Free Republic

More than 800 migrants in 13 boats crossed the English Channel on Saturday, according to Home Office data. The figure is a record for a December day in recent years, and is believed to be due to a backlog of people wanting to get across to Kent because of recent bad weather. It takes the total for the year to 41,455 people, surpassing 2024, when there were 36,816 for the entire year. A Home Office spokesperson said: "The number of small boat crossings are shameful and the British people deserve better." The 803 migrants were brought ashore at Dover by...

More than 180 migrants crossed into Poland through a tunnel hidden in a forest on the border with Belarus, frontier guards said on Friday. Around 130 of them were detained in Poland after the passage was discovered on Thursday, but the rest were still on the run, the Polish Border Guard said in a statement. It released video of the tunnel dug through roots and bare earth, supported by wooden posts and metal rods and just 1.5 meters (5 feet) high – not enough for most people to pass through without crouching. European Union member Poland has been grappling with...

Dozens more migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats as the total number of people making the dangerous journey this year passes 40,100. There were 74 arrivals in one boat recorded by the Home Office on Tuesday, December 16. It means that in 2025 so far 40,155 people have made the perilous crossing. The last time more than 40,000 migrants crossed the Channel was in 2022 when 45,755 were recorded arriving in the UK. The total for 2023 was 29,347, while 36,816 crossed last year. It comes after 732 people came to Britain in 11 small boats on Saturday...

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has doubled down on his recent comments about migrants and criminality, saying Germans and Europeans were "afraid to move around in public spaces."On a visit to Potsdam last week, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz talked about how his government was toughening up its migration policy. The primary aim, he said, was to continue to combat what he called illegal immigration.Then he added another sentence, which has since caused a furor: "But we still have this problem in the cityscape, of course, and that's why the federal interior minister is facilitating and carrying out large-scale deportations."The offhand remark...

Outraged by accusations that an asylum-seeker had sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl, thousands of flag-waving, bottle-throwing, firework-wielding Irish citizens surrounded a migrant hotel in southwest Dublin, Ireland on Tuesday night, setting fire to a police vehicle. Six people were arrested from a furious crowd estimated to have numbered approximately 2,000. The Irish police force — or “Gardai” — say they were on the receiving end of “sustained violence” that included glass bottles, bricks and fireworks. Despite the onslaught, a line of Gardai in riot gear were able to prevent the mob from reaching the hotel. Bringing the “torches and pitchforks”...

Sorry, Facebook friend says "fact-check", "it's a thing", and I don't have time for that. What do you think of these claims about how "cruel" and "horrible" Trump's raids are? I'll include another ass who posted her claims too. Of course they cry "racism" and of course, are very non-self-aware regarding "DISGUSTING, DESPICABLE" and "classy" when it comes to supporting endless riots!

For the best part of two centuries, Britons have been flocking to the genteel seaside town of Bournemouth. Such was its place in the national affections that the resort, with its balmy weather and elegant Edwardian architecture, became known as the retirement capital of Britain, perfect for the twilight years of the nicely spoken. Fast forward to 2025, however, and the town is in the throes of a story with a very different accent.

More than 500 migrants crossed the Channel in just one day, taking this year's total to over 36,000 in a humiliating blow to Labour's 'one in, one out' policy. Around 1,659 migrants in 23 boats arrived on British shores in the past three days, Home Office figures say. And, on Wednesday alone, over a thousand people made the perilous journey across the English Channel. Now, a total of 58,718 migrants have entered the UK by boat since Labour took office, with 36,060 making the crossing so far this year. It comes as the Government's 'one in, one out' scheme was...

A small boat crossed the Channel on Saturday carrying 125 people, the largest ever number to make the journey in a single vessel. The crossing surpasses a record set in August when 106 people attempted the journey in one boat. Figures from the Home Office show 895 migrants crossed the Channel in 12 boats on Saturday, while around 33,000 people have done so since the start of 2025. It comes after another migrant died trying to cross the Channel, with a body found on Sunday morning on a beach near Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France, according to the AFP news agency....

A Taliban commander’s nephew granted refugee status in Britain can ​be joined by seven family members currently living in Turkey, an immigration judge has ruled. None of them speak English, and a tribunal accepted they would place 'a significant burden upon the public purse' if they were allowed to move to the UK. But the relatives - the man's parents, three sisters, a niece and nephew - have 'no options' and are unable to return to Afghanistan, a judgement said.

Niagara Falls is at a 'breaking point' with 'thousands of asylum seekers' taking refuge in the popular tourist hotspot, the city's mayor has warned. The famous southeastern Ontario city has more migrants per capita than any other city in Canada, Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati told The Telegraph. The influx has placed strain on the city's services, hospitals and schools, Diodati claimed, adding that 'our shelters are full, our transitional housing is full, the drug problem is like it's never been before'.

The guidance – which incredibly points out that it has been allowed in Britain since Henry VIII passed a law enabling him to marry Anne Boleyn's cousin Catherine Howard – says that cousin marriage offers benefits such as 'stronger extended family support systems'. The practice, which is common in the British Pakistani community, has been linked to a greater prevalence of disorders such as cystic fibrosis or sickle cell disease. Figures show that up to 20 per cent of the children treated for congenital problems in cities such as Sheffield, Glasgow and Birmingham are of Pakistani descent, compared with 4...

The UK population has grown by more than three-quarters of a million - the second-largest increase in 75 years. Most of the increase was due to international migration, with natural change - the difference between births and deaths - accounting for only a small proportion. A record 69.3 million people were estimated to be in the UK in mid-2024, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Some 1,235,254 were estimated to have immigrated to the UK in the 12 months to June 2024, while 496,536 were likely to have emigrated - meaning net migration was 738,718. The overall increase...

Nigel Farage has criticised Keir Starmer's 'one in, one out' policy after more than a thousand people crossed the English Channel in small boats on Friday. The number of people making the crossing underlined the scale of the challenge facing Sir Keir Starmer's government as it battles to get a grip on the crisis. The latest Home Office figures showed 1,072 made the journey in 13 boats. Friday's arrivals take the number of people who have made the crossing so far in 2025 to 32,103 - a record for this point in a year. Reform leader Farage took to social...

More than 1,000 people crossed the English Channel in small boats on Friday, as the government confirmed two more migrants had been returned to France. According to the Home Office 1,072 people in 13 boats made the journey to Dover. It takes the number of people who have made the crossing so far in 2025 to 32,103, a record for this point in a year. A total of three men have now been sent back to France under a pilot "one in, one out" deal with the UK, intended to deter small boat crossings. An Eritrean man and an Iranian...

Spanish police say they have arrested 19 people suspected of murder and torture after more than 50 went missing from a migrant boat that was travelling from Senegal to the Canary Islands. Police suspect some of the victims were accused of being "witches" after several incidents during the journey, including engine failure, bad weather and food shortages. The wooden vessel was rescued south of Gran Canaria on 24 August with 248 survivors on board, the Spanish National Police said. But officials believe that about 300 people were originally on the boat, and that some had been thrown overboard. Survivors told...

Chagas disease, a potentially deadly condition caused by an infected triatomine insect or "kissing bug," may be becoming endemic in the United States, according to a new report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. U.S. "Autochthonous (or, locally acquired) human cases have been reported in 8 states, most notably in Texas. Labeling the United States as non-Chagas disease-endemic perpetuates low awareness and underreporting," the report noted, adding the insect has been reported in 32 states. Other states with human cases include California, Arizona, Tennessee, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi and Arkansas.

Chicago aldermen are once again warning downtown residents and workers to be prepared for potential chaos ahead of this weekend’s Mexican Independence Day, a holiday that has increasingly turned into an unsanctioned takeover of the Loop and surrounding areas by car caravans. The warnings come as city officials brace for another year of traffic jams, fireworks, and noisy celebrations that have tested police and exasperated locals. CPD arrested 69 people during last year’s four-day weekend, including at least 19 for illegal gun possession. Aldermen Brian Hopkins (2nd) and Brendan Reilly (42nd), who represent much of the downtown area, have issued...

Britain’s first female Muslim Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood had a rough start on Saturday, with over 1,000 illegal migrants arriving after crossing the English Channel from France on her first day in office. Mahmood, a former pro-Palestinian activist whose Pakistani parents migrated to England from Mirpur in the disputed Kashmir region, was tasked by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on Friday to run the Home Office, the cabinet department tasked with controlling immigration and protecting Britain’s borders. It came amid the forced Downing Street reshuffle sparked by the scandal-induced resignation of former Deputy PM Angela Rayner over the socialist politician’s...

Oh hello! Or as they say in Michigan, as-salamu alaykum! According to Fox 2 News, the police department in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn Heights celebrated the new patch as a symbol of … diversity or something. Police confirmed to FOX 2 on Wednesday that the department has a new optional patch that officers can wear as part of their uniform. The patch includes the Michigan seal in the center with the words ‘Dearborn Heights Police' written in both English and Arabic. According to police, the patch was created by Officer Ermily Murdoc, who designed it to reflect and honor...