Free Republic

Federal immigration officials negligently allowed a Kansas City, Kan., man to remain in the country illegally before he allegedly killed five men in a 2016 shooting spree, according to a recently filed lawsuit. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., by the families of two of the five men who Pablo Serrano-Vitorino is now charged with killing. Serrano-Vitorino had previously been deported after he was convicted of a felony in 2003. But according to the suit, Serrano-Vitorino re-entered the country illegally and had several brushes with local law enforcement agencies before March 2016, when he...

The Obama-holdover chosen by DHS Secretary John Kelly to direct Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for the Trump Administration helped author Obama’s controversial immigration priorities and executive orders, and he also publicly praised them. ... Trump’s campaign largely centered around opposing former resident Barack Obama’s executive orders on immigration and the release of criminal illegal aliens into U.S. communities. Acting ICE Director Homan was the Enforcement and Removal Director (ERO) for resident Obama and even received an elite award from the former resident for his efforts on immigration. Homan has come under fire from the ICE Council for being Obama’s...

Texas has put President Trump over a barrel with its threat to sue to stop the 2012 deportation amnesty for Dreamers, said legal analysts, calling the state’s case as close to a slam-dunk as possible. Known in Washington as DACA, the amnesty was started by President Obama — and was roundly criticized in last year’s campaign by Mr. Trump. Now in office, though, Mr. Trump has reversed himself and kept DACA intact, approving tens of thousands of new and renewal applications. But the program has been on borrowed time for more than a year, ever since a series of court...

$10 million Reproductive Health Equity Act approved with no GOP votes, advances to state SenateAn Oregon bill requiring insurers to provide their customers with free abortions—including illegal immigrants—has advanced to the state Senate after winning approval Saturday in the state House with no Republican votes. House Democrats pushed through the Reproductive Health Equity Act after a nearly two-hour debate over the bill, which would allocate $10.2 million for services related to contraception, sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy, including vasectomies and abortions, in the 2017-19 budget period. About $500,000 would be earmarked for the Oregon Health Plan, the state’s Medicaid program,...

On Thursday, the House voted 228-195 against sanctuary cities. Not surprisingly, it went down along party lines. Am I the only one who finds it hard to believe that a member of the U.S. House would support a city that violates federal laws? Would we have a similar vote if some U.S. cities decided to make abortion illegal? or not issue "same-sex marriage" licenses? or a sanctuary cities for employers who refuse to contribute to Social Security? or citizens who refuse to file tax returns? Would Democrats be OK with that? My guess is that Planned Parenthood might object to...

The House on Thursday passed two hard-line immigration bills that would penalize illegal immigrants who commit crimes and local jurisdictions that refuse to work with federal authorities to deport them. Both bills, Kate’s Law and the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act, passed on largely party-line votes amid heavy promotion from Republicans, starting with President Trump. “MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN!” Trump tweeted as the House debated the bills Thursday, one of five tweets he pushed out to his 35 million followers highlighting the legislation.

More than 100 undocumented students from the Bay Area will have the chance to go to college this fall thanks in part to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan. Over the last several years, the couple has given millions of dollars through their Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative to TheDream.US, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., that awards scholarships to undocumented students. This year, the organization will award 139 four-year scholarships worth $3.4 million to local students, part of an effort to send 400 undocumented immigrants from the Bay Area to colleges in the region by 2020. “We truly believe...

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Angel Osuna and Loris Speltini are married but they'll be living apart starting Wednesday, now that the Border Patrol has returned Speltini to his native Italy. The couple recently spent the day in Tijuana and were returning to San Diego when they were stopped at the border. Speltini was questioned and searched, then detained by the Border Patrol. Osuna is a U.S. citizen and student at UC San Diego. He told 10News Speltini was working in the U.S. but his visa was invalid. Osuna has not seen Speltini since the detainment and went to Lindbergh Field...

(CNSNews.com) - Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Tom Homan said Wednesday that he would support allowing victims of criminal aliens to sue the city officials of sanctuary cities. CNSNews.com asked Homan if he would support allowing victims of criminal aliens in sanctuary cities to sue the city officials. "For those who make the decisions to release those alien citizens to the street, yes," Homan said during an off-camera briefing at the White House. Homan and U.S. Attorney from Utah John Huber were at the White House Wednesday to take part in a roundtable discussion about immigration with the...

Mexico filed an affidavit Monday in support of a lawsuit against the implementation of a Texas law to punish sanctuary cities and allow police officers to inquire about the immigration status of someone they have arrested or detained. The Mexican government said in a statement that the law could increase racial discrimination and create an environment of persecution. The statement said that the number of calls to the center for information and assistance for Mexicans in Texas in May and June increased 678 percent compared to the year prior. This is reflexive of the uncertainty and “anguish” that the Mexican...

FULL TITLE: Thousands of illegal immigrants who fled to Canada in fear of Trump are trapped in legal limbo without jobs, permanent homes or schools for their kids Thousands of people who fled to Canada to escape President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal migrants have become trapped in legal limbo because of an overburdened refugee system, struggling to find work, permanent housing or enrol their children in schools. Refugee claims are taking longer to be completed than at any time in the past five years, according to previously unpublished Immigration and Refugee Board data provided to Reuters. Those wait times...

One of the little-told stories of the 2016 election was Donald Trump’s 28 percent take of the Hispanic vote, besting Mitt Romney’s 2012 showing. We on Team Trump won’t throw parades for winning less than one-third of the Latino vote nationally, but lessened enthusiasm for Hillary Clinton among Hispanics represents a key reason, perhaps the primary reason, she was ultimately uncompetitive in Florida. Why did Latino support for Trump massively outperform expectations? For one thing, millions of Hispanics rejected the relentless mainstream media narrative that Trump is an anti-Mexican racist. In addition, only U.S. citizens can vote, and according to...

Illegal Alien Population By State State Population Rank California 2,350,000 1 Texas 1,650,000 2 Florida 850,000 3 New York 775,000 4 New Jersey 500,000 5 Illinois 450,000 6 Georgia 375,000 7 North Carolina 350,000 8 Arizona 325,000 9 Virginia 300,000 10 Washington 250,000 11 Maryland 250,000 12 Massachusetts 210,000 13 Nevada 210,000 14 Colorado 200,000 15 Pennsylvania 180,000 16 Michigan 130,000 17 Oregon 130,000 18 Connecticut 120,000 19 Tennessee 120,000 20 Indiana 110,000 21 Utah 100,000 22 Minnesota 100,000 23 Ohio 95,000 24 Oklahoma 95,000 25 South Carolina 85,000 26 New Mexico 85,000 27 Wisconsin 80,000 28 Kansas 75,000...

President Trump’s Justice Department is exploring new ways to take down so-called “sanctuary cities” via legal methods, according to a new report. The Wall Street Journal reports that the DOJ is developing legal strategies to cancel out sanctuary cities across the country. The goal for DOJ would be to effectively force cities to comply with federal officials, according to the report. A senior DOJ attorney told the newspaper that the department is pursuing several different options. One option would see Justice officials argue that local police departments refusing to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement illegally pre-empts federal law. Another...

Multnomah County Circuit Court administrators have determined that Pro Tem Judge Monica Herranz didn’t violate any rules of judicial conduct when she allowed an undocumented criminal defendant to leave her courtroom through a back door as immigration agents waited in the hallway. Trial Court Administrator Barbara Marcille investigated Herranz's actions from Jan. 27 and found that Herranz didn’t knowingly help impaired-driving defendant Diddier Pacheco-Salazar elude capture. Marcille listened to an audio recording of the hearing, viewed video footage and interviewed 10 people who were in and around the courtroom that day -- including Herranz, her staff and courthouse deputies. Those...

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly signed a memorandum on Thursday rescinding an Obama-era plan to spare some illegal immigrant parents of children who are lawful permanent residents from being deported, the department said in a statement. The program, which was announced by President Barack Obama in 2014, never took effect because it was blocked in federal court.

State health officials are investigating a puzzling outbreak of mumps in Latino communities in Boston, Chelsea, and Revere, and have advised health care providers to be alert for additional cases. The state Department of Public Health has recorded 12 mumps cases since the end of March. Previously in Massachusetts, mumps has been found chiefly among vaccinated college students and others connected to colleges and universities. But the dozen new cases involve people aged 20 to 41 with no known links to higher education.

AUBURN, MA (WHDH) - The wife of an illegal immigrant arrested twice in one day, who is now accused of crashing into a family of four while drunk inside, says her husband didn’t mean to do it. Jose Acevedo, 43, was drunk when he rear-ended the family’s SUV Thursday in Auburn, police say. But his wife says it was all an accident and is angry the focus is on immigration status.

As a federal crackdown on undocumented immigrants spreads across the country, California publishers have responded with literary projects that breach the borders of traditional publishing. The immigration crackdown will also affect the writers and publishing team at the UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education. For the last 10 years, the center has published a series of books written by undocumented college students, sharing the stories of these “underground undergrads.” These UCLA students collected, transcribed, edited, published, and publicized the series. So far, the center has published three books about the experience: Underground Undergrads: UCLA Undocumented Immigrant Students Speak Out...

The University of California Board of Regents recently passed a regulation capping the number of out-of-state students permitted at UC colleges, limiting the total number to 18 percent of the student body on most campuses. Yet that 18 percent cap will not apply to students who are in the country illegally. The Board of Regents passed the regulation, known as Policy 2109, after California lawmakers threatened to withhold nearly $20 million in public funds if an out-of-state cap was not put in place. Currently out-of-state students constitute 16.5 percent of the UC student body. The policy, approved May 18, holds...