Free Republic

President Joe Biden’s ambassador to India approved more than two million visitor visas for Indians in 2023 and 2024 — so allowing a huge wave of job-seeking Indians to take off-the-books, untaxed, illegal jobs in the United States. But President Donald Trump’s Secretary of State is now directing officials at the Department of State to reverse the various policies that help illegal migration into the United States. “This department will no longer undertake any activities that facilitate or encourage it,” Secretary Marco Rubio said in a memo to the top officials in the department. The task is “the most consequential...

Former Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney would likely have to testify before a new U.S. House subcommittee that’s investigating the events that took place before and after Jan. 6, 2021, if she gets subpoenaed, which a subcommittee member has already said is likely to happen. Despite Cheney receiving a pardon from former President Joe Biden during his final hours in office, presidential pardons come with the caveat that they remove Fifth Amendment privileges for the recipient. The Fifth Amendment grants the constitutional right to not answer questions in a court of law. Many Republicans have criticized the work of the United...

Flying a plane down one of the most formidable ski slopes in the world is a very cool way to sell energy drinks.When most companies want to sell a few extra cans of soda, they hire a celeb and shoot an over the top Superbowl commercial. When Red Bull wants to sell an extra crate or two of energy drinks, it turns to its roster of insanely talented athletes and shoots something crazy. For its latest stunt, the company has filmed ace pilot Dario Costa as he flies down a legendary ski course. Outlandish Red Bull films are nothing new...

A second Trump administration may revamp the White House briefing room, sidelining legacy media in favor of independent voices and shaking up the mainstream press's long-held dominance. There have been reports in recent weeks suggesting that there may be major changes coming to the White House press briefing room in a second Trump administration. The White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) generally creates the briefing room seating chart, which gives the front row to what most of us would call the “mainstream media,” such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and network news channels, most of which, if not...

The damage caused by 4 years of “Bidenomics” has been so immense that it is difficult to put it into words. Everywhere we look, the U.S. economy is rapidly deteriorating all around us, and it would literally take a major miracle to turn things around at this point. Needless to say, the condition of the economy was one of the biggest reasons why Donald Trump won the election, and he insists that he can get fix it. Now he will get his chance. But the economic challenges that he is facing in 2025 are far greater than anything that confronted...

Russia's Ryazan oil refinery has suspended operations after an attack by Ukrainian drones late last week, two industry sources told Reuters on Monday. They said oil storage at the refinery had been set ablaze. Among damaged equipment were a railway loading rack and a hydrotreater unit used to remove impurities from refined products. "The railway loading equipment has been damaged. There have been no railways loadings, they stopped oil processing," one person said. Another source said the loadings have been suspended since Friday, also confirming that the plant has been stopped due to inability to dispatch oil products. Rosneft (ROSN.MM),...

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott surged additional Texas military resources to the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) to assist President Donald Trump with his border security efforts. Abbott did so as removal operations are already underway in Trump’s first week in office after he issued a series of executive orders to secure the border, including sending 1,500 troops to Texas and California, The Center Square reported. Abbott directed the Texas Military Department to deploy the Texas Tactical Border Force to the RGV to coordinate efforts with U.S. Border Patrol agents. More than 400 troops are departing from military bases in Fort Worth...

[Catholic Caucus] The SSPX: Questions and AnswersEditor’s note: this is our final weekly serialisation of Dr. Edward Schaefer’s new book A Simple Man’s Case for Tradition. This book is an excellent introduction to Traditionalism and provides an easy way for Trads to introduce the movement to fellow Catholics who are seeking deeper answers to today’s questions. Proceeds from the book sale also help promote the Collegium Sanctorum Angelorum, one of only two traditional Catholic colleges in the United States.Read the IntroductionRead chapter 1: Equally Valid and HolyRead chapter 2: the New MassRead chapter 3: LatinRead chapter 4: Practice & BeliefRead...

JOHN RATCLIFFE -- TRUTH IS COMING TO THE CIA. Ratcliffe confirms what everyone else has known for 5 years -- The Covid virus came from Wuhan lab where they were conducting gain of function research on bat viruses while searching for a SARS Vaccine. VIDEO AT LINK................ Dr. Ralph Baric was originally doing the SARS research at UNC when it was moved to Wuhan lab. SARS was considered the top global virus threat, and Fauci wanted to find a SARS vaccine for both bats and humans. The Covid virus was an attempt at an aerosol Vaccine for bats.

North Korean troops appear to have temporarily pulled back from the frontline in Russia after suffering heavy losses, a Ukrainian special forces commander has told Sky News. The commander, who goes by the codename "Puls", said Kim Jong Un's men were likely either learning lessons from mistakes made during their first, bloody clashes with Ukrainian soldiers, tending to their wounded or waiting for reinforcements. "I think they'll be back soon," he said, speaking at a secret base in northeastern Ukraine. Interviews with several Ukrainian troops reveal remarkable details about how the North Koreans have been fighting since they arrived on...

Two Pennsylvania Democrats want to erase biological sex from birth certificates to enable people to more easily shift their “gender identity” without facing “bureaucratic roadblocks.” State Reps. Benjamin Sanchez and Joe Webster have proposed a bill that would remove the biological reality of sex from birth certificates — a move they say would “eliminate yet another form of discrimination people endure when there is an error in that category.” “As the times change, so does the need to assess our antiquated practices and procedures. Precedent already exists for amending what is required on birth certificate documents. For example, birth certificates...

Government spokesperson David Mencer tells reporters that the list of hostages provided last night by Hamas for the 33 hostages who are being released over 6 weeks contains 25 living hostages and 8 dead hostages.. Eight of the 33 people on the list provided by the Hamas terrorist organization of the Israeli hostages who are being freed during the six-week ceasefire are dead, ... The families have been informed of the situation of their relatives ... Israel received the list of hostages last night, a week into the ceasefire. 25 of the hostages are alive, including the seven women who...

Israel reportedly met with Ukrainian diplomats on Tuesday to discuss a weapons transfer. Since then, US military cargo planes have been tracked flying from Israel to an airbase in eastern Poland. “There are signs that Israel has begun supplying Ukraine with Soviet and Russian-made weapons,” Two Majors, a pro-Russia military blog on the Telegram social messaging site, told its 1.2 million subscribers on Sunday.

A federal court on Tuesday condemned the Department of Justice’s efforts to provide members of Congress Volume II of the Special Counsel report while criminal prosecutions related to the report remained ongoing. While the country has moved on from the issue following Donald Trump’s inauguration, last week’s order crystalizes the Biden Administration’s outrageous weaponization of the DOJ against not just Trump but those associated with him. Two weeks before Trump’s inauguration, the DOJ announced its intent to publicly release Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report on his investigations into Trump’s challenges to 2020 election and Trump’s retention of supposedly classified documents....

Donald Trump traveled to Los Angeles on Friday to view firsthand the massive damage of the wildfires. But unlike other presidents who might have played nice with local politicians dealing with an unprecedented disaster, Trump let Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass have it with both barrels. ... We are going to do everything we can, slashing regulations, expediting everything so that people can begin the process right away," Bass said during the meeting. That's not true, as Trump pointed out. "We know the one thing is they are saying they will not be allowed to start for 18 months," Trump...

The recall affects more than 80,000 vehicles in the United States. The company said it took the action to remedy a wiring issue which could potentially lead to improper air bag deployment. Kia America is recalling more than 80,000 vehicles because of an issue identified with wiring beneath the front passenger seat in some of its vehicles that can could potentially prevent vehicle airbags and seat belts from deploying properly. According to documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration the damaged wiring could also cause unintended air bag deployment. The recall covers the 2023-2025 Niro EV, Plug-in Hybrid...

[Catholic Caucus] Am I The Only One To Notice The Bishops' Silence Regarding The Release Of The Pro-Life Activists?Below is the statement of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops regarding the release of the 23 pro-life activists who were unjustly imprisoned by the Biden administration.CRICKETSDEAD SILENCEPlease don't tell me that they simply had not the time to prepare a statement. The release happened Thursday, and prior to that, rumors had been widely circulating that the release was imminent. They had plenty of time to prepare a statement. Moreover, had the released people been climate activists or shills for unbridled...

Despite his misdemeanours, Fu Zai was honoured for his exceptional service in 2024 as an explosives-detection dog and received a Lunar New Year gift package, including gourmet pet treats. China’s first-ever corgi police dog, Fu Zai, has become an internet sensation for both his achievements and his recent run of trouble at work. The small but determined canine officer lost his year-end bonus for sleeping on the job and urinating in his food bowl, sparking widespread amusement and sympathy on Chinese social media. According to domestic media, corgi joined the Weifang Public Security Bureau in Shandong province as a reserve...

Gelsinger took to X on Monday to suggest that the market's assumptions were wrong. He said that instead of reducing demand, making computing "dramatically cheaper" and more efficient to use — as DeepSeek appears to have done — "will expand the market for it." The former Intel boss, who retired from the company in December after struggling to capitalize on the AI boom, also suggested that the Chinese engineers at DeepSeek "had limited resources, and they had to find creative solutions" to squeeze performance out of their models. The AI industry has insisted that models become smarter when powered with...

The Department of Justice's top career official for public corruption resigned Monday after the Trump administration reassigned him to handle immigration matters, the New York Times reported on Monday, citing the resignation letter. Corey Amundson had served in the DOJ for more than two decades. “I spent my entire professional life committed to the apolitical enforcement of federal criminal law and to ensuring that those around me understood and embraced that central tenet of our work,” he wrote to acting Attorney General James McHenry.