Free Republic

A photograph with a prominent drug cartel figure may be behind the Trump administration's refusal to grant a top Mexican politician a visa to enter the United States. The picture showed Baja California governor Marina del Pilar Avila hugging Emmanuel 'El Botas' Serrano while she was campaigning for mayor of the border town of Mexicali in 2019. Serrano allegedly reports directly to Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, who leads half of the infamously brutal Sinaloa Cartel. The photo first emerged in September 2022, with the governor's office disputing allegations that she had any ties to the so-called El Botas. 'It's a...

The Democrat mayor of Newark, New Jersey, on Tuesday continued his crusade to stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities inside a previously vacant prison that is being converted into an immigrant detention center. Mayor Ras Baraka arrived at the gates of Delaney Hall this morning alongside activists to demand entry into the facility that he claims GEO Group, the building’s new owner, is unlawfully preventing from being inspected. A lawsuit filed on behalf of the City of Newark on April 1 alleges that GEO Group failed to permit entry to safety inspectors and violated city construction code, including by...

During an interview with Denver’s 9NEWS on Monday, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston stated that the city will cooperate with ICE on violent criminals and has and that all the requests for notification from ICE have usually been for violent criminals, but “If we see a dramatic expansion in the number of requests that come from this administration, versus the last, then we could re-evaluate. But right now, we honor those requests that come in because those requests almost always focus on violent criminals.” Johnston began by saying, “We will partner on violent criminals, as we have always done. In the...

'It gives Johnston cover, should it become public.' Mike Coffman (R), the mayor of Aurora, Colorado, accused Denver Mayor Mike Johnston (D) of facilitating a covert migrant relocation scheme that led to a severe increase in gang activity in Aurora. In a Monday op-ed for the Denver Gazette, Coffman blamed Johnston for the ongoing immigration and gang crisis, claiming he partnered with two non-governmental organizations to move foreign nationals from Denver, a sanctuary city, to other neighboring towns. Coffman, who has come under fire for his role in allowing illegal aliens to settle in Aurora, defended his decision in November...