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Brazil's borders are so vast, and the terrain so inhospitable, that attempting to secure them has seemed a virtually impossible task. But Brazil's rapidly expanding economy has made the country a magnet for illegal immigration, and other illicit activities, and now the country has announced its own border protection program. Called the Sistema Integrado de Monitoramento de Fronteiras and known by its Portuguese acronym, SISFRON, it is intended to act as a virtual border shield along a frontier that stretches more than 10,000 miles and is shared with 10 other countries. The sheer size of the terrain that will be...

Experts can’t always predict exactly how public policy will affect the nation, despite our best efforts. But when it comes to immigration policy, we have tried many of the types of reforms advocated by today’s Gang of Eight—so we should consider the effects these reforms had in the past.In the mid-’80s, many Members of Congress advocated amnesty for long-settled illegal immigrants. President Reagan considered it reasonable to adjust the status of what was then a relatively small population, and as his attorney general, I supported his decision.The path to citizenship was not automatic. Immigrants had to pay application fees, learn...

Experts can’t always predict exactly how public policy will affect the nation, despite our best efforts. But when it comes to immigration policy, we have tried many of the types of reforms advocated by today’s Gang of Eight—so we should consider the effects these reforms had in the past. In the mid-’80s, many Members of Congress advocated amnesty for long-settled illegal immigrants. President Reagan considered it reasonable to adjust the status of what was then a relatively small population, and as his attorney general, I supported his decision. The path to citizenship was not automatic. Immigrants had to pay application...

MILAN, Italy, May 11 (UPI) -- An illegal immigrant from Ghana went on a rampage with a pickaxe in Milan, Italy, Saturday, killing one person and wound four others, authorities said. The suspect, Mada Kabobo, 31, was taken into custody, Agenzia Giornalistica Italia reported

How low will supporters of the Gang of Eight immigration bill go to get their way? This low: They've shamelessly branded an accomplished Ivy League-trained quantitative analyst a "racist" and will stop at nothing to destroy his career as they pave their legislative path to another massive illegal alien benefits bonanza. Jason Richwine works for the conservative Heritage Foundation. He's a Harvard University Ph.D. who co-authored a study that pegs the cost of the Ted Kennedy Memorial Open Borders Act 2.0 legislation at $6.3 trillion. Lead author Robert Rector is a senior research fellow at Heritage, a former United States...

Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday that passing an immigration reform law that would give the estimated 11 million people in the country illegally a pathway to citizenship would be “granting them the dignity and respect they deserve.” Speaking at the Conference on the Americas on Wednesday in Washington, D.C., Biden told attendees from countries throughout the Western Hemisphere that every nation has to make “tough choices.” “In the United States, it means reforming our immigration system and 11 million undocumented men, women and children being able to come out of the shadows and be full participants in American life,”...

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) aims to block any illegal immigrant from ever receiving any state, local, or federal welfare or public benefits with a series of amendments to the immigration reform bill currently under review in the U.S. Senate. Cruz has filed five amendments to the bill. The one currently marked “Cruz 2” on the Senate Judiciary Committee website (the amendments have not yet received official numbers) has a stated purpose to “provide that aliens who have entered or remained present in the United States while not in lawful status shall not be eligible for means-tested benefits.” The amendment would...

U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy on Tuesday proposed a gay rights amendment to the Senate's immigration bill, prompting one of the measure's Republican sponsors to repeat his prediction that it could sink the legislation. "It'll kill the bill," Florida Senator Marco Rubio said in a brief interview. "There is a coalition of groups who are supporting immigration reform who will not support it if that's in there." Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants and a possible Republican presidential candidate in 2016, is key to attracting conservative support for the bill. It remained uncertain whether the amendment would make...

TWENTY YEARS ago the leaders of Europe agreed on a bold step: a new currency called the euro. They promised that the euro would improve life for everybody—and denounced all opposition as ignorant, xenophobic, and backward. Their words gained extra plausibility because many of the opponents of the euro really were ignorant, xenophobic, and backward. Yet the backward critics were right, and the enlightened proponents were wrong. And so it is with the immigration debate in the United States. Nothing unifies the American elite like immigration. From Barack Obama to Paul Ryan, from the editorial board of The New York...

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, a newly elected Republican with a penchant for making headlines, filed an amendment that would bar undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States from ever earning citizenship. There are an estimated 11 million people living in the country illegally, and a bipartisan immigration reform measure would create a pathway to citizenship over the course of 13 years by requiring those people to pay penalties and back taxes, as well as learn English. Conservatives opposed to reform decry the path as amnesty, but Democrats say they will not support reform that does not cope with the...

On Monday, Alfonso Diaz-Diaz, 26, was arraigned in Woodford District Court for the death of 5-year-old Blake Cohorn, of Lexington. The little boy's father, Rocky, was also seriously injured in the alcohol-fueled crash, and is still listed in critical condition at the University of Ketnucky (UK) Chandler Hospital. Other family members were also injured. LEX 18 reported: Police say they got a call about a black car heading the wrong way around 10 p.m. on April 21. Just a few minutes later, the report of a head-on collision at US 60 and Midway Road came in. Blake Cohorn was declared...

Senate Budget Committee ranking member Sen. Jeff Sessions estimates about 57 million new people, immigrants and people with nonimmigrant visas, will be entering the United States to compete with middle class Americans for their jobs if the “Gang of Eight” immigration bill passes. Sessions’ staff released an analysis detailing how they reached that number on Friday morning. “This is a number that exceeds the population of the state of California, our largest state,” Sessions said on a conference call with reporters discussing the analysis. “It’s a very, very significant impact on our economy and the American people.” Sessions argued that...

The last large-scale legalization of undocumented immigrants, the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), is often called "the 1986 amnesty." The law created a relatively straightforward pathway to citizenship, and 2.7 million undocumented immigrants eventually got green cards through the program. But amnesty in the context of immigration is more than a way to describe legalization. It's become a dirty word in the debate -- immigration's equivalent of Obamacare. That's no accident. Since 1986, restrictionist groups have hammered home the message that the last legalization program didn't stop illegal immigration, and that the "amnesty" failed. Buzzwords have their limits, however,...

The Congressional Budget Office said Thursday it will use a type of “dynamic scoring” to evaluate the new Senate immigration bill, dealing a major victory to the legislation’s backers. While wrapped in the dry world of economics, the decision helps the eight bipartisan authors of the Senate immigration bill because it will likely show economic growth and higher tax revenues offsetting any new spending included in the bill. CBO generally shies away from dynamic scoring, which includes knock-on effects of economic growth when calculating costs and benefits.

"At the time of re-entry there was no derogatory information that suggested this individual posed a national security or public safety threat." -- Department of Homeland Security spokesman Peter Boogaard explaining to FOX News that Azamat Tazhayakov, accused of aiding the suspected Boston Marathon bombers, was allowed to re-enter the country on Jan. 20 on a student visa, despite having flunked out of school.A Quinnipiac University poll taken this week said in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings 23 percent of voters changed their opinion on whether to allow a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants. And that was...

Senate Budget Committee ranking member Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) told Boston’s conservative radio host Howie Carr on Wednesday that the political momentum is starting to turn against the “Gang of Eight” immigration bill. When Carr asked the senator if this process behind the push for this bill is the “same thing as Obamacare” where “we have to pass it so we can read it,” Sessions replied: “Absolutely, it really is.” “That is exactly what it is,” Sessions said. “They’re selling the sizzle. They’re selling the smell. And it’s a shoe leather instead of a steak.” Carr said that though everyone...

President Obama has pushed the idea that we need comprehensive immigration reform. The Gang of Eight, a mixture of Republicans and Democrats, have been working on their own solution to the immigration problem. That solution has already been discussed and cussed, as it seems to contain a path to amnesty for the millions of illegal immigrants who now live in the United States of America. That's a problem for many of us, and rightfully so. President Obama isn't unique among American Presidents. Can you think of a modern-day President who did not try to push immigration reform? It's almost a...

MCALESTER, Okla. (AP) - A Krebs man who was in the country illegally has pleaded guilty to raping and impregnating an 11-year-old girl. The man entered his plea Monday and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. On Wednesday, Pittsburg County District Attorney Farley Ward told the McAlester News-Capital that DNA test results show the defendant had gotten the child pregnant. The Associated Press isn't naming the man because doing so could identify the victim. The man was first arrested in 2011 for assault and transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. He was deported later that year, but Oklahoma...

There's a growing partisan divide over whether gay Americans should be able to sponsor their partners for green cards The tide is clearly turning on gay rights, with same-sex marriage being legalized in states across America and several countries all over the world. But supporting gay rights can still be a political liability in Washington. According to Politico, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has said that he will introduce an amendment to the Gang of Eight's immigration reform bill that would allow gay American citizens to sponsor their foreign-born partners for green cards, just like straight couples can. That's a big...

The pro-Amnesty lobbyists who helped craft the Schumer-Rubio immigration bill included two "slush funds" amounting to $150 million. Millions of dollars will go to groups like La Raza, Casa de Maryland, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

<p>And by executive decree, President Obama officially flings open our borders. He steadfastly refuses to uphold his oath to faithfully execute the Office of President, and to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Instead he ignores the constitution, ignores the laws he chooses, and refuses to secure our nation or secure our borders. He now proudly announces to the world and even advertises in Spanish in Mexico that Mexicans illegally crossing the U.S. border will not be apprehended once they're safely away from the border and, in fact, are then free to apply for foodstamps and other government freebies and the agencies they apply to are not even allowed to ask about their legal status, nor will they be reported or deported.</p>

The debate is raging over whether the latest immigration bill is an amnesty for illegal immigrants, but one part is clear: The legislation would forgive businesses that have employed those immigrants illegally. Employers who have allowed illegal immigrants to work off the books can come forward safely and provide their work history without fear of prosecution, and businesses that knowingly employed someone using a bogus or stolen Social Security number likewise would get a pass, according to an analysis of the bill by the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that wants a crackdown on immigration. “The illegal workers...

Most laws are meant to stop people from doing something, and to penalize those who disregard those laws. More generally, laws are meant to protect the society from the law breakers. But our immigration laws are different. Here the whole focus is on the "plight" of those who have broken the laws, and on what can be done to lift the stigma and ease the pressures they feel, so that they can "come out of the shadows" and "normalize" their lives. Merely using the word "illegal" to describe their breaking the law is considered to be a sign of mean-spiritedness,...

And by executive decree, President Obama officially flings open our borders. He steadfastly refuses to uphold his oath to faithfully execute the Office of President, and to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Instead he ignores the constitution, ignores the laws he chooses, and refuses to secure our nation or secure our borders. He now proudly announces to the world and even advertises in Spanish in Mexico that Mexicans illegally crossing the U.S. border will not be apprehended once they're safely away from the border and, in fact, are then free to apply for foodstamps and...

“Never before have I seen such contempt for law enforcement officers as what I’ve seen from the Gang of Eight” - Chris Crane, ICE Agent union president.- Last week, ICE union chief Chris Crane won a stunning initial court victory in his lawsuit against the Obama Administration. As we reported, Federal Judge Federal Judge Reed O’Connor told the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that they had no power to refuse to deport illegal aliens, and that he was likely to strike down Obama's virtual "DACA" amnesty for millions of illegal aliens. The ruling stunned Washington, and Crane's lawsuit could derail...

On Friday, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper (D) signed a bill that repeals the 2006 law, SB06-90 . The bill required police to alert federal authorities about suspected illegals living in the US. The bi-partisan supporters of the repeal said the law made immigrants afraid of law enforcement. Fox News Latino reported: Those who wanted the law repealed argued it made immigrants afraid of police. They also say the law is now duplicative because a federal program checks fingerprints during arrests to check immigration status. Proponents of such laws say that the federal government has failed to control illegal immigration, forcing...

The Senate’s complex immigration bill would instantly gut the popular E-Verify system that is widely used to exclude illegal immigrants from jobs, and then create an enforcement gap for several years before the arrival of a replacement system. “There’s no doubt that the bill eliminates E-Verify immediately upon signing,” said Kris Kobach, secretary of state of Kansas, told The Daily Caller. “If there’s no statutory authority for E-Verify, there’s no E-Verify,” said Kobach, a lawyer trained at Harvard, Oxford and Yale universities, and a prominent advocate for reduced immigration. The claim is vehemently disputed by the bills’ advocates, including staffers...

The Boston Marathon bombings and their impact on immigration policy framed a discussion organized by Centro Presente Friday on police hostility, immigrant rights, and the necessity of grassroots and community organizing. An immigrant rights organization based in Somerville, Centro Presente held the community conversation in partnership with the National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities. NALACC is a Latino-led organization based in Chicago that works for betterment of the Latin American community in the U.S. and abroad. The event reflected the anxiety among some in immigrant communities that the Marathon bombings would lead to a backlash against immigrants and...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- The California Assembly passed a bill on Thursday that would make the state the first in the nation to allow non-citizens who are in the country legally to serve on jury duty. Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont, said his bill, AB1401, would help California widen the pool of prospective jurors and help integrate immigrants into the community.

It's just as simple as that folks, if we do not secure our borders, we have no country. It's absolutely madness not to secure our nation, not to secure our borders especially during war time!! The president is defying the constitution, defying the law and defying we the people by not enforcing the law!! He's a traitor! The BOSTON MASSACRE is a direct result of his TREASON!! The senators and congressmen who go along with his treason are also TRAITORS!! NO!! Do not open our borders!! Flush the 800 page treasonous open borders declaration!! Do not reward the law breakers...

A federal judge said this week that the Obama administration is likely violating the law by telling immigration agents and officers not to arrest illegal immigrants they deem low priority, in a case that could upend President Obama’s enforcement policy. For the last several years the administration has said it will no longer arrest most illegal immigrants, arguing it wants to focus only on those with serious criminal records or gang ties. The Homeland Security department said it was using “prosecutorial discretion.” Immigration agents and officers sued, saying federal law requires them to make the arrests, but the Obama administration...

Texas Senator Ted Cruz is expressing doubt when it comes to serious border security measures in the Gang of 8 illegal immigration overhaul. Yesterday during a hearing on Capitol Hill, Cruz questioned Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano about the objective metrics used to assess border security and found her answers to be less than satisfactory. “We must have a clear definition of what metrics must be reached in order for the border to be secure. I am not satisfied with answers offered at today’s hearing, as it remains unclear how the provisions in this bill will help achieve a secure...

I have a challenge for members of Congress now vowing that the federal government will enforce the immigration laws in the future if we just let them take the illegal aliens in the United States today and put them on a "pathway to citizenship." It is this: Investigate the employer who -- according to the Office of the Inspector General of the Social Security Administration (SSA) -- filed 37,375 inaccurate W-2s in tax year 2005. In fact, investigate all employers who have similarly filed massive numbers of bad W-2s. Forget the employers who filed 100, 200 or even 500 bad...

Yesterday during the one and only hearing on the new Gang of 8 illegal immigration overhaul, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council President Chris Crane once again expressed frustration with how lawmakers have handled developing new legislation without law enforcement input, going so far as saying the Gang of 8 is one of the most hostile groups he's ever tried to work with. "Law making in our nation has indeed taken a strange twist as Senators invite illegal aliens to testify before Congress and groups representing illegal aliens are brought into the development of our nation's laws, but American citizens working...

The battle within the Republican Party over the so-called Gang of Eight’s 844-page immigration bill has often been contentious, but in recent days it has escalated. Despite his plea for cooler heads to prevail in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing last, Alex Conant, press secretary for Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, likened the current plight of illegal immigrants to that of slaves in 19th century America. Conant made his remarks in a Twitter argument with the Washington Examiner’s Conn Carroll, who accused the Florida Republican of “selling lies.” Conant replied by asking Carroll for suggestions. After Carroll suggested...

The Boston Marathon tragedy is a reason for Congress to move faster – not slower – to overhaul the nation's immigration system, according to two co-authors of a Senate reform package. Some conservatives on Capitol Hill have suggested Monday's deadly bombings – allegedly orchestrated by a pair of young immigrants from Russia's volatile Caucasus region – should cause lawmakers to move more deliberately in their approach to immigration reform this year. But Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) – chief architects of a sweeping bipartisan immigration proposal unveiled last week – argued Sunday that their bill will help...

Secret emails obtained exclusively by Breitbart News show the libertarian Cato Institute, Americans for Tax Reform, and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) are colluding on immigration reform messaging in the wake of the Boston Marathon terror attack in order to push the “Gang of Eight” bill that was released this past week. On Friday afternoon, political consultant Peggy Ellis of Ellis & Company, who is supporting the Gang of Eight immigration efforts, emailed “Talkers from Rubio” to the group of organizations supporting their efforts such as Cato and ATR. The email was headlined: “Rubio talking points re: Boston terrorists vis a...

Bombing Suspects’ Immigration Story Adds Layer to Debate on Overhaul By TRIP GABRIEL April 20, 2013 WAYNE, Pa. — With the television in her pizzeria showing an endless loop of the Boston manhunt on Friday, Bessie Kontis glanced up at scenes of the quasi-military lockdown and shuddered. Greg Ricker said the Boston attack had made him less open to immigration. “I think we should just stop letting people in,” he said. Frank Cunningham, right, favors a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Gary Burnett also favors a path to citizenship and permanent residency. “After something like that happens, they should...

It is one of the Obama administration’s favorite talking points on immigration: It has been deporting illegal immigrants in record numbers. That bolsters its credentials on enforcement and supports the argument that, now that we’ve gotten tough on the border, it is time to enact comprehensive immigration reform. But figures recently unearthed by a federal lawsuit in Texas cast serious doubt on the administration’s deportation claims. The number of deportations appears to have declined significantly during the president’s term in office. Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies, has analyzed a set of largely unpublished...

“One of the Chechen terrorists who carried out the Boston Marathon bombings could have been deported years ago after a criminal conviction and the other was granted American citizenship on the 11th anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil. “Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the 26-year-old killed in a wild shootout with police, was a legal U.S. resident who nevertheless could have been removed from the country after a 2009 domestic violence conviction, according to a Judicial Watch source. That means the Obama administration missed an opportunity to deport Tsarnaev but evidently didn’t feel he represented a big enough threat.”

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said today that the Senate immigration bill is even worse than feared, since it legalizes illegals' relatives and even those previously deported: "It's hard to believe, but the Senate immigration bill is worse than we thought. Despite assurances, the border is not secured before almost everyone in the country illegally is given amnesty. The bill guarantees there will be a rush across the border to take advantage of massive amnesty." Rep. Smith says the Senate immigration bill shreds current immigration laws: "And the Senate proposal offers amnesty to far more illegal immigrants than we thought. In...

The fate of 12 million illegal aliens estimated to be living in the United States is hotly debated in Washington, D.C. Unfortunately, the problem is a symptom of beltway politicians' failure to enforce immigration laws and modernize our legal immigration system. At this point, some form of legal status for many illegal residents is necessary for a practical solution. But every elected leader has an obligation to ensure America remains the land of opportunity. That means stopping the current tide of illegal entry and residency with improved border security and visa tracking. At the same time, we must reformulate and...

The immigration bill senators introduced Wednesday bans racial profiling by federal law enforcement officers in most routine encounters, such as traffic stops. Under current federal law and court precedents, racial discrimination is illegal — but there is no specific ban on racial profiling by federal officers. But buried inside the 844-page Senate immigration bill is a section specifically prohibiting the use of race or ethnicity as a factor in “routine or spontaneous law enforcement decisions, such as ordinary traffic stops.” Still, that language already represents a compromise. An earlier draft of the bill, reviewed by The Washington Times, had applied...

Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, popular with conservatives and libertarians in the GOP, said Wednesday he is considering a presidential campaign in 2016 but will not make a decision before next year. Paul said at a breakfast sponsored by The Christian Science Monitor that he wants to be part of the national debate and said that remaining open to a presidential bid would give him a broad audience on a number of policy issues. …

Representative Steve King of Iowa, a prominent House conservative, says Congress should be cautious about rushing immigration reform, especially after Monday’s bombing in Boston, where three people were killed. “Some of the speculation that has come out is that yes, it was a foreign national and, speculating here, that it was potentially a person on a student visa,” King says. “If that’s the case, then we need to take a look at the big picture.” On immigration, King says national security should be the focus now, and any talk about a path to legalization should be put on hold. “We...

It’s called Potomac Fever. Senator Marco Rubio – seduced by the establishment – is leading the charge for amnesty for illegal immigrants. Rubio took the April 14 Sunday news shows by storm. But the senator degenerated into pure political spin. First, Rubio claims that this plan is not amnesty, because trespassers have to “qualify.” How do they qualify? They fill out a form. And they have to continually steal a job from a U.S. citizen. They have to remain employed, while tens of millions of American citizens are out of work. They must pay taxes. But they can’t be turned...

King and his crew are not driving the negotiations, and they increasingly feel like outsiders within their own party. “The meetings of the Gang of Eight and the secret meetings in the House of Representatives — the people who have been standing up for the Constitution and the rule of law haven’t been invited to those meetings,” King tells the assembled group of reporters. The other huddlers — Michele Bachmann (Minn.), Lou Barletta (Pa.), Mo Brooks (Ala.), Louie Gohmert (Texas), and Dana Rohrabacher (Calif.) — nod and grimace. “We’ve got all the rich guys and the elitists talking to each...

Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio dismissed arguments Sunday that the Senate immigration bill offers amnesty for illegal immigrants and said border security is not the only key issue -- amid scrutiny from some fellow conservatives and the union that represents immigration enforcement agents. Rubio told “Fox News Sunday” that anybody living illegally in the United States and attempting to get a visa would face a long list of qualifications, which includes paying taxes, a fine and an application fee as well as having a job and waiting for at least 10 years. “That is not amnesty,” said Rubio, a Cuban-American...

Authorities have confirmed that an apparent bomb addressed to Maricopa, Ariz., County Sheriff Joe Arpaio was uncovered and diverted, and now investigators are beginning to look into a list of his enemies for any links or connections. Those who have had conflicts with him, those who might be coming under investigation, those who have been unsuccessful in fights with him. That should be a job. Arpaio, who has described himself as the “toughest sheriff in America,” has had conflicts over the past few years with advocates for illegal immigration, those who don’t like his enforcement of state laws in Arizona,...

A suspicious package addressed to controversial Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio contained a bomb that was powerful enough to maim or even kill him, his office said today. "Had someone opened that package, it would have caused a major explosion and caused serious physical injuries, burns and maybe death," Maricopa County Sheriff's Office spokesman Jerry Sheridan said at a press conference. "That was a very serious threat, it was labeled to come here to this building and be opened by Sheriff Arpaio."