Free Republic

USAToday has an article today about Sheriff Joe in Arizona being told by DHS to stop looking for illegals. Also, I posted this story yesterday about the illegals detention facility in Texas being emptied a couple of weeks ago, and illegals transferred into unguarded hotel facilities with free food, and medical care.

First, my friends, a reminder of what was printed right here on January 23, 2008: After spearheading a disastrous, security-undermining illegal alien amnesty bill last year with Teddy Kennedy, “straight-talking” GOP Sen. John McCain claims he has seen the light. In TV appearances, he vows to put immigration enforcement first. On the campaign trail, he offers a perfunctory promise to strengthen border security and emphasizes the need to restore Americans’ trust in their government’s ability to defend the homeland. “I got the message,” he told voters in South Carolina. “We will secure the borders first.” But how can McCain cure...

The good news: Republican senators went on record against the Feinstein/Craig illegal alien farmworker amendment today in a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid. The bad news: There were only 10 of them willing to put their names on the letter: [Image of letter included on site.]Sen. Inhofe wants you to sign the No Amnesty letter. You can do so here. The text: Dear Majority Leader Reid: We write to express disappointment that the Senate Appropriations Committee chose to include in the War Supplemental more than 100 pages of immigration language that would grant legal status to more than one...

Slowly but surely Washington is acknowledging the high cost illegal immigration inflicts on local governments. The New York Times reports on a study by the University of Arizona and San Diego State University showing counties along the Mexican border spent $1.23 billion processing illegal immigrants through the justice system. Heritage research shows the cost of low skilled immigrants does not end there. In FY 2004, at the local and state level, the average low skill immigrant household received $14,145 in benefits and services and paid only $5,309 in taxes. The average low skill immigrant households imposed a fiscal burden on...

John McCain could officially wrap up the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday, and he'll celebrate in Atlanta on Thursday. As the GOP establishment in Georgia begins to align behind the presumptive nominee, trouble still lingers among some conservative voters who doubt McCain's bona fides. Those skeptical voters ultimately could determine McCain's fate. Do they stay home? Do they vote Democrat instead? Tom Nesbitt is not sure what he's going to do. A retired postal worker from Turner County, the 66-year-old Republican voter said he's "disgusted" with his party in general and McCain in particular. "I have not yet decided whether I...

ALBANY - A thousand immigrants from across the state, including dozens from Long Island, descended on the Capitol yesterday, demanding translators in hospitals, better work conditions and English as a second language classes. The Long Islanders made the trek as part of an annual Immigrants' Day of Action here, but specifically they are concerned about a bill in the Suffolk County Legislature that would require contractors to prove their workers are not illegal immigrants.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has uncovered information on the driver of the van that hit the school bus. 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has learned through state license records and state staff that the driver of the van does not have a valid driver's license. Alianiss Morales, of Motevideo, was convicted of driving without a license two years ago, according to police and Chippewa County Court administration staff. Morales was pulled over, according to the clerk of court's office, after a report of an an erratic driver. The officer found she was driving in Motevideo without a license. The Minnesota State Patrol will...

"Some House Democrats are having behind-the-scenes discussions about creating a special visa for illegal aliens they believe will enjoy considerable Republican support. Under the plan, illegal aliens who can prove they have jobs, pay a fine, and pass a criminal background check will receive the gift of legal status for 5 years. The plan is designed to attract pro-business Republicans and those who backed the McCain-Kennedy amnesty bill by also increasing the number of visas issued for technical, temporary and agricultural workers."........

Immigration Moves Eyed; House Democrats Ponder an Election-Year Bill Steven T. Dennis, ROLL CALL STAFF House Democrats are crafting scaled-down immigration reform legislation despite the political minefields that surround the issue, with Hispanic Members seeking five-year visas for illegal immigrants who pay fines and pass criminal background checks. Immigration reform had been left for dead after last year's Senate train wreck, but pressures for at least stopgap immigration legislation have bubbled up within the Democratic Caucus. It's unclear if the behind-the-scenes discussions will actually result in a bill coming to the floor, but Democrats say drafts of legislation already have...

House Democrats are crafting a “scaled-down” immigration reform measure despite the political minefields that surround the issue, the Roll Call newspaper reported Monday. It says that Hispanic members — including Rep. Joe Baca — are seeking five-year visas for illegal immigrants who pay fines and pass criminal background checks. Baca, a California Democrat chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Baca said the prospects for a compromise package were discussed in high-level meetings that included Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel, and Rep. Zoe Lofgren, who chairs a key immigration subcommittee, Roll Call said. The paper added: “It’s unclear if...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Monday decried anti-immigrant perceptions in the United States and argued that Mexican immigrants complement American workers. On his first trip to the U.S. as Mexico's president, Calderon said he is working to combat anti-Americanism in Mexico and to improve job prospects there to reduce migration. He said he hopes that Americans resist anti-Mexican sentiments. "The worst thing that happened in this country is this anti-Mexican or anti-immigrant perception of people. We need to contain this," Calderon said after a speech at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. "I need to change...

You don’t even know him. But you rage against him like he’s the neighbor who has his illegal lawn guy use a leaf blower to blast all his trash into your yard. You think you can feel your blood boiling when you hear him talk. You use words like “traitor, liar, egomaniac…” But you don’t even know him. Such passion can be rechanneled, if you allow yourself take a second look. Sure I had some biting nicknames for him. I had all kinds of complaints against him. He’s still wrong about some things. But when it started to dawn on...

WASHINGTON — The continuing drama of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination should not diminish what John McCain has accomplished on the Republican side of this campaign. The senator from Arizona still has to finish off the challenges from Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, but after Tuesday's victories in such key states as California, New York, Illinois, New Jersey and Missouri, and a commanding lead in delegates, the question is when, not if, he will secure the nomination. What is more, he has emerged — despite all the negatives of the George Bush legacy — as a serious possibility...

Have GOP Voters forgotten that just a few months ago, John McCain stood hand-in-hand with liberal icon Ted Kennedy pushing for the largest amnesty for illegal aliens in American history? While Rasmussen polling showed that Americans following the legislation very closely opposed it 3 to 1 (69% to 23%), McCain ignored the massive public outcry! The angry calls rolling into the Senate offices, including John McCain's, were between 50 and 100 to 1 against McCain and Kennedy's bill. We know this because we stood outside his door counting calls received by his staff and because other Senators told us the...

McCain's love of amnesty will be a key issue. He supported amnesty in 2003 by name, proposed it in 2006 and 2007 without calling it amnesty, and says that anyone who says that he ever supported amnesty is a liar. He has insulted Americans who advocate border security and has cursed at the thought of building a border fence. The presence of Juan Hernandez in the background of the McCain campaign tells us that John McCain is as weak on border security now as he ever was. Dr. Juan Hernandez, a dual citizen of the US and Mexico, and past...

Following his wins in the South Carolina and Florida Republican primaries, Arizona Sen. John McCain has become the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination. He has spent the last year attempting to convince the conservative base of the Republican Party that he is one of them -- but his record in the Senate shows otherwise. Most voters know about his anti-free speech McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform. His temper is legendary, and his mistreatment of conservatives and fellow Republicans has earned him accolades from the liberal media who lovingly refer to him as a “maverick.” And he suffered a blow to...

It is often said that the best way to find out how a candidate would act in office if elected, is to see who he/she surrounds himself with. Money is another factor, what people and industries are backing the candidate. These answers should be an indicator of what to expect. Who is behind the man should gauge what kind of man he is. The great Richard Viguerie tells the story of how he and other conservatives had a “seat at the table” of the presidential campaigns of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan for. His thinking was if Conservatives aren’t at...

Less then a week after saying he has heard the American people regarding illegal immigration and their opposition to the McCain-Kennedy Pro-Amnesty bill, John McCain would still SIGN THE BILL into law if he was President and it came across his desk: (VIDEO) This explains his receiving the endorsement of fellow Pro-Amnestians, Senator Mel Martinez, (who almost single-handedly bankrupted the RNC with his support of the bill), the NY Times, Florida Governor Charlie Crist and of the Mexico-first pro-amnesty open borders advocate Dr. Juan Hernandez. “My friends", let me give you some “straight talk", a vote for John McCain is...

There is, in fact, a dime's worth of difference between the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates. Why, on immigration, the difference can get into real money. The Democratic candidates were sitting around a big table in a radio studio the other day participating in an altogether civil and restrained debate on National Public Radio. There were no rallying supporters in the room to rile partisan passions and agitate competitive energy. The long-form format by which only three topics were discussed, those being Iran, China and immigration, served thoughtfulness over rancor. The moderator asked the hopefuls if they believed they should...

New Iowa Leader Criticized by for Indecision on Federal Student Aid. Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor who backed in-state tuition for the children of illegal immigrants, hedged Sunday on whether illegal immigrants who have gone to school in the United States should become eligible for federal student aid such as Pell grants and subsidized federal student loans. "I'm not sure that I would support that," Huckabee told ABC News, "it was a different program in Arkansas." Huckabee's failure to take a clear position on federal student aid while appearing on ABC News' "This Week with George...

If the Republican Party really wanted to hold on to the White House in 2009, it's pretty clear what it would do. It would grit its teeth, swallow its doubts and nominate a ticket of John McCain for president and Mike Huckabee for vice president — and president-in-waiting. Those two are far from front-runners. They trail Mitt Romney in Iowa and New Hampshire and lag behind Rudy Giuliani in national surveys of Republican voters. But, in a series of debates, including last week's CNN/YouTube extravaganza. McCain and Huckabee have been notable for their clarity, character and, yes, simple humanity. From...

In politics, the surest path to irrelevance and powerlessness is to be taken for granted by one party and written off by another. That's the road Latinos are on, thanks to major blunders by the Republicans campaigning for president. In June, all but California's Duncan Hunter blew off an invitation to address the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. In September, a debate on Spanish-language television had to be postponed after all but Arizona Sen. John McCain refused to commit. After taking criticism for the snub, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney have committed to taking part...

New York Governor Spitzer's back-down on drivers' licenses for illegal immigrants just cements illegal immigration as the Great Elite Back-Down Issue. It was noticed years ago that the gap between elite opinion and public opinion on immigration issues is extraordinarily wide, as these gaps go. Some of this is naked self-interest: wealthy business types liking cheap, docile labor forces, rich folk of all stripes appreciating cheap & meek domestic servants. Some part arises from the guilty conscience that rich people always have, even in the U.S.A., known that all wealth and success is to some degree a product of dumb...

<p>The rapid escalation of the U.S. anti-immigration hysteria fueled by ratings-hungry cable-television hotheads and leading Republican presidential hopefuls is a dangerous trend: It may lead to a Hispanic intifada that may rock this nation in the not-so-distant future.</p>

Here's your chance to make a cameo appearance in Fred's Presidential campaign. Make a video telling us why you support Fred Thompson for President and upload it using the form below. We'll share these videos with all of our supporters on Fred08.com, and allow you, and them, to pick the best one. Here's your chance to be a star. Submit your video now. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sure, Fred Thompson is an accomplished lawyer, prosecuting criminals in Tennessee before serving as counsel on the Watergate hearings. And yes, he served the people of Tennessee as a common sense, conservative Senator for eight years....

DES MOINES, Iowa - Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson is endorsing a tough immigration measure being pushed by Iowa Congressman Steve King. Under King's measure, businesses would not get a tax deduction for wages paid to an illegal immigrant. King says Thompson's endorsement means he understands that Internal Revenue Service regulations can be as important as Homeland Security procedures in enforcing immigration laws. King, who represents western Iowa's 5th District, has been a vocal critic of the nation's immigration policies. The issue is an important one in the contest for the Republican presidential nomination, and King's call for tougher laws...

Brownback to Endorse McCain By LIZ SIDOTI Associated Press Writer MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) - Sam Brownback, a Kansas conservative and favorite of evangelical Christians, will endorse his former Republican presidential rival John McCain, GOP officials said Wednesday. The nod could provide a much-needed boost, particularly in Iowa, for the Arizona senator and one-time presumed GOP front-runner whose bid faltered and is now looking for a comeback. Republican officials said Brownback will announce his support for McCain later Wednesday in Dubuque, Iowa, and then travel with the candidate to campaign in two other cities in the state. The officials spoke on...

Voters oppose driver's licenses for illegal aliens by a nearly five-to-one margin, a new Fox 5/Washington Times/Rasmussen Reports poll finds. As immigration politics explode into the presidential race, polls show Americans are taking a hard line on benefits for illegal aliens, including opposing driver's licenses and such taxpayer-funded benefits as scholarships at state colleges for illegal-alien students. The new poll found 77 percent of the adults surveyed opposed making driver's licenses available to illegal aliens, while just 16 percent supported the idea. Licenses fared poorly across party lines, including near-blanket opposition among self-identified Republicans, at 88 percent. Among independents and...

October 2007 may turn out to be the month that immigration became a key issue in presidential politics. It hasn't been, at least in my lifetime. The Immigration Act of 1965, which turned out to open up America to mass immigration after four decades of restrictive laws, wasn't one of the Great Society issues Lyndon Johnson emphasized in 1964. The Immigration Act of 1986, which legalized millions of illegal immigrants but whose border and workplace provisions have never been effectively enforced, was a bipartisan measure unmentioned in the debates between Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale. There was no perceptible difference...

Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson today discussed his new immigration proposal which, he said, distinguished him from his key rivals on the hot-button issue. “This does draw a distinction between myself and others,” Thompson said in a Des Moines Register interview before attending the Iowa GOP’s annual Ronald Reagan dinner in Des Moines. Thompson, a former Tennessee senator, said he would end the policy of sanctuary cities, where illegal immigrants can obtain government benefits without fear of deportation. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who also is seeking the 2008 GOP presidential nomination, has been criticized by some Republican candidates...

As California children move through elementary, middle and high school, the world is open to them. If they excel, they're told, they can go to college or to jobs. But for some students, there's a hitch. Though they've grown up here and know no other country, they realize at some point that they're different. They don't have a Social Security number. That means they can't get financial aid for college or ever get a legal job. Why? They were brought here, through no choice of their own, by parents who arrived as unauthorized immigrants. Unfortunately, too many of these kids...

After failing to secure amnesty for over 12 million individuals unlawfully in the United States with a deeply flawed comprehensive immigration reform, some members of the Senate are now reintroducing amnesty piecemeal, spread across several bills. One is the "Ag JOBS Act of 2007" (S.340) which could be attached to the upcoming farm bill. The bill contains the same language as this summer's failed immigration legislation, including provisions granting amnesty to undocumented workers. The Ag JOBS Act would create a pilot program that provides work visas, called "blue cards," to guest workers who wish to work in the agricultural sector,...

Shamnesty Watch: Keep the heat on the DREAM Act…Only 18 Senators have committed to voting no By Michelle Malkin • September 18, 2007 08:29 PM Tell your senator: Vote NO on Senate Amendment 2237 Yesterday morning, I gave out Senate phone numbers and reiterated my warning from last week about the coming scheme by open-borders politicians in both aisles to slip the DREAM Act into the Department of Defense authorization bill (H.R. 1585).

PROJECT: COUNTERINTELLIGENCE SUBJECT: ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION / RESPONSE ON THE U.S. LOCAL LEVEL FILE: OPPOSITION RESEARCH TRANSLATION: SPANISH to ENGLISH (w/BABELFISH) Original Spanish Title: ("Se Dificulta Defensa Pro Inmigrante /Organizaciones Evalúan Estrategias Ante El Avance de Iniciativas Contra Los Indocumentados") TEXT: 2007, The Chicago La Raza, Inc. Published 08-23-2007 Organizations Try to Adopt New Strategies in The Face of Growing Local Initiatives in USA Aimed Against Illegal Aliens ("Undocumented"– [sic]) WASHINGTON, D.C. Anti-illegal alien measures are proliferating coast-to-coast in the United States. Adding to that the new federal administration initiatives, pro-immigrant groups are up against he wall, so that there...

Rudolph W. Giuliani has showcased his record running the city of New York as he has campaigned for the presidency. But his performance as mayor is now being turned against him as two of his opponents have begun challenging him on two of the biggest issues in the Republican primary: gun control and immigration. This week, Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, started running radio advertisements in Iowa and New Hampshire referring to New York City as a “sanctuary city” in an effort to portray Mr. Giuliani as liberal on immigration, a position that would put him out of...

Seven weeks after the collapse of legislation in Congress, the outcry against illegal immigration is louder than ever, manifested by proposed clampdowns at the state and local level and an uproar over the arrest of an undocumented immigrant in the execution-style slayings of three New Jersey college students. Scores of organizations, ranging from mainstream to fringe groups, are marshaling forces in what former House Speaker Newt Gingrich calls "a war here at home" against illegal immigration, which he says is as important as America's conflicts being fought overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan. While most of the groups register legitimate, widespread...

What an election: The one-time mayor of Ellis Island, grandson of Italian immigrants, has to make nice with the modern-day Know Nothings if he wants a shot at his party's nomination for the presidency. Mayor Giuliani gets immigrants. He's lived their dreams. He's governed their city. He's won their hearts and their minds and their votes. But now he must walk a razor's edge between advocating sensible immigration reforms on one side and demonizing immigrants as criminals and invaders on the other. Having transgressed from conservative orthodoxy irreparably on one issue, abortion, Mr. Giuliani has been pursuing a strategy of...

“Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.” This Mencken sentiment appears to be the guiding idea behind the administration’s announcement Friday of stepped-up immigration enforcement. After its relentless six-year campaign for amnesty crashed and burned in June at the hands of the common people, the White House has come up with a new plan: to start enforcing some of the laws they should have been enforcing all along, and so thoroughly scare the public with the consequences that there will be a popular groundswell for amnesty that...

...Day's story is a revealing way for McCain to open his book, for the success of the decision is far from obvious. In the very long run, it proved right—Day lived through the war, was an inspiring figure for McCain and others in captivity and ultimately came home to his family—but it was a very long run indeed. The lesson McCain takes from Day's experience is that you make the best call you can given the facts of the moment, and then you take your chances, come what may. Sometimes things work out sooner, sometimes later, sometimes never—and in the...

(AP) WASHINGTON -- A crackdown on illegal immigration will have to go forward without help from Congress, the Bush administration said Friday, asserting that an executive-branch-only approach is better than doing nothing. Two Cabinet secretaries — Homeland Security's Michael Chertoff and Commerce's Carlos Gutierrez — said they hoped to have new tools to combat illegal immigration before moving further to cope with the problem. But Congress could not agree on comprehensive legislation to attack the problem. The officials said they'll rely instead on tools already in their arsenal, some of which are already under way, including a plan to administratively...

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Friday the administration has to be “realistic about what this Congress is going to be willing to do” with regard to comprehensive immigration reform, all but pronouncing chances for a bill dead. “I think that the leaders in Congress have decided that this is not something that they’re going to take up,” Perino told reporters. “And so I think the president, while he would like to have seen comprehensive immigration reform, does not believe that the Congress will be able to get that done.” The administration had announced earlier that it would use new...

New Bush immigration initiative in works WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration is planning new efforts to curb illegal immigration by raising fines and speeding up deployment of border agents after failing to push through legislation earlier this year. The proposals would raise civil fines on employers who hire undocumented immigrants by as much as 25 percent and overhaul temporary worker programs, according to a summary of the plans obtained by The Associated Press. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez planned to announce the changes in a news conference Friday. A DHS spokesman on Thursday declined...

When the American people rose up in wrath a couple of months ago and stopped dead in its tracks a bipartisan effort to ram a phony immigration "reform" bill through the Senate, I warned that our triumph was inspiring but very probably short-lived. It is extremely difficult to focus the attention of the people at large on any policy, however bad, that is wanted eagerly by an influential minority. The policy in question -- namely, to legalize the status of the 10 or 15 million illegal aliens in this country, keep them working here for peanuts, put them on track...

(CBS/AP) In a surprisingly strong attack, GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney said Republican rival Rudy Giuliani had turned New York City into a sanctuary for illegal immigrants during his two terms as mayor. Immigration is a hot-button issue in the GOP and may play especially well in Iowa, an early battleground state where the federal government has raided meat processing plants employing illegals, and where some longtime residents feel their pay is being undercut by cheaper-working immigrants. "If you look at lists compiled on Web sites of sanctuary cities, New York is at the top of the list when Mayor...

Plenty of plums but not nearly enough workers to pick them has farmers anxious about harvest time in central California's San Joaquin Valley. Worries are similar for apple orchard operators in Washington. It is 100-plus degrees and climbing, the sun is blasting through the orchard's thick leafy blanket, and the pickers, their shirts soaked with sweat, want to call it a day. "Vamanos," they shout to their crew boss, who wants to keep them working beyond their 8 hours. He finally lets them go, but reluctantly. There are lots more plums to pick because there are fewer pickers here in...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 — When a broad immigration bill failed in the Senate in June after a vitriolic national debate, many legislators said the issue was dead, perhaps until President Bush left office. But already some of the less contentious pieces of the bill are returning to life. Last week, the Senate approved $3 billion for border security as part of a Homeland Security Department spending bill. Democrats and Republicans have also begun laying ground for a bill to create a new temporary immigrant worker program for agriculture. Another bill, also with bipartisan support, would give a path to citizenship...

Colorado higher education director David Skaggs says he will try to remove legal barriers to in-state tuition for Colorado students whose parents are in the country illegally. Nonresident tuition at some schools can be four times the resident rate. At the University of Colorado, for example, 2006-07 tuition and fees for most resident undergraduates was about $5,600, while the tab for nonresidents ran $23,500. The issue has become a hot political topic nationally, and state law is vague on the issue of children who are born in the U.S to illegal immigrant parents. Metropolitan State College of Denver charges nonresident...

WASHINGTON -- Immigration officials have granted Miami Killian Senior High School graduate Juan Gomez and his family a 45-day reprieve from being deported to their native Colombia. They were released late Wednesday afternoon. Barbara Gonzalez, a spokeswoman with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, said the reprieve would give Congress enough time to decide whether they will take up legislation that would keep Gomez and his brother, Alex, in the U.S. News of the temporary stay came as a half-dozen of his classmates continued to work the halls of Congress lobbying the teen's case.

A telling irony shines through last week's ruling by a federal judge that found only Congress can set immigration law. The judge knew full well that half the plaintiffs in the case were in the US illegally. But he let them challenge a city ordinance on immigration anyway – and anonymously. And so it's been in America for too long: Turn a blind eye to the massive lawbreaking of an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants. Imagine if a scofflaw wanted by the FBI had sued a city for enacting a criminal law tougher than a federal law. Would that person...

Specter has new immigration package By Elana Schor July 27, 2007 The Senate Judiciary Committee’s senior Republican said on Thursday that he is on the verge of offering a new immigration reform package, making significant changes that could win over recalcitrant members from both parties. Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.), who accompanied President Bush Thursday on his visit to Pennsylvania, said he has spoken to Bush and the two Cabinet members who have led immigration talks about his new bill. Specter also told reporters that he has spoken to most senators involved in this spring’s failed “grand bargain,” outlining his plan...