Free Republic

*Unconfirmed Reports of three killed* 1:02 a.m. June 14, 2008 CAMPO – At least three people were hit by gunfire Friday night on the Mexican side of the border near Campo, authorities said. The California Highway Patrol said several shooting victims came across the border. The shootings occurred some time after 10 p.m. A Heartland fire dispatcher said he knew of three victims, but that the Border Patrol had said there were more. The dispatcher said he did not know if anyone was killed. Border Patrol officials were unavailable to comment on what occurred. Ambulances were sent to state Route...

District Attorney Scott Storey of Jefferson County, Colorado is one busy lawman. The local housing market is chock full of mortgage fraud varmints. One particularly pesky ring, operating for roughly 5 years, recruited hundreds of illegal immigrants to act as “straw buyers,” the lowest players in the mortgage fraud game. Ringmasters were mortgage brokers, realtors, and loan officers in local banks. Straw buyers were supplied with stolen identities, including drivers licenses, social security cards, and income tax returns. Some were given green cards of legal immigrants. What couldn’t be stolen was forged. False docs in hand, straw buyers obtained mortgage...

TITLE: "Mexican Consulates (in USA) Refuse to Grant Visas to Central American Undocumented Immigrants" By Paula Diaz Diaro Hoy (213-237-4582) pdiaz@hoyllc.com 11 of September, 2007 (TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH FROM SPANISH FOR FREEPERS. From the Original "Consulados de México niegan visas a centroamericanos indocumentados") Los Angeles -- The Consulates of Honduras and Guatemala have expressed their concern about the problems that face undocumented immigrants from Central America, in the United States, when they wish to try to transit back through Mexico to go back to lands of their origin and return home. The Central American diplomats said that the Consulates...

New Haven, CT - A program approved last month by the Board of Aldermen for the city of New Haven, Connecticut, will officially go into effect July 25, when thousands of local undocumented immigrants are issued legitimate U.S. identification cards. The program, approved by a 25-1 vote, runs contrary to a growing national trend in which localities are attempting to curb illegal immigration through punitive measures, such as arrest, deportation and exclusion from public services. The program is believed to be the first of it's kind in the nation. The ID cards will be issued in an attempt to curb...

Mexican President Vicente Fox is expected to arrive in California today, hoping to shore up his argument that Mexico's strong economic ties to the United States make it a natural partner in solving the conundrum of illegal immigration. Fox is scheduled to speak before the state Legislature today and to meet privately with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez. On Friday his itinerary includes addressing the California Chamber of Commerce and Latino business leaders before he flies to Los Angeles. Mexico is California's No. 1 trading partner, "so a growing Mexican economy is also good for California," Schwarzenegger...

(CNN) -- The following is a sampling of reaction to President Bush's speech on immigration Monday night in which he proposed deploying National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border: Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a California Republican: Rohrabacher, a leading immigration critic in the House, said on CNN's "Larry King Live" that he was "very disappointed" by the speech. "He's playing these word games about massive deportations again, which no one is advocating and does not do anything to further an honest debate," said Rohrabacher, who also took issue with Bush's distinction between a legalization process for illegal immigrants and amnesty.

The high-top sneakers cost $215 at a San Diego boutique, but the designer is giving them away to migrants before they cross to this side of the U.S.-Mexico border. These are no ordinary shoes. A compass and flashlight dangle from one shoelace. The pocket in the tongue is for money or pain relievers. A rough map of the border region is printed on a removable insole. They are red, white and green, the colors of the Mexican flag. On the back ankle, a drawing of Mexico's patron saint of migrants. On this side of the border, the shoes sit in...

French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has postponed a planned visit to Canada, after rioting that began outside Paris last week spread through the city's largely Muslim-inhabited suburbs. Mr. de Villepin told lawmakers Wednesday the government is fully mobilized and that he is indefinitely postponing his planned trip. Interior Minister Nikolas Sarkozy also canceled scheduled visits to Afghanistan and Pakistan next week. Earlier, President Jacques Chirac called for calm and measures to bring the riots under control. French police today said they detained 34 people in the sixth consecutive night of rioting. Rioters torched cars and clashed with police who...

In the April number of the Review, Mr. O.P. Austin  answers in the negative the question, "Is the New Immigration Dangerous to the Country?" and arrives at his conclusions by an analysis of numerous statistics, of which he is a well-known and acknowledged master. Mr. Austin says that it is hard "to apply the statistical measuring rod with an assurance of obtaining exact results in the way of conclusions." To this the present writer cordially agrees, for he is convinced that the immigration problem is so vast and so complex that present statistics cannot give any satisfactory solution of it....

<p>Approval of student visas for two September 11 terrorists six months after they attacked America raises "serious concerns" about the ability of the Immigration and Naturalization Service to track foreign students, a report said yesterday. Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine called the INS decision to issue the approvals "untimely and significantly flawed" after an investigation by his office into the notification of a Florida flight school that the visa status of hijackers Mohamed Atta, 33, and Marwan Alshehhi, 23, had been changed from "visitors" to "students."</p>