Free Republic

The German government is expecting around 175,000 people to file applications for asylum this year, the highest number in two decades. Regional politicians are acting surprised, but there have been signs of this development for years now. […] The refugees in Germany are fleeing many things: the civil war in Syria, the recent wave of terror in Iraq, torturous regimes but also, in many cases, a life of poverty and no prospects, be it in Africa or as a member of the Roma minority in Serbia. Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) estimates that as many as 175,000...

A key state Senate committee approved Thursday a hotly debated bill to give college students who are illegal immigrants access to public financial aid in what supporters see as their best hope for success since the battle began five years ago. AB 131, part of a two-bill package known as the California Dream Act, would allow undocumented students who qualify for reduced in-state tuition to apply for an estimated $38 million in Cal Grants, community college fee waivers and other public financial aid. Versions of the bill have been approved since 2006 but were vetoed by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger; Gov....

NOVATO -- Police arrested lawyer and immigration activist Jerome Ghigliotti at Novato's City Council meeting Tuesday night and led him away in handcuffs after the council declared his actions in support of the city's controversial E-Verify ballot measure to be out of order. Ghigliotti, a spokesman for Citizens for Legal Employment and Contracting, had planned to criticize the Novato council for refusing to place a measure on the Nov. 2 ballot that would require contractors working for the city to determine the immigration status of their employees using a federal database. Although Ghigliotti's group obtained signatures from 12 percent of...