Free Republic

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Thursday that Republicans need to craft a positive agenda and can’t just rail against Washington, D.C. “We have to have an agenda, we just can’t be against what’s in front of Washington, D.C.,” Bush said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Thursday. -snip- Taking one last dig at lawmakers on the Hill, Bush called on them to pass immigration reform and hoped it would set a precedent of lawmaking.

Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ) said on Wednesday at the Heritage Foundation-hosted Conversations with Conservatives press event that House Speaker John Boehner has promised him that the Senate’s “Gang of Eight” immigration bill is dead in the House. “I very recently had a conversation with the Speaker and if immigration reform moves, it’s going to move piecemeal,” Salmon said in response to a question from Breitbart News. “And it will go over one bill at a time and if there is any kind of conference, it will be on specific bills we send over. It will not be on the Gang...

Carney announces that now the CR and Debt Ceiling have gone Obama's way, the president is putting "immigration reform" back on the front burner. "It's the right thing for America."

Immigration reform advocates plan an aggressive campaign to bring the issue back — and the White House has signaled it’s on board. Can Obama emerge from the fiscal crisis with enough momentum to win the immigration fight? As the fiscal fight roiling Washington nears its end, the White House is already signaling that it plans to use the political momentum it has gained during the shutdown fight to charge back into the immigration debate. And this time, Democratic pollsters and advocates say, they could actually win. The final chapter of the current crisis hasn’t been written yet, but Democrats in...

Over the past few years, immigration reform has been at the forefront of debates in Congress. In both the Senate and the House of Representatives, members from across the aisle have come together to develop bipartisan bills that would change the lives of over 11 million undocumented immigrants. Some in Congress have worked tirelessly to create a law that would provide a path to citizenship for millions, while others have focused the debate on border security. In an exclusive interview with Latinos Post, National Council of La Raza (NCLR)’s senior immigration legislation analyst Laura Vazquez discussed the future of immigration...

A planned immigration reform rally will take place on the National Mall on Tuesday even though the site is closed due to the government shutdown. ~~~SNIP~~~ Susana Flores, a spokesperson for the rally, confirmed for the Washington Examiner that the Park Service will allow the event to take place under the group's rights granted by the First Amendment. About 30 members of Congress are expected to attend the rally, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J.

A top House Republican says in an upcoming interview that the chamber will take up immigration reform in 2013, insisting that “there’s still time” for a comprehensive rewrite despite the rapidly dwindling time left on this year’s calendar. Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, said during an interview with Univision’s “Al Punto” that top leaders are still discussing when to bring immigration bills to the House floor. Speaker John Boehner “over the last few weeks has continued to talk about the importance of the House moving forward on immigration reform,” McMorris Rodgers said, according...

"Take your DACA and shove it!" - by John HillStand With ArizonaArizona Governor Jan Brewer is under fire from pro-illegal alien "rights" groups like the ACLU and La Raza for refusing drivers licenses to illegal alien "youth" granted virtual amnesty under Barack Obama's DACA program. They have sued repeatedly to try and stop her. But rather than back down, Brewer has doubled down. Brewer has now directed her Department of Transportation to expand her denial of drivers licenses to ALL illegal aliens granted a reprieve from deportation by the Obama DHS or ICE, regardless of circumstances. The left has erupted...

Two House Republicans who had been trying to craft a comprehensive immigration package said Friday they were dropping of bipartisan negotiations. In a joint statement, Texas Republican Reps. John Carter and Sam Johnson said that they had “reached a tipping point” in the talks and “can no longer continue” working on a “broad approach” to a rewrite of the nation’s immigration laws. “We want to be clear. The problem is politics,” they said in a joint statement. “Instead of doing what’s right for America, President Obama time and again has unilaterally disregarded the U.S. Constitution, the letter of the law...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday pledged action on immigration overhaul legislation even as most of the attention on Capitol Hill is focused on fights over the budget and debt. Rep. Bob Goodlatte said the immigration issue needs to be solved and work is happening behind the scenes toward that goal.

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The uncertainty of a U.S. led strike in Syria has shifted Congress' focus to the international crisis, and that has pushed many national issues like immigration reform out of the spotlight.

Republican Congressman Bob Goodlatte, chair of the House Judiciary Committee overseeing immigration, said he expected Congress to pursue reform legislation despite a tight schedule featuring debates over Syria, health care, and the debt limit. Those and other issues “should not deter us from getting to [immigration] as soon as possible,” Goodlatte said in an appearance on WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi Show on Tuesday. Goodlatte said he expected votes soon, perhaps in October, on a series of smaller House bills on border security, internal enforcement, guest workers, and high-tech visas. “Those bills are ready to go to the floor of the House...

An Obama-appointed federal judge has handed the administration a major victory, ruling that a Muslim woman’s civil rights were violated by an American clothing retailer that didn’t allow her to wear a head scarf as required by her religion. The lawsuit was filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency that enforces the nation’s workplace discrimination laws. In 2011 the agency sued the retail giant, Abercrombie & Fitch, accusing it of religious discrimination for firing 19-year-old Umme-Hani Khan for wearing a hijab at a northern California store. The company, which focuses on hip casual wear for consumers...

WASHINGTON — Paul Ryan is under pressure to drop his support for revising U.S. immigration laws: His adversaries are running television attack ads against him and warning of a primary challenge to the Wisconsin Republican congressman. Ryan is risking a "showdown with the tea party," said Bob Dane, an opposition leader, in reference to the anti-tax movement that backs primary challenges to some incumbents. The effort to make him switch his position isn't working: Ryan says he is committed to passing a law to allow 11 million undocumented immigrants to eventually become U.S. citizens. His conviction — dating to his...

Janet Murguia, the president of the National Council of La Raza, used her speech to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech on Saturday to advocate for comprehensive immigration reform. Speaking at the Realize the Dream March and Rally days before the 50th anniversary of King's speech, Murguia said, "We march so that everyone knows that true justice must include enacting comprehensive immigration reform." She also said Americans should march for illegal immigrants who live "in the shadows" and who "live in fear every day of their lives because they are undocumented." Murguia also...

Thousands are expected to gather for several events in Washington, D.C., over the next week to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, but remembering and honoring the past isn’t the only objective on the agenda. Immigrant rights advocates are planning to use the commemoration as an opportunity to rally for changes to immigration law that offer a pathway to citizenship for those living in the country illegally. Groups such as The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the National Council...

Who cares if jurors have no idea what's going on? The wave of politically-correct "progress" must roll on. And discrimination against people who don't speak English simply won't be tolerated. CBS Las Vegas reports: The New Mexico Supreme Court is cautioning trial courts and lawyers that citizens who don’t speak English have the right to serve on juries.The court issued the admonition in a ruling that upholds an Albuquerque man’s convictions for murder and other crimes in the bludgeoning death of his girlfriend and a subsequent armed robbery and stabbing. Michael Samora’s appeal argued that his convictions should be reversed because...

President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder met with top civil rights leaders Monday at the White House to hash out a path forward on voting rights after the Supreme Court struck down a central provision of the Voting Rights Act. Activists emerging from the meeting said they were encouraged by the comments made by the president and administration officials in the "candid" meeting. "We were assured by the president and the attorney general they will aggressively fight to protect the right of all Americans to vote," said Rev. Al Sharpton. He said there was a "wound in the Voting...

Rep. Paul D. Ryan might have just given away the road map for House consideration of immigration reform. “Tentatively, in October, we’re going to vote on a border security bill, an interior enforcement bill, a bill for legal immigration,” the Wisconsin Republican and Budget Committee chairman told constituents at a district town hall event Friday, according to a report by the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel. Ryan also reportedly said negotiations were underway for the chamber to vote on legislation that would provide undocumented immigrants with “probationary” visas while they waited a minimum of 15 years to attain citizenship.

(CNSNews.com) – If food is love, then first lady Michelle Obama says we are “loving ourselves and our kids to death.” In remarks to the National Council of La Raza in New Orleans on Tuesday, Mrs. Obama remarked that healthy eating is first and foremost a “community issue.” “And see, that’s where it gets complicated, because that's where it gets personal and emotional,” she said. “Because the truth is, for so many of us, food is love. I mean, it is no coincidence. Applause for food is love.” “It is no coincidence that the kitchen is the central gathering place...