 29, 2011 By Terence P. Jeffrey (CNSNews.com) - Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) said in a congressional hearing Tuesday that a young person who is an illegal alien in the United States today may someday become president. “When I look around this room, I see America's future, our doctors, our teachers, our nurses, our engineers, our scientists, our soldiers, our congressmen, our senators, and maybe our president,” Durbin said immediately after having asked all young persons in the room to stand if they were currently undocumented aliens who would...

Washington – About 200 undocumented students from all over the country on Tuesday here demanded that President Barack Obama halt deportations and push for the approval of the DREAM Act to legalize their immigration status. Prior to those pressure tactics, Obama had reiterated his support for immigration reform and the DREAM Act at a White House press conference The president called for the legalization of students who have grown up in the United States "and think of themselves as Americans and who are illegal through no fault of their own and who are ready to give back to our country...

The Obama administration on Tuesday made its most forceful push yet this Congress to reform the country’s immigration laws. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Defense Under Secretary Clifford Stanley laid out a laundry list of national security-related financial and educational reasons why Congress needs to push forward with the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. Napolitano said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) does not have the resources necessary to remove the estimated 11 million people who are in the country illegally. The DREAM Act, she said, would grant conditional citizenship to...

Sen. Dick Durbin plans to make a full-court press Tuesday to revive the debate over a controversial proposal to give illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children a path to legal status, as the Obama administration moves on a separate track to grant what some describe as "amnesty" to the same group. Durbin, D-Ill., in announcing the first-ever Senate hearing on the so-called DREAM Act, said his proposal would "make our country stronger." Under the plan, which passed the House last year but died in the Senate, illegal immigrants who came here as children and complete two years...

Who needs Congressional authority when you can govern by executive fiat? “A new enforcement memo handed down by the director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week has some accusing the White House of running around Congress to implement the DREAM Act – and consequent amnesty for some illegal immigrants – by executive fiat. The new memo, penned by ICE Director John Morton, directs ICE agents, attorneys and directors to exercise “prosecutorial discretion” – meaning less likelihood of deportation – for illegal aliens who have been students in the U.S., who have been in the country since childhood or...

SACRAMENTO -- California lawmakers voted Wednesday to open the door to state-funded financial aid for immigrant college students who entered the United States illegally.

California lawmakers have opened the door to state-funded financial aid for immigrant college students who entered the United States illegally. . . . Assemblyman Gil Cedillo, a Los Angeles Democrat, has introduced similar legislation each year since 2005 only to see it vetoed by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger

Sen. Althoff sets the record straight on “Illinois DREAM Act” bill. Recently, the Illinois Senate approved legislation (Senate Bill 2185) aimed at allowing student immigrants who have a valid taxpayer ID to invest in their college education – this legislation has been the subject of much misinformation on the Internet and in the media. The bill requires the Illinois Student Assistance Commission to create an Illinois DREAM Fund that will provide scholarships funded entirely from private contributions – no Illinois tax dollars will be directed toward these scholarships. In addition, to be eligible for the program, a student must be...

La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Inc. puts La Raza above America The media is always on the hunt for ethnic chauvinism, racism, and cultural supremacism on a college campus, ready to pounce and run breathless exposes. Colleges and universities have speech codes, disciplinary bodies, and an entire apparatus of repression that have been built to make sure that no racist group can ever raise its ugly head in polite society again. Unless, of course, it’s for non-whites. Then it is celebrated and funded. Take the case of La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Inc. (LUL). Now, if...

Link only, per FR posting rules

The Obama administration is making it possible for more foreign students studying in the U.S. on visas to stay and get practical training in their career fields. The administration is expanding the list of science, technology, engineering and math degrees that allow foreign students who earn them to stay in the U.S. up to 17 months after graduating. Those months can be spent working. The time also could mean the student may not have to leave before getting an H-1B visa, a visa reserved for high-skilled workers that can last for up to six years.

In search of Hispanic votes and a long-shot immigration overhaul, President Barack Obama on Tuesday stood at the U.S.-Mexico border for the first time since winning the White House and declared it more secure than ever. He mocked Republican lawmakers for blocking immigration over border security alone, saying they won't be happy until they get a moat with alligators along the border. "They'll never be satisfied," he said. Stymied by both chambers of Congress, the president ditched lawmakers in favor of voters who might pressure them, making an appeal to the public on a hot and dusty day far outside...

Indianapolis— Five students arrested at an immigration protest at the Indiana Statehouse Monday will not face deportation. Federal authorities lifted detention orders against the illegal immigrants Tuesday evening. The detention was lifted shortly after the five declared a hunger strike Tuesday. The students say the hunger strike will last until Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels (R) vetoes the immigration bill he has previously promised to sign. The students were part of a protest that went all the way to the front door of the governor's office. Senate Bill 590 would make illegal immigrants pay much higher tuitions. The cost would be...

Barack Obama says his administration has answered the concerns of Republican lawmakers who want the U.S.-Mexico border better secured before they are willing to take on comprehensive immigration reform. Standing at the border Tuesday, Obama mocked Republicans for never being satisfied and always changing the conditions about what’s needed to secure the border. Said the president: "Maybe they’ll say we need a moat. Or alligators in the moat."