Free Republic

As Republicans and Democrats race to write Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s (R) political biography, one issue remains a mystery: her views on immigration reform. Democratic opposition researchers were searching databases Wednesday in hopes of uncovering a position that could hurt Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) efforts to cut into Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) lead among Hispanic voters, who make up 10 percent of the electorate and a higher percentage in a few key swing states in the West. But Palin’s record on immigration, as recorded by Nexis and Google, is practically nonexistent, and everyone from bloggers to members of Palin’s own...

No. 1 Constitutional Amendment Article 1, Section 2 (Legislative) Ballot Title: DECLARATION OF RIGHTS Ballot Summary: Proposing an amendment to the State Constitution to delete provisions authorizing the Legislature to regulate or prohibit the ownership, inheritance, disposition, and possession of real property by aliens ineligible for citizenship. Full Text: SECTION 2. Basic Rights.--All natural persons, female and male alike, are equal before the law and have inalienable rights, among which are the right to enjoy....and to acquire, possess and protect property....

A wave of illegal-immigrant gang rapes is sweeping the U.S. while public officials and law-enforcement authorities fear drawing the link, experts say. Deborah Schurman-Kauflin, a Ph.D. researcher of violent crimes, told WorldNetDaily, "It appears as if there is a fear that if this is honestly discussed, people will hate all illegal immigrants. So there is silence. … But in being silent about the rapes and murders, it is as if the victims never even existed." Schurman-Kauflin, who runs the Violent Crimes Institute in Atlanta, participated in a 12-month, in-depth study of illegal immigrants who committed sex crimes and murders from...

A man faces 10 years in jail for smuggling two illegal immigrants into the United States. Marek Jerzy Struzik was charged Thursday with one count of alien smuggling Wednesday. The 31-year-old Polish national was helping two men, from Poland and Slovakia, walk across the Pigeon River from Canada to the Grand Portage State Park earlier this month. He went back to retrieve his vehicle, and was supposed to pick the men up in Grand Portage State Park, however he was arrested at the Grand Marais Border Patrol Station. During his arrest, Struzik told police officers that he was contacted by...

Dozens of illegal immigrant gang members from Mexico and other countries have been swept up in the past two weeks by federal agents and Twin Cities-area police, officials from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced Thursday. Called Operation Community Shield, the ongoing effort netted 50 arrests, including 35 gang members and seven gang associates from 10 Twin Cities-area gangs. Of the 50 arrested, 38 are illegal immigrants, said ICE spokesman Tim Counts. Participating law-enforcement agencies also arrested 10 U.S. citizens and two permanent residents, also known as green-card holders, on various state and federal charges, including weapons possession,...

----snip Villanueva was reportedly shooting dice with friends in Henri Bourassa Park in the ethnically-diverse borough when police attempted to make a routine arrest. Montreal police say about 20 youths then surrounded them -- several of them reportedly rushing at police. ----snip Villanueva's death triggered an angry and violent response Sunday night. Vehicles were set on fire and there was widespread looting and violence targeting police and emergency service workers. One police officer was shot in the leg, while another officer and an ambulance technician received minor injuries. The technician was struck in the head with a bottle, said CTV...

The company whose bus crashed early Friday in Sherman was operating illegally, and federal authorities are urging state and local police to intercept any tour bus associated with its owner. Iguala BusMex was formed just two months ago after another bus company, operated by the same owner, was barred from making out-of-state tours after a long history of safety violations. Those two companies both list addresses on Telephone Road in Houston and are led by Angel De la Torre.

In the end, a Kandiyohi County jury believed that Olga Franco was behind the wheel of a van when it plowed into a loaded Cottonwood school bus nearly six months ago, killing four students and injuring 17. The 24-year-old Guatemalan native, who had claimed that her boyfriend was driving the van, showed no emotion when the verdict was read -- guilty on all 24 counts, including criminal vehicular homicide and criminal vehicular injury. Family members of the victims wept quietly as the verdict was read about 10 p.m. Over more than four days of testimony from crash experts and other...

Franco was driving van, and not a passenger, state investigator says...... Olga Franco was already in the driver's seat of her boyfriend's minivan — and couldn't have been thrown into it — during the collision with a school bus this winter, a crash expert testified Friday. The details of the crash came on the second day of Franco's trial in Kandiyohi County, where she faces charges in the Feb. 19 accident that killed four children near Cottonwood. It was also the newest bit of testimony to put Franco into the driver's seat of the van, a place defense attorney Manuel...

The first emergency workers to arrive at the fatal Cottonwood school bus crash scene in February described for a jury Thursday how they found Olga Franco pinned in the driver's seat of the van that hit the bus. Franco's right leg was stuck under the van's crumpled dashboard, her foot wedged between the gas pedal and the dashboard's center console, witnesses said in Kandiyohi County District Court. In the trial's first day of testimony, Lyon County Attorney Rick Maes hammered at that key point -- that Franco was the driver of the van -- one that Franco's defense attorneys are...

About 1,200 people marched Sunday in support of undocumented immigrants in Iowa. The Statue of Liberty stood on both sides of the main street of Postville on Sunday, a symbol of how the volatile issue of immigration divides not only this Iowa town, but this country. On one side, a woman who was part of a group of Twin Cities Jews that helped orchestrate the rally offered a picture of the statue as evidence that America has always welcomed the downtrodden. But across the street, on the other side of a line of police officers, Rosanna Pulido, painted green and...

OMAHA — A Nebraska city is the latest community to try its hand at regulating illegal immigration — a job traditionally reserved for federal officials. A proposed ordinance introduced by the Fremont City Council earlier this month and set for decision in late August would force prospective renters to prove they’re not illegal immigrants before becoming tenants in the city. A city councilman also has asked to make the measure prohibit hiring illegal immigrants. Supporters say the law is needed to enforce federal rules they believe are falling by the wayside in the city of 25,000. Opponents of the measure...

A proposed law aimed at banishing illegal immigrants from Fremont, Neb. — believed to be the first such city-sponsored initiative in the state — has sparked an outcry from a state agency that advocates for Latinos. Though Fremont's appears to be the state's first elected city council to propose an ordinance that would ban harboring and renting to illegal immigrants, lawmakers in other U.S. localities have introduced similar initiatives. Bob Warner, the longtime Fremont councilman who sponsored the proposal, said he did so because residents were "sick and tired" of what he said was the federal government's lax enforcement of...

The agreement between Attorney General Jon Bruning and the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission seems to be missing an important provision. The signed document should have included a stipulation that Bruning cease and desist from further grandstanding in NEOC cases. Bruning’s behavior in the controversy won acclaim from immigration hardliners — and an appearance on the Lou Dobbs show on CNN — but it has thrown a monkey wrench into actual governing. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development suspended its contract with Nebraska in April because of inadequate performance on cases of housing discrimination. While Bruning was milking the...

SAN FRANCISCO -- California's best-known sanctuary city -- a haven for illegal immigrants -- has been escorting convicted juvenile offenders back to their home countries at city expense for nearly a generation and shielding them from federal officials in the process But after several recent embarrassing incidents, this famously liberal enclave has been forced to reconsider how it deals with young undocumented criminals. Ever since a city juvenile probation officer was detained by federal immigration authorities in Houston nearly seven weeks ago and questioned about two offenders he was escorting back to Honduras, the city has stopped flying such people...

San Francisco -- An effort by San Francisco to shield eight young Honduran crack dealers from federal immigration officials backfired when the youths escaped from Southern California group homes within days of their arrival, officials said Monday. The walkaways are the latest in a string of embarrassments for city officials who are protecting illegal-immigrant drug dealers from federal authorities and possible deportation because of San Francisco's 1989 declaration that the city is a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants. Until recently, San Francisco flew juvenile illegal immigrants convicted of drug crimes to their home countries rather than cooperate with the federal Immigration...

OCEANSIDE ---- A federal judge on Friday ordered the state Transportation Department to let a controversial group of anti-illegal immigration activists pick up litter near a Border Patrol checkpoint. In a 34-page order, Judge William Q. Hayes granted the San Diego Minutemen's request for a preliminary injunction that gives Caltrans 30 days to reinstate the group's Adopt-A-Highway permit for a 2-mile stretch of Interstate 5 near San Clemente. The state also must restore the courtesy sign bearing the Minutemen's name, the judge ruled. The judge's decision enables the North County group to once again pick up trash alongside the busy...

STRASBOURG: European Union lawmakers voted Wednesday to allow countries in the bloc to hold undocumented migrants in detention centers for up to 18 months and ban them from EU territory for five years. Approved in this medieval French border city, which is home to a significant population of North Africans and Turks, the legislation establishes common rules for expelling foreigners who are detained on EU territory without permission to be there. Described by critics like Amnesty International as "severely flawed" and an erosion of human rights standards, but by supporters as a balanced approach, the so-called return directive passed in...

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) must commit to helping illegal immigrants achieve citizenship or else risk losing the vital Latino vote in the general election, Hispanic Democratic lawmakers are warning. If he does not promise so-called comprehensive immigration reform, the lawmakers say, the only other way to win over Hispanic supporters of his erstwhile rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), may be to pick her as his running mate. Obama’s National Latino Vote Director, Cuauhtemoc “Temo” Figueroa, will have his first meeting in Washington Thursday with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC). They carefully avoided calling explicitly for Clinton’s selection...

LAREDO -- State Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, has announced details for Operation Lone Star 2008. Each summer the project offers free medical care to the uninsured and the underinsured of South Texas, thanks to the combined efforts of Texas military forces, a multitude of state and local agencies, and private organizations. “It is my pleasure to welcome the outstanding partnership of state health service officials and Texas military service personnel that brings Operation Lone Star to South Texas annually,” Zaffirini said. “For the last nine years, Operation Lone Star has saved lives by providing free health services, including basic medical...

arizona: 8.3% population illegal immigrants

ATLANTA (AP) — Hispanic workers die at higher rates than other laborers, with 1 in 3 of these deaths occurring in the construction industry, a government study reported Thursday. Hispanics tend to hold more high-risk jobs than those in other racial groups, but language and literacy barriers and poor training and supervision may also be factors, researchers said. The leading causes of death in recent years have been falls and highway-related accidents. "Many of the Hispanic workers in construction are undocumented, and many of those who are recently arrived do face a language barrier," said Rakesh Kochhar, associated director for...

Federal law enforcement agencies have increased criminal prosecutions of immigration violators to record levels, in part by filing minor charges against virtually every person caught illegally crossing some stretches of the U.S.-Mexico border, according to new U.S. data. Officials say the threat of prison and a criminal record is a powerful deterrent, one that is helping drive down illegal immigration along the nearly 2,000-mile frontier between the United States and Mexico. Skeptics say that the government lacks the resources to sustain the strategy on the border and that the effort is diverting resources from more serious crimes such as drug...

MADISON, WI -- There was a time when residents in this liberal college city would greet homeless people by name. They'd stop to chat with Scanner Dan, the grizzled guy with a walkie-talkie buzzing at his hip as he asked for change. They'd offer odd jobs to a man known as Snowball, who was rumored to have been a smuggler for the Chicago mob during Prohibition. Then two violent slayings in less than three months shook residents in the state capital, which is also home to the main campus of the University of Wisconsin. Both victims were stabbed in their...

First, my friends, a reminder of what was printed right here on January 23, 2008: After spearheading a disastrous, security-undermining illegal alien amnesty bill last year with Teddy Kennedy, “straight-talking” GOP Sen. John McCain claims he has seen the light. In TV appearances, he vows to put immigration enforcement first. On the campaign trail, he offers a perfunctory promise to strengthen border security and emphasizes the need to restore Americans’ trust in their government’s ability to defend the homeland. “I got the message,” he told voters in South Carolina. “We will secure the borders first.” But how can McCain cure...

Since Arizona’s local law enforcement began enforcing illegal immigration laws and an employer sanctions law went into effect, illegal immigrants have been fleeing the state in large numbers. The effects have been far-ranging. Commuters are reporting fewer vehicles on the freeways, shortening their rush-hour commutes. What had become a serious transportation problem in Arizona is losing its urgency. English Learner Language (ELL) students started dropping out of school. This helped end a confrontation between the state legislature and a liberal federal judge who had ordered the state to spend more money on ELL classes. Fewer illegal immigrants are using hospital...

Students Must Pay To Make Up Difference In Out-Of-State Tuition. Was it a promise kept, or a promise broken? Four years ago in an auditorium at Cole Middle School, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper promised the 300-plus students in attendance that he would find a way to send each of them to college for free. Now, the first group of those students is set to graduate, and some are finding that the mayor's promise isn't adding up. The promise only pays in-state tuition, and state law requires illegal immigrants to pay out-of-state tuition. So undocumented students must make up the difference....

Cheap Tomatoes And Cheap Labor CHEAP TOMATOES? This should make everyone think, be you Democrat, Republican or Independent. From a California school teacher - - - 'As you listen to the news about the student protests over illegal immigration, there are some things that you should be aware of: I am in charge of the English-as-a-second-language department at a large southern California high school which is designated a Title 1 school, meaning that its students average lower social economic and income levels. Most of the schools you are hearing about, South Gate High, Bell Gardens , Huntington Park , etc.,...

RFFM.org Commentary I was watching Bill O'Reilly's interview (O'Reilly Factor--FOX News Channel) with the Republican Party's presumptive presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain, on Thursday and the host asked his guest about the problem of illegal immigration. Remember, McCain came under considerable fire from many Americans on both sides of the political aisle for his stance on the problem and O'Reilly was trying to clarify the position of the senior Senator from Arizona on the subject of illegal immigration. Of course, McCain began with his usual spiel that he gets it, as far as Americans wanting our border with Mexico secured....

When Congress passed an economic-stimulus package giving hefty rebates to most taxpayers, it tried to make sure that illegal immigrants didn't get any of the cash. But in doing so lawmakers inadvertently penalized hundreds of thousands of legal U.S. residents - and tens of thousands of U.S. troops stationed overseas - simply because their spouses lack a Social Security number. --snip-- Because illegal immigrants don't have Social Security numbers and instead routinely use "tax identification numbers," Congress banned rebates for taxpayers who use the IRS-issued numbers. If a married couple files jointly and one spouse doesn't have a Social Security...

In numbers that were notably light, immigrant workers and their supporters gathered in downtown Los Angeles this afternoon for a May Day march to demand legislative reforms and an end to blanket raids on work sites. Two years ago, the May Day march drew more than 500,000 supporters registering their protest of recently scuttled plans to make being an illegal immigrant a felony. Last year, the crowd was estimated at 35,000 and today police estimated about 8,500 protesters from two main marches converged on City Hall in the late afternoon.

Penn State's student newspaper The Daily Collegian reported on Ann Coulter's hour-long speech there this month: "For possibly the first time in her career the conservative commentator, had nothing to say about a political issue. 'I have no opinion,' she told a student who asked her about Kosovo and Ukraine. That may be the first time those words have passed my lips." "During her hour-long speech to a crowd of more than a thousand in HUB Alumni Hall last week, though, Ms. Coulter spoke candidly about her opinions on a variety of controversial subjects ranging from the war in Iraq...

(Political Animal) THE KOSOVO QUANDARY....Liberal internationalist types tend to believe that non-defensive military action shouldn't be undertaken unless it's authorized by the UN. But Kosovo wasn't authorized by the UN, and most liberal internationalists seem to think it was a worthy effort anyway. Matt Yglesias, blogging about his new book over at TPMCafe, ponders this: It's a tough question for the liberal internationalist because generally speaking I would like to have my cake and eat it too here. Kosovo mostly accomplished good things, but the process — moving in without Security Council authorization — isn't something I can strictly speaking...

The shooting death of a Denver police officer is sparking a fight over immigration reform. The suspect, Raul Garcia-Gomez was in the United States illegally at the time Detective Donald Young was killed. That has stoked the debate on immigration and whether Denver has become a sanctuary for illegal immigrants. On Monday a group that wants to reform immigration laws held a rally at the City and County Building. They believe the door should be shut tight to illegal immigrants. They insist that if Garcia-Gomez had been turned over to immigration authorities when stopped on traffic offenses, Young might be...

The van driver who struck a school bus and killed four children was charged Wednesday with four counts of criminal vehicular homicide. Olga Marina Franco del Cid, 24, was indicted by a grand jury on a total of six federal counts. In April, she was charged with two counts of identify theft, two counts of false representation and two counts of using a false document for employment. On Feb. 19, four students were killed when Franco del Cid hit their school bus on Minnesota Highway 23 near Cottonwood in Lyon County. According to a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement,...

Officials say the government will replace its highly touted "virtual fence" on the Arizona-Mexico border with new towers, radars, cameras and computer software. They're scrapping the brand-new $20 million system because it doesn't work sufficiently.Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff officially signed off on the program just two months ago.But with the decision, Customs and Border Protection officials are acknowledging that the program to detect illegal immigrants doesn't work well enough to keep or to continue tweaking.Critics say the system is highly flawed, but officials say it's only a demonstration project.

Town Hall Report Uncovers Hidden Cost of Immigration By Phyllis Schlafly Monday, April 21, 2008 Are you having a hard time paying your bills, making your mortgage payments, or putting your kids through college? You need to know how much of your hard-earned income the government is skimming off and diverting into handouts to immigrants and illegal immigrants. You can read the depressing details in the new 70-page document called "The Economic and Fiscal Impact of Immigration" by Edwin S. Rubenstein (www.eagleforum.org/sources). A Manhattan Institute adjunct fellow with a mile-long scholarly resume, he has been doing financial analysis ever since...

A proposal put to the City Council on Friday would allow police to investigate the immigration status of gang members so those in the country illegally can be reported to federal authorities. Councilman Dennis Zine's proposal comes about a month after a high school football player was fatally shot, allegedly by an illegal immigrant gang member who had just been released from jail. Zine's motion would amend a Police Department policy that bars officers from asking people about their immigration status in many situations. Advocates of the policy say the change would make immigrants fearful of police.

For those of you in the Baylor University area, tonight is your chance to ask Juan Hernandez about his radical, open-borders agenda and his role in the McCain campaign. The event is free and open to the public. Bring your video camera: Dr. Juan Hernandez, author of The New American Pioneers, will speak at 6 p.m. Thursday in Kayser Auditorium on Mexican immigration. His lecture will be based on his notes, “Why are We Afraid of Mexican Immigrants?”Hernandez, a member of former Mexican President Vicente Fox’s cabinet, will be the final speaker for The Academy for Leader Development and Civic...

Though an immigration bill didn’t make it to the full Legislature this year, the issue was debated Wednesday as senators discussed a National Guard education-related bill. Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers used the time to correct the record. Omaha Sen. Brad Ashford used the time to point out the importance immigration will have in legislative races. And Lincoln Sen. DiAnna Schimek used the time to encourage Congress to work out a humane and compassionate solution for the immigrant issue. Twenty-eight students — illegal immigrants because their parents brought them illegally to the U.S. — attend University of Nebraska campuses and pay...

Advocates of amnesty for illegal immigrants, like Sen. John Kerry and Lt. Gov. Tim Murray, gathered on Beacon Hill yesterday to complain about the one kind of immigration enforcement they most oppose: The kind that works. They were part of a pro-illegals road show put together by the United Food & Commercial Workers International Union, whose slogan appears to be “Higher Wages Through Vast Increases in the Supply of Illegal, Unskilled Labor!” Or “I Should Have Paid More Attention in Econ Class.” Anyway, the UFCW has created a kangaroo court it calls “The National Commission on ICE Misconduct and Violations...

Within this year, Kosovo expects to launch its own army, to be called the Kosovo Security Force (KSF). Compared to other military forces in Europe, the KSF will be small and lightly equipped; its size will be limited to 2,500 active troops and 800 reserves. It will be primarily responsible for crisis response, explosive ordinance disposal and civil protection. The plans are to develop the force out of a current emergency response organisation, the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC). Established eight years ago under UNMIK and KFOR supervision, it is involved in activities such as firefighting, search and rescue and medical...

The latest advertising campaign in Mexico from Swedish vodka maker Absolut promises to push all the right buttons south of the U.S. border, but it could ruffle a few feathers in El Norte. The billboard and press campaign, created by advertising agency Teran\TBWA and now running in Mexico, is a colorful map depicting what the Americas might look like in an "Absolut" -- i.e., perfect -- world. The U.S.-Mexico border lies where it was before the Mexican-American war of 1848 when California, as we now know it, was Mexican territory and known as Alta California. Following the war, the Treaty...

We have received many comments on an ad showing what an ABSOLUT world would look like from a Mexican point of view. We are sorry if we offended anyone. This was not our intention. We will try to explain. Though you may not agree, I hope you understand...... .....The In An Absolut World advertising campaign invites consumers to visualize a world that appeals to them -- one they feel may be more idealized or one that may be a bit "fantastic." As such, the campaign will elicit varying opinions and points of view. We have a variety of executions running...

Unions Blast Government Effort to Stop Hiring of Illegal Aliens By Susan Jones CNSNews.com Senior Editor March 27, 2008 (CNSNews.com) - The Department of Homeland Security has re-issued a rule that labor unions and some business groups oppose. The "no-match" rule is intended to stop employers from hiring illegal aliens, but critics say it will have unintended consequences. The rule re-issued last week is the same one blocked by a federal district court in San Francisco last October. The Homeland Security Department (DHS) said the newly issued "supplemental" rule addresses all three concerns raised by the court on Oct. 10,...

BELGRADE -- PM Vojislav Koštunica says Serbia needs a stable government that will have a unanimous policy on Kosovo. The Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) leader told the public broadcaster RTS last night that parliamentary elections had been called for this reason, following the unilateral declaration of Kosovo's independence. Koštunica did not directly answer the question whether he would cooperate with the Radicals after the vote, or whether he would participate in a government with the same partners. He said he would cooperate with the parties that support his party's key principles - "Kosovo Is Serbia," membership in the EU...

Serbia has formally proposed partitioning Kosovo along ethnic lines for the first time, asking the United Nations to ensure that Belgrade can control key institutions and functions in areas of the newly independent country where Serbs form a majority. In a document sent to the UN in New York, proposed to the UN in Kosovo last week and published in the Belgrade press yesterday, the government in Belgrade insists that Serbia be allowed to control the police, the courts, the judiciary and customs in the Serbian enclaves in Kosovo and in the northern strip around the tense Serb-controlled town of...

Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard said newly forged cooperation between U.S. attorneys general and Mexican prosecutors will help authorities clamp down on international smuggling and money laundering operations. Goddard, chairman of the Conference of Western Attorneys General (CWAG), told Legal Newsline that CWAG's meeting earlier this month among several state attorneys general, federal officials and prosecutors from Mexico was a watershed event. He said U.S. authorities - state and federal - were all on the same page, willing to work in tandem, a dramatic transformation, he said, from when state and federal officials were working separately. "I can't say enough...

The federal government is cracking down on immigrants who have been deported and then returned to the United States illegally. The Los Angeles Times reviewed U.S. attorney's statistics and found prosecutors filed 539 such cases in fiscal year 2007. That's 35 percent of the total caseload compared to 207 in 2006 - 17 percent of all cases. Federal authorities say they are mainly targeting gang members, drug dealers and career criminals who have re-entered the country after being deported. But critics say people who commit minor crimes have been caught up in the recent crackdown. The newspaper reports immigration officials...

BELGRADE -- Belgrade has demanded assistance from the World Health Organization over a crisis in Kosovo. A shipment of medicines and medical supplies, worth RSD 3.5mn, has been confiscated by the Kosovo Albanians and UNMIK in the province as it reached Kosovska Mitrovica. It was destined for the isolated Serb enclaves, where hospital officials are now warning they are running out of medicines. Health Minister Tomica Milosavljević has reacted today by saying the government will ask the WHO to intervene. The representatives of the UN mission in the province, UNMIK, said they "will not comment" on the increasingly difficult circumstances...