Free Republic

NEW ORLEANS — First came the storm. Then came the workers. Now comes the baby boom. In the latest twist to the demographic transformation of New Orleans since it was swamped by Hurricane Katrina last year, hundreds of babies are being born to Latino immigrant workers, both legal and illegal, who flocked to the city to toil on its reconstruction. The throng of babies gurgling in the handful of operational maternity wards here has come as a big surprise — and a financial strain — to this historically black and white city, which before the hurricane had only a small...

CROSSVILLE -- Few folks could have forecast it 10 years ago, but the enrollment at the public schools in the heart of this Sand Mountain town is now larger than the town's population of 1,440. The word "crisol" - Spanish for melting pot - might explain it. Nearly 1,700 students attend Crossville's elementary, junior high and high schools, about double the enrollment of 10 years ago, and the reason is the arrival of Hispanic students in the surrounding area.

Court Rules American Citizen Son's Rights Won't Be Violated If Mother Is Deported (AP) CHICAGO -- A federal judge struck a blow Friday to the hopes of an immigration activist who has taken refuge in a Chicago church to avoid deportation, dismissing her lawsuit against the government. Elvira Arellano, 31, a Mexican national, had hoped that U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve would rule that deporting her would violate the constitutional rights of her 7-year-old son, Saul, an American citizen. But St. Eve ruled that no one's rights would be violated by deporting Arellano back to Mexico. She...

+== TIME-OUT PROJECT ==+ Friends of Immigration Law Enforcement filed a motion in the case of Saudi Arabian Taliban fighter, Yaser Esam Hamdi. Hamdi is considered by the government to be an American citizen because he was born in Louisiana to Saudis who were here on a temporary work visa. While still a tot, Hamdi's parents returned to Saudi Arabia with him, where he lived until he went off to join a terrorist group trying to kill Americans in Afghanistan. This man is not American in any real sense, of course, and the Supreme Court now has a historic opportunity...