Free Republic

A trio of Republicans in the so-called Gang of Eight huddled with leading figures at Fox News Channel on the bipartisan effort in the Senate to reform the nation's immigration system, according to a piece published in this week's issue of The New Yorker. The story, written by Ryan Lizza, indicated that Sens. John McCain (R-AZ), Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) had discussions with "top hosts" at the conservative cable news network, including Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and Neil Cavuto, all of whom are " now relatively sympathetic to the Gang’s proposed bill."

Rubio Stares Down the Right Over 'Undocumented Democrats' National JournalBy Tim Alberta | National Journal – 5 hrs ago Marco Rubio was not amused. The senator from Florida had listened patiently as a panel of hand-picked conservatives, lined up across a long table at the front of the room, took turns speaking about the prospects of immigration reform. When discussion finally opened to the anxious, overflowing crowd of lawmakers at the Republican Study Committee's immigration summit, several were quick to critique their pro-reform colleagues – Rubio the headliner among them. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., argued they should be discussing a...

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush (R) argued Wednesday that the United States should pass immigration reform because the U.S. economy needs the labor of young immigrants, and immigrants are “more fertile.” “Immigrants create far more businesses than native-born Americans,” Bush said at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to the Majority conference. “Immigrants are more fertile, and they love families, and they have more intact families, and they bring a younger population. Immigrants create an engine of economic prosperity.” Bush said immigrants are an advantage that the United States has over China, Europe and Japan, which don’t have the same...

There are so many unanswered questions surrounding the May 10 incident in which 24-year-old Yeiner Perez stripped naked and attacked commuters at the 16th and Mission BART Station. Among them: Why was this man subsequently released from police custody and back into the world? According to BART Deputy Police Chief Ben Fairow, Perez was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor battery; he had a psych evaluation and then he was turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement -- which is now in the process of trying to deport Perez back to his native country. ICE officials would not reveal which country...

Senator Rand Paul, a conservative Republican whose vote is being courted by supporters of a broad U.S. immigration bill, said on Sunday he is open to voting for the measure but wants changes, including tougher border security requirements. Paul, who has hinted at an interest in running for president in 2016, in March backed the concept of a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants that is at the heart of a comprehensive immigration bill under consideration in the U.S. Senate. But Paul, of Kentucky, has also criticized some elements of the bill, saying it should provide a mechanism for assuring...

69 years ago today my father in law was landing in Normandy France in a glider....crawling through hedgerows....doing his duty. Thank you Ralph "Bud" Thomas.

I cry every time I watch this video. Watch at 1:49...A soldier pats his friend on the back to encourage him before they attack the beach. I wonder if they survived. We own these brave men EVERYTHING. They loved freedom enough to die for it. It's for them we fight to save this Free Republic...and we will never give up. John 15:13 ~ Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden met with three illegal immigrants who have been granted deferred action legal status in the Oval Office Tuesday. Meanwhile, Obama still refuses to meet with any border security enforcement officers about any aspect of immigration reform. [Snip] All three immigrants apparently received “deferred action” legal status pursuant to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s June 15, 2012, directive. Under the congressional unauthorized program, any illegal immigrant under the age of 31 can apply for legal status if they claim they entered the country before their 16th birthday and have been in the...

At first I thought the IRS scandal was leaked to distract from the Benghazi scandal. But that didn’t make sense because the IRS scandal is a more obvious abuse of power than the White House lying about the murder of four Americans in Libya. Before I had resolved which scandal was distracting from which, we found out the Department of Justice was spying on The Associated Press —not to protect national security, but to prevent the AP from scooping the White House. Then, this week, it broke that the Department of Justice was also spying on Fox News for reasons...

The Islamist government of Turkey is building a 15-acre, $100 million mega-mosque in Lanham, Maryland. Prime Minister Erdogan visited the site on May 15 in a ceremony that was attended by the leaders of two groups linked to the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood. Also present was the Maryland Secretary of State, representing Maryland Governor and likely Democratic presidential candidate in 2016, Martin O’Malley. The mega-mosque is called the Turkish American Culture and Civilization Center and, according to the Muslim Link, it “will likely become the largest and most striking examples of Islamic architecture in the western hemisphere” when it is finished...

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) backed down from a previous promise his spokeswoman made to Breitbart News that he would consider voting in favor of amendments to the Senate's immigration bill that would close a loophole allowing illegal immigrants immediate access to state and local welfare.

BREAKING: Just moments ago, to the nauseating La Raza audience chants of "Sí Se Puede"....The Senate Judiciary Committee PASSED the final, amended 'Gang of Eight' amnesty bill to the full Senate. The vote was 13-5, with all Democrats, plus disgraceful traitors Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) joining them in handing IMMEDIATE amnesty for 20+ millions illegal aliens, plus full welfare and ObamaCare coverage, with absolutely NO border security triggers. This is a shameful day for the U.S Senate.ALL conservative activists are are urged to IMMEDIATELY CALL THEIR SENATORS and DEMAND they oppose this disgrace: ***CALL...

White, non-Hispanic kids will no longer make up the majority of America's youth in just five to six years, according to Census Bureau projections released Wednesday. Those projections, which include four different scenarios for population growth, estimate that today's minority ethnic groups will soon account for at least half of the under-18 population, either in 2018 or 2019. "This is going to start from the bottom of the age distribution and move its way up," said William Frey, demographer and senior fellow for the Brookings Institution. "All of these projections show we're moving to greater diversity in the United States."...

The 21-year-old Hofstra student who was killed during a Long Island home invasion was shot dead by a police officer as the gunman had her in a headlock and was trying to drag her out of the house, officials said Saturday. Nassau County Police said at a news conference Andrea Rebello was killed by police, not by the armed gunman who was trying to rob the off-campus house where she was living with her twin sister, Jessica, and several others. Rebello, a Hofstra junior studying public relations, and suspect Dalton Smith, 30, were both shot and killed as he was...

A bipartisan group in the House working on an overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws reached a deal in principle Thursday evening, aides said. The group plans to introduce its bill in June. Details of the compromise were not released, but, much like a bill introduced in the Senate, the House legislation will include a path to legalization for the 11 million undocumented workers already in the country, as well as increased border security measures. The House version, though, is expected to be more conservative in its approach to granting illegal immigrants a path to citizenship, among a number of...

A co-author of a disputed Heritage Foundation report on a new immigration bill has resigned amid controversy over claims he made about immigrants having low IQs. A spokesman for the conservative think tank confirmed Jason Richwine's resignation Friday without offering details. Richwine was one of two authors of a report released Monday that said immigration legislation pending in the Senate would cost $6.3 trillion over 50 years as immigrants consumed federal benefits without making up for it in taxes. The report quickly came under attack as critics from the left and right said it didn't account for economic benefits from...

<p>Ricardo Portillo, 46, of Salt Lake City passed away at the hospital, where he was being treated following an assault, Unified police spokesman Justin Hoyal said.</p> <p>Police have accused a 17-year-old player in a recreational soccer league of punching Portillo after the man called a foul on him and issued him a yellow card. "The suspect was close to Portillo and punched him once in the face as a result of the call," Hoyal said in a press release.</p>

Once the darling of the Tea Party, Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio has faced an intense backlash of criticism from the conservative wing of his party over his support for comprehensive immigration reform. Rubio, a member of the bipartisan Gang of Eight that authored the bill, has furiously tried to blunt the criticism this week, acknowledging concerns that the bill does not go far enough to ensure border security and prevent "amnesty," an ambiguous but potent fear among opponents of immigration reform. "I don't disagree with that being a major problem," Rubio said in an interview on Sean Hannity's radio...

A government watchdog group has discovered that the United States government is advising Spanish-speaking residents that they need not declare their immigration status to qualify for food stamps. Judicial Watch obtained the Spanish-language flyers through a Freedom of Information Act request and announced on Thursday that the "promotion of the food stamp program, now known as 'SNAP' (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), includes a Spanish-language flyer provided to the Mexican Embassy by the USDA. A statement on the flyer—emphasized in bold and underlined—reads, “You need not divulge information regarding your immigration status in seeking this benefit for your children.”

Italian protest party leader Beppe Grillo on Tuesday said he wanted a “German invasion” of Italy to ensure “honest, competent” politicians. “In our parliaments, there are still 30 MPs who have been convicted of serious offenses. I’d also like honest, competent and professional people in the right positions,” Grillo, 64, told Bild newspaper. …

People are an asset, not a liability. The United States is the most immigrant-friendly nation in the world and the richest country in the world. This is not a coincidence. Those voices that would make us less immigrant-friendly would make us less successful, less prosperous, and certainly less American. Today, some 11 million "undocumented workers" live in the shadows in the United States. Sixty percent of them crossed the Mexican border or the Canadian border without government approval and 40% arrived by plane and overstayed their visas. The 844-page immigration reform bill submitted to the Senate by the "Gang of...

Not a single word in the 844-page "Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act" introduced by Senator Marco Rubio and the "Gang of Eight" addresses the controversial practice of "birthright citizenship." Birthright citizenship is the common description given to the automatic grant of U.S. citizenship to babies born in the U.S. regardless of the citizenship status of the parents. Many experts agree with the verdict of law professor Lino Graglia -- that the practice generates "perhaps the greatest possible inducement to illegal entry." The failure of Congress to confront the subject is nothing new. The "four pillars" of the...

THE PROBLEM ISN'T JUST ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION, IT'S LEGAL IMMIGRATION, TOO April 24, 2013 The people of Boston are no longer being terrorized by the Marathon bombers, but amnesty supporters sure are. On CNN's "State of the Union" last weekend, Sen. Lindsey Graham's response to the Boston Marathon bombers being worthless immigrants who hate America -- one of whom the FBI cleared even after being tipped off by Russia -- was to announce: "The fact that we could not track him has to be fixed." Track him? How about not admitting him as an immigrant? As if it's a defense, we're...

In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon killing spree by foreign-born jihadists, see-no-evil bureaucrats in Washington are stubbornly defending America’s lax asylum policies. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano told the Senate Tuesday that the screening process is rigorous, effective, and extensive. These people can’t handle the truth. Or tell it. The Tsarnaev brothers reportedly were granted asylum by “derivative” status through their parents. After entering on short-term tourist visas, the mother and father (an ethnic Chechen Muslim) won asylum and acquired U.S. citizenship. Next, younger son Dzhokhar obtained U.S. citizenship. Older son Tamerlan, whose naturalization application was pending, traveled freely between...

China is massively under-reporting its overseas fishing catch according to a study by Canada’s University of British Columbia. From 2000 to 2011, Beijing reported an average overseas catch of 368,000 tons a year to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization. According to the report, however, the average catch for 2000-11 was actually 4.6 million tons a year – more than 12 times the reported figure. Of that total, 2.9 million tons of fish a year came from West Africa. “The unreported catch is crippling the artisanal fisheries that help to feed West African populations. It shows the extent of the...

There is a famous saying, wrongly attributed to Isoroku Yamamoto (Fleet Admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II), that goes: “You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass.” Historians, by and large, have claimed the attribution of the quote is unsubstantiated and has never been seen in writing; yet the “quote” has been repeated thousands of times. Why? Probably because the words ring so very true. This recognized concept may be exactly why our right to bear arms will prevent mainland attack of the United States....

Rep. Steve King, one of the most vocal proponents in Congress for strict immigration enforcement, called on his colleagues to slow down on moving ahead with plans to overhaul the system in the aftermath of the Boston bombing. In an interview with The National Review, a conservative publication, King, a Republican from Iowa, said the reports that investigators were talking to a Saudi college student should prompt lawmakers to put a greater national security focus on immigration reform. The effort by King, as well as some conservative groups, to tie the bombing to immigration drew a rebuke by his fellow...

For all the talk in Washington about border security, the one agency charged with providing it isn't sharing a wealth of details. So a group of volunteers -- called Secure Border Intelligence -- has stepped in, working around the clock in Arizona to keep a thorough record of the front lines of the border battle. Using tiny, motion-activated cameras hidden in the desert along known smuggling routes, the group captures images of illegal immigrants streaming into the U.S. Some carry water, others bundles of drugs slung across their shoulders. SBI also records conversations between Border Patrol pilots and agents on...

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."

CBS News) The "gang of eight" senators working on a comprehensive immigration reform bill that includes a pathway to citizenship could present the legislation by the end of this week, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Sunday on "Face the Nation." Joined by his friend and fellow "gang" member Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Schumer said the staffs of the four Republican and four Democratic senators "are in a room working 12 hours a day, taking all the agreements that we've come to over the last three months, and turning them into legislative language, specific legislative language." -- more -->

The Senate’s draft immigration bill will increase the inflow of foreign workers to 1 million people per year, according to government data and news reports.The 1 million inflow would provide almost one foreign worker for every four Americans who turn 18.The rate would be high enough to fill up all the extra jobs created during the last five months.The 1 million inflow would include at least 350,000 people capable of competing for middle-class skilled jobs sought by the 1.8 million Americans who graduate from university each year.“I believe in a free-market, but this [inflow] will aggravate the problems for [American]...

The Associated Press is out with an extensive piece today showing just how far Mexican drug cartels have infiltrated American society. The cartel problem is no longer a border problem, it's a problem for the entire country. Violent cartel members are carrying out crimes in our backyards with the potential to develop into something much worse. Mexican drug cartels whose operatives once rarely ventured beyond the U.S. border are dispatching some of their most trusted agents to live and work deep inside the United States — an emboldened presence that experts believe is meant to tighten their grip on the...

CHICAGO — Mexican drug cartels whose operatives once rarely ventured beyond the U.S. border are dispatching some of their most trusted agents to live and work deep inside the United States — an emboldened presence that experts believe is meant to tighten their grip on the world's most lucrative narcotics market and maximize profits. If left unchecked, authorities say, the cartels' move into the American interior could render the syndicates harder than ever to dislodge and pave the way for them to expand into other criminal enterprises such as prostitution, kidnapping-and-extortion rackets and money laundering. Cartel activity in the U.S....

Jonathon Moseley, executive director of American Border Control, told WND his group has been sending letters to members of the legislatures in border states such as Texas and Arizona. The letters point out that the Constitution requires the federal government to secure the borders if state legislatures or governors ask. The group cites Section 4, Article 4 of the U.S. Constitution, which states: The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature...

Rage over the waste and injustice of agents sent by the federal government to bang on doors of law-abiding citizens to ask probing, creepy questions is normally something that bubbles up only every 10 years. But ever since the federal government became a cancerous leviathan, the outrage is now an annual occurrence. The first census in 1790 asked a bare minimum of questions essential for establishing congressional districts of equal populations. Despite the abhorrent practice of slavery at the time — and the counting of blacks for purposes of their fractional apportionment — the whole endeavor was aimed at fairness.

A Texas high school student has filed a federal lawsuit against her school and her teachers after she was punished for refusing to salute and recite the Mexican pledge of allegiance. The Thomas More Law Center filed the suit on behalf of Brenda Brinsdon alleging the McAllen Independent School District violated the 15-year-old girl’s constitutional rights when she was forced to recite the Mexican pledge and sing the Mexican national anthem. Brinsdon, who is the daughter of a Mexican immigrant and an American father, refused. She believed it was un-American to pledge a loyalty oath to another country. Ironically, the...

- FrontPage Magazine - http://frontpagemag.com - Radical Anti-Israel Advocate Appointed to Genocide Prevention BoardPosted By Arnold Ahlert On April 26, 2012 @ 12:48 am In FrontPage | 10 Comments Last August, president Obama created an Atrocities Prevention Board. “Preventing mass atrocities and genocide is a core national security interest and a core moral responsibility of the United States of America,� stated a presidential directive. He appointed Samantha Power, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights, as chair. Ms. Power won a Pulitzer Prize for her book, “A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide.� That’s the good news. The...

A news article was sent to me earlier this week. It appeared in the Beaufort Gazette. The article stated that later this week about 150 Marines and Navy personnel will hold realistic urban training in Jasper County, South Carolina. This was one of many joint military-local law enforcement exercises that had come to my attention in less than one month. Held in cities across the U.S., they were becoming more common and more intense. But why? Why train in populated towns and cities where accidents could produce unnecessary casualties? The Gazette further reported that the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit will...

AYUTLA, Mexico—Masked men, rifles slung over their shoulders, stand guard on a lonely rural road, checking IDs and questioning travelers. They wear no uniforms, flash no badges, but they are the law here now. A dozen villages in the area have risen up in armed revolt against local drug traffickers that have terrorized the region and a government that residents say is incapable of protecting them from organized crime. [snip]When a village commissioner named Eusebio García was captured on Jan. 5, several dozen villagers from Rancho Nuevo grabbed weapons and formed a search party. The next morning, they found Mr....

California's Hispanic Population Projected To Outnumber White In 2014 By Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California's Hispanic population will equal that of whites this year before becoming the state's largest demographic group in 2014 for the first time since statehood in 1850, a government report showed on Thursday. That change in the most populous U.S. state will make it the third where whites do not comprise a plurality of the population, after New Mexico and Hawaii. The shift is occurring alongside nationwide growth in the Hispanic population, which grew to 16.7 percent of the total in 2011 from 12.5...

It’s difficult to not look at world events these days and feel as though we are sitting on a ticking time bomb. Things are heating up even more and the clock is now at about 30 seconds to midnight. One wonders where all this will lead… Well, if the current course is kept, straight into hell, probably. That is by design and has been planned on for a very long time.

Hours before President Obama is set to deliver a major immigration speech, a key Republican senator blasted the president for reportedly opposing a requirement to shore up border security before legalizing up to 11 million illegal immigrants. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., one of four Republican senators involved in a bipartisan effort to craft immigration reform legislation, warned the president Tuesday against taking such a position. It was the first sign since the senators unveiled their guidelines a day earlier of friction between the two efforts. "I think that would be a terrible mistake," Rubio told Fox News. "We have a...

As the U.S. government continues to expand surveillance and monitoring systems to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars within the borders of the United States, a recent announcement regarding the country’s southern air defense systems is raising eyebrows. Our southern border is, in part, protected by the Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS), which utilizes moored balloons hovering at about 15,000 feet to identify low flying aircraft and missiles that may penetrate the border and cross into U.S. airspace. The system is utilized by the U.S. Air Force, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), and U.S. Customs and Border...

<p>MEXICO CITY (AP) — More than 54,000 Mexicans have signed a petition calling on the United States to take further steps to combat weapons trafficking.</p> <p>Mexico says the majority of guns used by the country's violent drug cartels are smuggled over the border from the United States.</p>

Besides the NRA and GOA limited reports, is there a list on this board that shows the weekly/daily news reports that show how many protect their lives with a legal gun? I see it daily.

FULL TITLE: Parents detain man, 21, in a headlock after they find him in their teenage daughter’s bedroom having sex with the girl he met online Parents detain man, 21, in a headlock after they find him in their teenage daughter’s bedroom having sex with the girl he met online According to the girl's parents, Narvaez was caught 'in the act' when the teen's mother walked into her room for a late-night check-up. The unnamed woman told KHOU 11 that when she turned on the light in the bedroom, the startled 21-year-old man tried to flee, but she informed him...

Legislation introduced Tuesday would give about 400,000 undocumented immigrants in California the same rights as citizens to unemployment benefits and various other government services.

If I could choose to have my readers learn one and only one thing from what I write, it would be that America's problems are not the result of blind, much less inevitable, forces, but are the consequences of deliberate political action by motivated individuals and groups. Nowhere is this clearer than in the case of our ongoing immigration crisis. Let's trace the lines of influence in the open-borders conspiracy, a word I use despite its connotations of grassy knollology because in this case it is factually appropriate. Given who has been pushing mass immigration in America and how open...

Islamic terrorists—including two al Qaeda affiliates indicted last year in Kentucky—have entered the United States legally through a resettlement program that helps tens of thousands of “the world’s most vulnerable refugees” start a new life in America each year. Known as the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), it’s a joint venture between the State Department and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the Homeland Security agency that oversees the nation’s lawful immigration. The two agencies are responsible for deciding which refugees are granted USRAP resettlement consideration. USCIS is hands on and conducts individual, in-person interviews with applicants to determine if...

Republican Super Pac Aims To Win Over Hispanics With Immigration Reform After Obama won 71% of the bloc, GOP campaigner Carlos Gutierrez turns to convincing party to embrace a shift in tone Ed Pilkington in New York 22 November 2012 The head of Mitt Romney's campaign to attract Latino voters during the presidential election has warned fellow Republicans that unless they embrace immigration reform they are in danger of destroying the party's reputation as the guardian of economic freedom and prosperity. Carlos Gutierrez, former commerce secretary under George Bush and the man who spearheaded of Romney's outreach to the Hispanic...