Free Republic

Republicans in Congress would shoulder the blame for a shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security if they are unable to enact a new spending bill to keep the agency running, according to a new CNN/ORC poll. The survey finds that 53% of Americans would blame the Republicans in Congress if the department must shut down, while 30% would blame President Barack Obama. Another 13% say both deserve the blame. If a spending bill is not passed by Feb. 28, the agency's funding will run out. ...

The White House Office of Legal Counsel knew and advised Obama from the outset an executive order was impossible. Subsequently the White House and DHS attempted to thread the needle with a claim of Presidential authority to “set priorities regarding enforcement“. However, as we previously outlined the “enforcement priority” did more than “prioritize enforcement”, it actually created an entire new category of immigration personage. A large problem relates to an intent on classifying a new category of illegal alien with eligible work status. Riddled throughout President Obama’s Executive Order speech in November was something more than prosecutorial discretion and/or non-deportation....

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday a federal court injunction against President Obama’s executive action on immigration should send a signal to Democrats to stop blocking legislation that would curb it. "This ruling underscores what the President has already acknowledged publicly 22 times,” McConnell, R-Ky., said in a statement. “He doesn’t have the authority to take the kinds of actions he once referred to as 'ignoring the law' and 'unwise and unfair.' Senate Democrats, especially those who've voiced opposition to the President’s executive overreach, should end their partisan filibuster of Department of Homeland Security funding." A bill to fund...

Late Monday night, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen issued a preliminary injunction on every aspect of Obama’s November 20, 2014 executive amnesty pending the outcome of the lawsuit brought by 26 states against the Department of Homeland Security. This ruling makes the decision of Senate Democrats to filibuster a clean funding bill – one that funds all lawful aspects of the department – even more indefensible. Republicans should now go for the kill. The ruling itself was not on the underlying merits of the case, rather on the need to grant temporary relief in the likelihood that the states win...

As Republicans work to overcome a Democratic filibuster of a House-passed Department of Homeland Security bill that blocks President Barack Obama’s executive amnesty, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) is highlighting the Obama administration’s long history of dismantling immigration laws. In a lengthy timeline released Monday, Sessions — the chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest — lists every instance of the Obama administration ignoring, rewriting, delaying and breaking the nation’s immigration laws. The timeline begins in January 2009 with the administration ending worksite enforcement actions and, 50 pages later, ends on February 13, 2015 with the House Judiciary...

A federal judge in Texas has ordered a halt, at least temporarily, to President Obama’s executive actions on immigration, siding with Texas and 25 other states that filed a lawsuit opposing the initiatives. In an order filed on Monday, the judge, Andrew S. Hanen of Federal District Court in Brownsville, prohibited the Obama administration from carrying out programs the president announced in November that would offer protection from deportation and work permits to as many as five million undocumented immigrants. The first of those programs was scheduled to start receiving applications on Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen of Texas has temporarily blocked President Obama's executive action on illegal immigration by granting a request from 26 states to allow the courts to look at its constitutionality before it is implemented. The lawsuit is being headed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott. @GregAbbott_TX BREAKING: Federal Judge just granted my request to halt Obama's Executive Amnesty Order Nationwide. More later. #txlege #tcot @TexasGOP "This case examines complex issues relating to immigration which necessarily involve questions of federalism, separation of powers, and the ability and advisability, if any, of the Judiciary to hear and resolve such a...

President Obama’s pick to serve as the next attorney general is having a hard time finding Republican supporters. To be confirmed by the Senate, Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch only needs four Republicans to support her nomination. But it is unclear where those votes will come from. Sen. Orrin Hatch (Utah) is the only Republican so far who has signaled his intention to vote for Lynch, though several others have spoken favorably about her. But many Republicans are expressing concerns about Lynch's stance on immigration and what they suggest is a lack of “independence" from the White House. Lynch’s confirmation...

State Rep. Becky Corbin (R., Chester) knows about the ravages of contagious disease. ... Corbin, who said she still bears the physical scars from measles, went on to become a pharmaceutical chemist. ... Corbin and other lawmakers say they want to close what they call a "loophole" that has allowed parents to opt out of vaccinations based on philosophical objections, which along with medical and religious, are the three allowable exemptions. Pennsylvania is one of roughly 20 states that has a philosophical exemption, while New Jersey does not.

After the GOP’s midterm-elections sweep, the Republican Party holds more U.S. House seats and controls more state houses than at any time since 1928. Having reached this goal, the GOP now needs to look for a 2016 presidential nominee to match this success. President Calvin Coolidge, who sat in the Oval Office from 1923 to 1929, would be a smart model for the party. He reined in spending and reduced tax rates at a time when it was as needed as it is today. President Ronald Reagan admired Coolidge so much that he hung a portrait of the 30th president...

Among the 110 California patients, 49 (45%) were unvaccinated; five (5%) had 1 dose of measles-containing vaccine, seven (6%) had 2 doses, one (1%) had 3 doses, 47 (43%) had unknown or undocumented vaccination status, and one (1%) had immunoglobulin G seropositivity documented, which indicates prior vaccination or measles infection at an undetermined time. Twelve of the unvaccinated patients were infants too young to be vaccinated. Among the 37 remaining vaccine-eligible patients, 28 (67%) were intentionally unvaccinated because of personal beliefs, and one was on an alternative plan for vaccination.

Terror Bomb Plotter Who Targeted Oprah Released from Chicago Jail Obama Amnesty May Be a Federal CrimeTucson, AZ Drunk Drivers Are Free to GoTerror Bomb Plotter Who Targeted Oprah Released from Chicago Jail I have another terrorist threat warning to report to you, courtesy of Judicial Watch’s Corruption Chronicles blog. Remember the narco-terror conspirator named Emad Karakrah? Karakrah was a member of the terrorist cell behind the attempted 2009 bombing of Oprah Winfrey’s Chicago studios and the Sears Tower building. Well, he is back on the loose after being incarcerated, compliments of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The agency...

Secretaries of state from Ohio and Kansas say that the documents—driver’s licenses and Social Security numbers—being provided to the illegal immigrants granted amnesty by President Obama open a “loophole” that will make it easy for these non-citizens to vote in our elections. Presidential Press Secretary Josh Earnest questioned the characterization of potential voting by these persons as a “loophole. I would say it would be more accurately described as a ‘feature’ of the President’s executive action regarding the ‘dreamers’ he is trying to aid.” Earnest also took issue with the premise that the “dreamers” being granted these privileges are “non-citizens....

NEWARK — In a sign of the changing climate for unauthorized immigrants, Rutgers-Newark will host a first-of-its-kind college admissions fair this weekend for students who came to the U.S. illegally.

The Obama administration has ordered federal agents responsible for protecting one of the nation’s busiest and most crime-infested regions near Mexico to stop apprehending drunk drivers, according to an internal government memo that also concedes an officer that elects to detain them is “acting within the course and scope of his employment.” Obtained by Judicial Watch this week, the notice is titled “Enforcement Options With Alcohol-Impaired Drivers” and directs the 4,000-plus U.S. Border Patrol agents in the Tucson, Arizona sector to “release” individuals under the influence and “allow them to go on their way.” The document acknowledges that this feels...

Los inmigrantes indocumentados que califiquen para los alivios migratorios otorgados por el Presidente Barack Obama podrán reclamar reembolsos retroactivos por créditos fiscales a los que no calificaban mientras estaban trabajando sin un número de seguro social válido. Uno de esos es el Crédito Tributario por Ingreso del Trabajo (EITC) que puede ser de hasta $6,000. "El programa (de alivios migratorios) te permite reclamar el EITC", dijo el martes John Koskine, comisionado del Servicio de Recaudación de Rentas (IRS) ante el Comité de Finanzas del Senado.

Our Townhall cousin Conn Carroll was way ahead of the game on this, warning back in December that handing out Social Security numbers to illegals under Obama’s new executive amnesty was a momentous development. Illegals are already eligible for some tax credits, he noted at the time, but the real money is in the Earned Income Tax Credit, which can add up to thousands of dollars for low earners with multiple children. Illegals can’t get the EITC, though, because the law requires a Social Security number to apply and they don’t have Social Security numbers. Until now. So they’ll be...

Senate Democrats’ filibuster of a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security that would block deportation amnesty is not about the immigration issue but about respecting President Obama, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday. “This is not a question of protecting illegal people in our country, it’s a question of respecting the authority of the president of the United States,” Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, told reporters at her weekly press conference at the Capitol. Current funding for the Department of Homeland Security runs out Feb. 27, but Senate Democrats are blocking the spending bill that includes a prohibition...

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told Congress on Wednesday that even illegal immigrants who didn’t pay taxes will be able to claim back-refunds once they get Social Security numbers under President Obama’s temporary deportation amnesty. The revelation — which contradicts what he told Congress last week — comes as lawmakers also raised concerns Mr. Obama’s amnesty could open a window to illegal immigrants finding ways to vote, despite it being against the law. He also clarified his testimony to the Senate last week, where he acknowledged illegal immigrants who had paid taxes using substitute Social Security numbers but who gain real...

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told Congress on Wednesday that even illegal immigrants who didn’t pay taxes will be able to claim back-refunds once they get Social Security numbers under President Obama’s temporary deportation amnesty. The revelation — which contradicts what he told Congress last week — comes as lawmakers also raised concerns Mr. Obama’s amnesty could open a window to illegal immigrants finding ways to vote, despite it being against the law. “While we may disagree about whether your deferred action programs were lawfully created and implemented, we are confident that we can all agree that these programs cannot be...