Free Republic

Armed with a report showing that Orange County overwhelmingly leads the state in the deportations of children, local activists marched on the streets of downtown Santa Ana on Wednesday and demanded that county probation officials stop referring minors to federal immigration authorities. “It is absolutely unacceptable — as an American citizen, as a human being — that our children are being asked to defend themselves and their immigration status,” said Jose Moreno, president of Los Amigos of Orange County. “That violates not only the law but the sense of human dignity that we all demand of ourselves.” Activists handed probation...

As rumblings of possible illegal immigration reform continue to make noise on Capitol Hill, it's important to keep in mind the southern border with Mexico is anything but secure. On Sunday, a mob of illegal aliens attempting to enter the United States attacked Border Patrol agents with rocks, water bottles and other items. More from San Diego 7: According to CBP, a Border Patrol agent ordered the Mexican nationals to stop, but they continued walking into the U.S. Officials said the agent fired a PepperBall Launcher, but it did not deter the crowd. “They had their phones out so...

A crowd of more than 100 people pelted Border Patrol agents with rocks and bottles as they tried to cross into the U.S. illegally, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The incident happened Sunday in the Tijuana River channel, near the San Ysidro Port of Entry. According to CBP, a Border Patrol agent ordered the Mexican nationals to stop, but they continued walking into the U.S. Officials said the agent fired a PepperBall Launcher, but it did not deter the crowd. “They had their phones out so this group was out to spark an incident. That's what they wanted...

TRENTON — After a decade-long effort by advocates, a bill that would charge in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants who grew up in New Jersey appears well on its way to landing on the governor’s desk. The state Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee today voted eight to three with one abstention to approve the measure (S2479), which advocates say will affect tens of thousands of New Jersey residents. “This community has waited long enough. Let’s not look for excuses to say no. Let’s look for reasons to say yes,” said Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester), who has lent his name to...

The Obama administration will allow some relatives of U.S. service members living in the country illegally to stay, according to a policy directive issued Friday. The nine-page memorandum is the latest in a series of immigration policy changes made by President Barack Obama since he took office.

The Obama administration on Friday carved out yet another category of illegal immigrants it says it will no longer deport — in this case saying that relatives of U.S. troops and veterans who previously served can apply to stay in the country. The administration said it was making the move because it was worried illegal immigration was hurting military readiness, and this would be a way to relieve some of the “stress and anxiety” faced by troops whose relatives are illegal immigrants.

Five activists are four days into a hunger strike at a camp set up near the U.S. Capitol to put pressure on legislators to pass immigration reform in the United States. Meanwhile others around the country are joining in – activists are also mounting hunger strikes in New York, Philadelphia and Fresno, California, according to the coalition of groups calling for reform. The organizers, which include CASA in Action and America’s Voice as well as religious and union groups, say that in the coming weeks Omaha, Nebraska, and Phoenix will have their own hunger strikes. At the same time,...

On Saturday, police in Denver arrested Juventino Hernandez-Vazquez, 36, after he crashed head-on into another vehicle, killing one person and critically injuring two others. The wreck occurred around 4:30 a.m. on South Federal Boulevard, according to police. Police have not released the name of the deceased at this time. Hernandez-Vazquez has been charged with vehicular homicide and vehicular assault, and is being held without bail. View this suspect's booking info... This is not Hernandez-Vazquez's first run-in with the law... ABC News 7 reported: According to public court records examined by 7NEWS, Hernandez-Vazquez has had other aliases, and had a previous...

The close-range shooting of a Stafford police officer began just after 3:30 a.m. Saturday when she happened upon a strange sight: A four-door sedan idling at a green light with its turn signal blinking. After nearly an entire go-cycle, Officer Ann Carrizales followed the Nissan from the 12700 block of Murphy Road to a nearby mobile home park, where she pulled the car over. She approached the vehicle with three men inside and began "asking if they were OK, if they needed anything," according to Stafford Police Department Chief Bonny Krahn. "He responded that they were on their way home...

Calling it a “pivotal moment,” a band of Latino donors has launched a $20 million campaign to unseat those in the House who stand against President Obama’s immigration proposals and oppose Democratic Party reform bills. The Latino Victory Project is a new political committee — akin to the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund — that’s poised to spend big to oust those in Congress with a large Hispanic constituency but who oppose the immigration policy overhaul that’s being pushed by Democrats, the Los Angeles Times reported. Leaders of the group met just recently with a few dozen of their key...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)President Obama "has the responsibility" to stop deportations of illegal immigrants if Congress proves unable to pass a comprehensive immigration bill, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) argued in an interview published Friday. "There are devastating effects if the Congress of the United States cannot enact comprehensive immigration reform – then the president of the United States has the responsibility to act to defend those immigrants which he says he wants to provide safety and justice for," Gutierrez told Salon. In 2012, the Obama administration announced it would stop deporting some illegal immigrants who entered the United States as children under certain...

Passing immigration reform is a way for Republicans to get on a positive agenda and regain some of the approval of the American people, Sen. John McCain said Tuesday during a town hall in Tucson. He said the prospects of passing comprehensive immigration reform this year are still strong despite some Republicans saying the government shutdown and the way it was handled by President Obama affected any chance for compromise. But “the same people that said that are the people that oppose immigration reform. They are just trying to find another reason,” McCain said after the town hall meeting attended...

Immigration activist groups have declared they will launch a "week of escalation" this week to pressure lawmakers in Congress with acts of civil disobedience to pass comprehensive immigration reform this year. According to Politico, pro-immigration reform groups will target House Republican leaders and over 20 Republicans they think are vulnerable on the issue. Their goal is to get a vote on immigration reform this year. [snip]

Now that the government shutdown is over, progressive liberals are once again returning to their efforts to enact amnesty for the over 12 million (a very conservative number) illegal aliens within the US. However, the liberals have some strange allies this time around: Republicans and business groups. As conservatives, we need to be prepared for the all-out push for amnesty that is coming our way. First up is our old buddy, George Soros, who helps fund the National Immigration Forum. It has been reported that the NIF is flying in "conservatives" to a meeting in an effort to lobby House...

I saw this ad recently on TV in California. Here's the text +++++++++++++++ Published on Mar 12, 2013 Thousands of young people throughout California can only dream about health care. They want to live healthy responsible lives. But that's hard to do when you can't see a doctor or you don't have health insurance. Check out this 30 second video, "Dreaming of Health Care." We made it in partnerships with a group of young Californians. They're all undocumented. Technically that means they're not US citizens. But we think they couldn't be more Californian. California should not be a place that...

According to a well-known “Inside-the-Beltway” watchdog’s report released on Wednesday, an illegal alien who openly defies U.S. immigration and work laws – and promotes such lawbreaking for others to commit –is being paid as an Obamacare subcontractor with U.S. tax dollars to recruit applicants for Obamacare. In New York City, a group called Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York received “navigator funds” from the Health and Human Services Department, according to the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that researches legal and illegal immigration in the U.S. According to HHS, “Navigators conduct public education activities to raise...

Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ) said on Wednesday at the Heritage Foundation-hosted Conversations with Conservatives press event that House Speaker John Boehner has promised him that the Senate’s “Gang of Eight” immigration bill is dead in the House. “I very recently had a conversation with the Speaker and if immigration reform moves, it’s going to move piecemeal,” Salmon said in response to a question from Breitbart News. “And it will go over one bill at a time and if there is any kind of conference, it will be on specific bills we send over. It will not be on the Gang...

A planned immigration reform rally will take place on the National Mall on Tuesday even though the site is closed due to the government shutdown. Organizers for the "Camino Americano: March for Immigration Reform" were spotted Monday setting up a stage and equipment on the National Mall for the rally which will take place on Tuesday. A few scattered barriers around the park have signs informing visitors that the area is closed as a result of the government shutdown. Susana Flores, a spokesperson for the rally, confirmed for the Washington Examiner that the Park Service will allow the event to...

He had been like an “uncle” to her — but that was before Bejarni Rivas allegedly paid a teenage girl’s mother to have sex with the girl. Rivas, 45 of Gaithersburg, did not show up to his trial, which had been scheduled to start Tuesday. Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Cheryl A. McCally issued a bench warrant for his arrest, according to one of her clerks.

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill Thursday granting illegal immigrants driver’s licenses, in a decision immigrant rights groups hailed as a major step forward for their movement. The country’s largest state becomes the latest to reverse course and grant legal driving privileges to illegal immigrants.

The White House is getting ready to launch a major fall blitz for immigration reform... While Washington may be consumed in the latest continuing resolution crisis and debt ceiling drama, it’s also just days away from massive new push on an issue many had written off months ago. [snip] The political imperatives driving the latest immigration effort are clear: Obama can’t just abandon an issue that he promised to deliver on during his last campaign without suffering a major backlash from activists who helped elect him, and congressional Democrats are anxious to make sure Latino voters are motivated to punish...

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck on Friday evening quietly rescinded the department’s car impound policy, a controversial set of rules Beck put in place last year to be more lenient on immigrants in the country illegally, but which had come under fire from his own officers and a judge who found the policy violated state law. The surprise move marked a stark reversal for Beck, who just days earlier had reiterated in an interview with the Los Angeles Times his belief that the impound rules -- called Special Order 7 -- were legal and necessary. Beck had also reaffirmed...

On Sept. 6, Ezequiel Padilla-Villalobos, 24, pleaded guilty to the kidnapping and murder of 14-year-old Gabriela Acosta in Commerce City. The illegal alien had been dating the girl's sister. On Dec. 23, 2012, Padilla-Villalobos was drinking at a bar when his girlfriend called and asked him to pick up her younger sister in Broomfield, according to police. ABC 7 News reported: “Commerce City police wrote that he told them he started having "bad thoughts" about killing the teenager as he drove her to a family member's home. Padilla-Villalobos pulled over at a horse farm at 8690 Verbena St., where he'd...

The gang of seven immigration bill in the House is dead, at least for this year. Dem Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a key player on immigration as a member of the gang told Greg Sargeant of the Washington Post, that the bill is stalled and not expected to go anywhere soon. Certainly not this fall and unlikely this winter session. That throws it into an election year, which could effectively kill the bill altogether. Two reasons the bill has failed is that the republican leadership has refused to support any immigration bill and while on August vacation, many republicans heard from...

Illegal immigrants have staged a protest in front of a prominent Chicago hospital, demanding free organ transplants. According to Judicial Watch, all the protesters are from Mexico. This demand is joined by other demands from illegal aliens such as, driver's licenses, discounted college tuition, welfare, and the same civil rights as legal US citizens get. Marchers paraded back and forth in front of the hospital carrying signs with sayings like, “we are also human!” They used bullhorns to lead the chanting of the protesters. In 2007, the cost of a heart transplant was $658,000. The cost of a heart and...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday pledged action on immigration overhaul legislation even as most of the attention on Capitol Hill is focused on fights over the budget and debt. Rep. Bob Goodlatte said the immigration issue needs to be solved and work is happening behind the scenes toward that goal.

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, told a rally in Omaha last week that illegal immigration has killed more Americans than the attacks on September 11th. King spoke an event Friday held for victims of crimes committed by people who are in the U.S. illegally. Recalling a conversation he had with a former INS agent, Mike Cutler, during a congressional hearing, King said he asked Cutler, “How many Americans have died at the hands of [illegal immigrants] who did make it into America? What’s the price Americans are paying for an open door policy?” King claims that Cutler responded, “‘I don’t know...

A TSA agent and 5 others were caught red-handed bringing Brazilian nationals across our border illegally: ... a group of Brazilian nationals were smuggled through the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Díaz-Torres allegedly allowed the Brazilians through a TSA security checkpoint without questioning them. The group then flew to New York, Boston, and Philadelphia on commercial flights. The corruption is widespread and getting worse, ushering in not only illegals, but terrorists. An ‘event’ that rocks the US is not a matter of if, but when. We are essentially borderless with no real security protecting our...

The US Senate has already come up with its excuse of an "immigration reform" bill. Led by Harry Reid and enabled by the "Gang of Eight (now including Marco Rubio)", this bill does nothing in terms of securing the southern border and dealing with the illegal aliens who are already here. They understand that a similar bill does not have a snowball's chance in hell of ever getting passed. Thus the progressives, from Obama on down, are trying a different strategy. They just want the House to pass some sort of immigration bill. Once this bill is passed, it will...

A Call for Fair and Realistic Immigration Reform A Statement from Pennsylvania’s Catholic Bishops Most Pennsylvanians have immigrant roots. Each family has a unique story, but so many stories include hard working, faith-filled ancestors who came to America to pursue a dream and worked hard to fulfill it. Immigrants have significantly contributed to the growth of our country. The Catholic Church has always provided spiritual and social services to immigrants out of a strong belief that immigrants deserve the same basic rights and freedoms owed to every child of God. Our Church is an immigrant Church, built by our ancestors...

The student government at UCLA unanimously resolved to call for the eradication of the phrase “illegal immigrant,” reports Campus Reform.The UCLA Undergraduate Students Association wants the term “illegal immigrant” banned because, its members say, the phrase is a violation of the human rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.Last week’s resolution emphasizes the student council’s desire to prevent journalists, media organizations and various campus partners from identifying illegal aliens as “illegal immigrants,” explains the Daily Bruin, UCLA’s campus rag.The resolution flatly states that “illegal immigrant” is “racially derogatory language.” Such language “has historically bolstered the foundation for racially harmful actions including racial...

The University of Notre Dame will begin admitting illegal immigrants to the school and will provide them with financial aid, saying the move will “strengthen” the student body. snip

Lizbeth Mateo, an illegal immigrant member of the so-called "Dream 9" that re-entered the United States seeking asylum, said lawmakers needed to pass an immigration reform bill that also puts deported illegal immigrants on a pathway to citizenship. Appearing on Al Jazeera America's Consider This last Thursday, Mateo said that the 1.7 million people deported while President Barack Obama has been president "also need a pathway to come home and be united with their families." "We can do both things," she said of giving all illegal immigrants in the country a pathway to citizenship in addition to those that have...

As lawmakers get ready to head back to Capitol Hill, Tampa Bay Catholics are joining believers across the country to push for immigration reform. "It's really a three-prong approach, through prayer, education and advocacy," said Sabrina Burton Schultz, director of the Diocese of St. Petersburg's life ministry office. The diocese of 321,459 Catholics, which covers Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties, is encouraging parishioners to contact politicians about the issue. The diocese also is organizing a candlelight prayer vigil, Hispanic Mass and a pilgrimage of the images of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Our Lady of Lujan. Schultz said...

The Obama administration issued a policy late last week telling immigration agents to try not to arrest and deport illegal immigrant parents of minor children — a move that adds to the categories of people the administration is trying not to deport. In a nine-page memo issued Friday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said agents should use “prosecutorial discretion” to try to avoid detaining parents and, if parents are detained, agents should make sure they have the ability to visit with their children or participate in family court proceedings. Snip “President Obama has once again abused his authority and unilaterally...

As they stonewall over immigration, establishment RINOs and their failed, Republican political advisers are selling out Conservatives along with millions of American citizens especially in the Southern border states. These fork-tongued immigration reform advocates looking to slow walk their plan to allow at least 11 million illegals to become US citizens are facilitating the “death train” that transports unsuspecting migrants who leave their own families behind in Central America. Known as “La Bestia,” this cargo train originates in Arriaga, Mexico, picks up would-be US workers, then off loads them onto other trains out of Mexico City as the long dangerous...

At least four people were killed when a cargo train nicknamed "La Bestia", or The Beast, on which would-be migrants hitch rides toward the U.S. border, derailed in a remote area of southern Mexico on Sunday, emergency services said. Some local media said the death toll could be as high as 50. Migrants often jump aboard La Bestia under cover of darkness.

Notre Dame University announced Thursday it will begin admitting illegal immigrants to the school and will provide them with financial aid, saying the move will "strengthen" the student body. The university had never had an official ban on illegal immigrants but Inside Higher Ed reported the school treated them as international students and required them to have student visas — which effectively served as a bar. "We will strengthen our incoming class and give deserving young people the chance for a Notre Dame education," Don Bishop, associate vice president for undergraduate enrollment, said in a statement announcing the policy. The...

A massive weekend raid netted several hundred illegal immigrants who were either car wash workers or customers in Phoenix, according to immigrant-rights groups who say the move highlights the ongoing tensions within President Obama’s deportation policy. Even as Capitol Hill lawmakers debate whether to move on an immigration bill this year, many immigrant-rights advocates are lobbying Mr. Obama to halt all deportations, and they have picked several cases to make a stand. Just last week, activists in Ohio demanded a halt to the deportation of a man whose son suffers from cerebral palsy. The Obama administration complied, granting him a...

About 400,000 "Dreamers" have been allowed to stay in the United States in the year since the Obama administration began accepting applications for young illegal immigrants to defer deportation proceedings and receive work permits, according to data compiled by the Brookings Institution and released on the anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The numbers show that out of more than a half-million applicants for deferred action, more than three-quarters were accepted and just 1 percent denied. The applications were concentrated in states that already have large immigrant communities, such as California, Texas, New York, Illinois, and Florida....

Why is gun control the only policy we're allowed to discuss when horrific murders occur? In the liberal mindset, "root causes" of crime begin and end with the Second Amendment. But who pays the price when our public guardians fail to secure our borders, refuse to deport serial criminal offenders, and enable drug-crazed menaces to prey upon innocent citizens? Meet 27-year-old Julio Miguel Blanco-Garcia. An illegal alien from Guatemala, he has lived and worked in Fairfax County, Va., for at least 11 years. The region is a notorious "sanctuary" for immigration law-breakers where elected officials and big business look the...

The United States has signed an agreement with Mexico’s government vowing to prevent workplace discrimination against illegal immigrants while educating them about their civil rights and minimum wage laws. It’s a nifty little contract signed this month by the federal agency that enforces the nation’s workplace discrimination laws, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). In a press release the EEOC calls it a “historic outreach agreement” that will solidify the agency’s “continued and longstanding commitment to this underserved community.” Under the deal, American taxpayers will provide Spanish-language materials explaining the laws enforced by the EEOC and the agency will partner...

A Superior Court judge on Wednesday threw out a controversial Los Angeles Police Department policy that allowed officers to release impounded vehicles to unlicensed drivers sooner than the 30-day period spelled out under state law. The LAPD policy had drawn criticism because it was seen as lessening the penalty for people who drove without a license — particularly undocumented immigrants who are unable to obtain California licenses. Special Order 7, approved in April 2012, allowed vehicles to be released to unlicensed drivers without a 30-day impound if they had proof of insurance, valid identification and no previous citations for unlicensed...

Aside from the radical illegal immigrant activist movement appropriating the gay culture act of 'coming out' as a tactic, there are, of course, some people who are both illegal immigrants and gay. Identity politics being what they are on the left, it was perhaps inevitable that the two politically-charged movements would come together in the movement known as UndocuQueer. The UndocuQueer movement was deemed significant enough to warrant a full-blown panel discussion at this year's Netroots Nation, the progressive confab put on by DailyKos. As the panel description for UndocuQueer: The Intersectionality of the Undocumented and LGBTIQ Struggles says, organizers...

Move would allow Obama administration to institute policies that would better integrate communities The Department of Housing and Urban Development has proposed a new plan to change U.S. neighborhoods it says are racially imbalanced or are too tilted toward rich or poor, arguing the country's housing policies have not been effective at creating the kind of integrated communities the agency had hoped for. The proposed federal rule, called "Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing," is currently under a 60-day public comment period. Though details of how the policy would specifically work are unclear, the rule says HUD would provide states, local governments...

Doing the Work Americans Won’t Do– Authorities now believe teens who smuggle illegal immigrants across the border is on the rise.(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Valley Central reported: Authorities in Hidalgo County are battling a rise in teens who smuggle humans. A repeat offender was back in juvenile court facing several charges. Authorities believe a 15-year-old human smuggler has smuggled immigrants into the country more than once and has been deported twice. Hidalgo County authorities said coyotes use their age to get them in and out of the system, making them a threat to the community. Human smugglers are now turning to teens to do...

In an open letter to the public in late July, several retired Border Patrol agents wrote on behalf of the National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers to warn that Mexican drug cartels are actively operating inside the United States spending millions every year to try to build their networks here. They argued that American politicians are protecting their activities as well. “Transnational criminal enterprises have annually invested millions of dollars to create and staff international drug and human smuggling networks inside the United States; thus it is no surprise that they continue to accelerate their efforts to get trusted...

KANSAS SETTLEMENT, Ariz.,- Fourteen undocumented immigrants were arrested south of Willcox early Friday morning, after three of the undocumented immigrants burglarized a home. Cochise County spokeswoman Carol Capas says a homeowner awoke around 1:30 a.m. after hearing noises coming from his kitchen. When the homeowner went downstairs, he encountered a male going through his refrigerator. The male took off and was met by another male outside. Capas says the homeowner also heard footsteps on top of his house. Cochise County Sheriff's along with Border Patrol agents responded and started a search of the surrounding area.

'Go home' immigration posters are already working, Downing Street claims Downing Street has claimed that the Home Office’s controversial “go home” immigration campaign is “already working” and suggested the scheme could be rolled out across the country. By Peter Dominiczak, Political Correspondent 1:10PM BST 29 Jul 2013 According to David Cameron’s spokesman there has been a “great deal of interest” from illegal immigrants voluntarily calling a Government helpline and asking how to leave the country. However, Downing Street later indicated that the Home Office has not actually provided any statistics that prove the scheme is working and that officials have...

-snip- The Wisconsin Republican has worked behind the scenes for months to convince others in his party to support a bill that would legalize unauthorized immigrants. And on Friday, he said that, "we're going to vote on a bill for people who are undocumented."