Free Republic

New photos show President Trump is making good on his number one campaign promise — building a ‘big, beautiful’ border wall between the united States and Mexico. Left leaning Texas Observer published photos of contractors preparing the construction of the wall. You’ll read the site was more concerned about the wildlife of Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge in South Texas than the President keeping his word on curbing illegal immigration Texas Observer reports: For at least six months, private contractors and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials have been quietly preparing to build the first piece of President Trump’s border...

The head of the Youngstown Federal Drug Enforcement Administration says a recent marijuana-smuggling operation with ties to Warren is the first of its kind he has seen in this area. In fact, said Bob Balzano, who runs the local DEA office, the only time he has heard of the method being deployed was in April, when a similar discovery was made in Minnesota. The marijuana was found last week inside the wheel well for a spare tire in a new Ford Fusion which was manufactured in Sonora, Mexico, at a Ford dealership in Kent, after one of the vehicles was...

President Trump, who made the building of a wall along the border with Mexico a central promise of his campaign, significantly scaled back the pledge Thursday. "You don't need 2,000 miles of wall because you have a lot of natural barriers," Trump said to reporters on Air Force One during his flight to Paris. "You have mountains. You have some rivers that are violent and vicious. You have some areas that are so far away that you don't really have people crossing. So you don't need that." "You'll need anywhere from 700 to 900 miles," he said. About 600 miles...

House appropriators are including President Donald Trump’s full request to fund a physical border wall in their proposed 2018 budget — potentially setting up a shutdown fight this fall. The House appropriations committee released its homeland security bill on Tuesday and it includes the full $1.6 billion requested by the Office of Management and Budget to begin construction on a southern border wall. The bill also funds 500 new Border Patrol agents and more technology for securing the border, as well as money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hire 1,600 additional staff and increase detention capacity. While House Republicans...

House Republicans said Tuesday they’ve included $1.6 billion in funding for President Trump’s border wall in their new homeland security spending bill, setting up fight with Democrats who have vowed to block any wall funding — even if it means sending the government into a partial shutdown. GOP leaders said the $1.6 billion fully meets Mr. Trump’s request to begin wall construction, which includes 32 miles of new border fencing in Texas, 28 miles of levee wall along the Rio Grande Valley, also in Texas, and 14 miles of replacement fence in San Diego. The bill also adds 500 new...

President Donald Trump’s executive orders to increase enforcement and follow existing immigration law is leading some illegal aliens to self-deport. In a report by the Pueblo Chieftain, sources told the local newspaper that illegal immigrants, fearful of being prosecuted and deported by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), are self-deporting primarily back to Mexico. “Sources report that some undocumented families have left the area for Mexico rather than run the risk of having a parent arrested or even sentenced to prison for immigration violations,” the newspaper reported. According to the report, families began self-deporting after a total of 14 illegal...

The Obama-holdover chosen by DHS Secretary John Kelly to direct Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for the Trump Administration helped author Obama’s controversial immigration priorities and executive orders, and he also publicly praised them. ... Trump’s campaign largely centered around opposing former resident Barack Obama’s executive orders on immigration and the release of criminal illegal aliens into U.S. communities. Acting ICE Director Homan was the Enforcement and Removal Director (ERO) for resident Obama and even received an elite award from the former resident for his efforts on immigration. Homan has come under fire from the ICE Council for being Obama’s...

The Department of Justice will withdraw from a legal challenge to Texas’ voter ID law, after the state legislature enacted several legislative fixes to the law to assuage the Department’s concerns. Reuters reports that the Department filed a motion informing the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas that it would withdraw from a challenge to the law because the state’s new amendment to the statute “removes any ‘discriminatory effect’ or intent the Court found … and advances Texas’s legitimate ‘policy objectives’ in adopting a voter ID law.” The amendment Texas adopted eased some of the law’s photo...

In his first meeting as president with his Mexican counterpart, Donald Trump on Friday said he "absolutely" intends for Mexico to pay for the controversial wall he wants to build along the United States' southern border, setting off a furor in Mexico over a goal his own administration has largely abandoned. Trump and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto met on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit here, amid sharp disagreements over trade and immigration. Some officials had hoped the brief encounter could help heal badly strained relations between the two neighbors. The proposed wall continues to make that...

The upcoming NAFTA trade discussions between the U.S., Mexico and Canada will be more interesting, and far more consequential, than any trilateral trade discussion in our lifetime. We can anticipate dozens of congressional masks to drop each day as the tentacles of their financial interests and corporate donors will gain a level of sunlight never before seen. For the first time in our lifetime the corporatist’s within the U.S. CoC lobby will be neutered, and Republicans owned by Wall Street will have no choice but to openly rail against America while embracing their friends in the MSM.

Cojones! Trump tells reporters he 'absolutely' still wants Mexico to pay for his border wall – and Mexico's leader is right next to him listening President Donald Trump reiterated on Friday that he still wants Mexico to pay for a lengthy border wall separating America from its southern neighbor. And he did it with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto sitting just an arm's length away. Reporters had a few moments to pepper the two leaders with questions as their bilateral meeting on the margins of the G20 summit got underway. 'Mr. Trump do you still want Mexico to pay for...

Fighting erupted between rival gangs inside a state prison before dawn Thursday, and 28 inmates were killed and three wounded, officials in the Pacific resort said. Authorities had initially reported five deaths, but later raised the toll more bodies were found scattered throughout the prison. Robert Alvarez Heredia, the Guerrero state security spokesman, said in a statement that the fighting broke out around 4 a.m. He said security forces later regained control and slowly began discovering bodies in a kitchen, a cellblock and other areas. "The incident began because of the constant dispute between rival groups inside the prison," Alvarez...

Rioting inmates at a Mexican prison slit their rivals' throats and beat them to death Thursday, leaving 28 dead and three wounded, officials said. Bodies were found strewn around the maximum-security wing, the kitchen, a prison yard and a conjugal visits area after the pre-dawn riot at the Las Cruces federal prison, said the security spokesman for the state of Guerrero, Roberto Alvarez. "The incident was triggered by a permanent feud between rival groups within the prison," he told a press conference. State police have regained control of the prison, backed by federal police and the army, which set up...

Migrants from Central American countries are increasingly choosing to resettle in Mexico as the Trump administration’s tough immigration enforcement policies make the U.S. a less accessible destination. For years, Mexico has largely been a waypoint for people from the so-called Northern Triangle countries — Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador — who were trying to cross into the U.S. and petition for asylum. As the U.S. has cracked down on illegal immigration at the border and tightened its rules on accepting asylum claims, those migrants are now staying put in Mexico. As a result, Mexico’s refugee applications have risen dramatically over...

Mexican authorities said Saturday that at least 19 people died in clashes involving armed men and security forces in the gang-plagued northwestern state of Sinaloa, where homicides have spiked dramatically following the capture and extradition of convicted drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman

The Trump administration said Friday it will begin arresting parents and others who hire smugglers to bring children into the U.S., in an effort to break up human-trafficking operations. The new “surge initiative” by Immigration and Customs Enforcement marks the latest get-tough approach to immigration by the federal government since President Donald Trump took office. It is also a sharp departure from policies in place under President Barack Obama, during which tens of thousands of young people crossed the border illegally. The children were then placed with sponsors—typically parents, close relatives or family friends—who cared for the minors while their...

LAREDO, Texas – Custom and Border Protection agents have located and seized nearly two tons of marijuana hidden in a shipment of lettuce. CBP said in a release that the seizure happened at the Colombia-Solidarity International Bridge on June 26, when an officer referred a tractor-trailer hauling lettuce for secondary inspection. After “a canine, non-intrusive and physical inspection” of the trailer, CBP said agents found and seized 5,754 packages containing a total of 3,707 pounds of marijuana. The marijuana had an estimated street value around $741,000. “This is truly an example of our CBP officers’ hard work, experience and dedication...

Mexico filed an affidavit Monday in support of a lawsuit against the implementation of a Texas law to punish sanctuary cities and allow police officers to inquire about the immigration status of someone they have arrested or detained. The Mexican government said in a statement that the law could increase racial discrimination and create an environment of persecution. The statement said that the number of calls to the center for information and assistance for Mexicans in Texas in May and June increased 678 percent compared to the year prior. This is reflexive of the uncertainty and “anguish” that the Mexican...

The immigration rhetoric and crackdowns pushed by President Donald Trump have a familiar ring in Arizona, where former Sheriff Joe Arpaio once used similar tactics to become a national figure. Now, Arpaio is going on trial on a criminal charge stemming from those immigration enforcement actions. His eight-day trial that begins Monday in federal court in Phoenix will determine whether the 85-year-old retired lawman is guilty of misdemeanor contempt of court for disobeying a judge’s order to stop traffic patrols that targeted immigrants. The judge later found his officers racially profiling Latinos. Arpaio’s legal troubles played a major role in...

They've been begged by star players to stop it, fined repeatedly, and threatened with dramatic sanctions that could hurt their national team’s chances in.... Mexican soccer fans have been loath to give up their favorite game-day chant, a homophobic slur that has been condemned by gay rights groups, government officials and international soccer authorities. .....Each time the goalie for the United States team picked up the ball to punt it, the crowd began chanting, “Eehhh,” stretching out the sound like a long musical note on a crescendo. When the goalie finally kicked the ball, the crowd shouted, “puto!” in unison....