Free Republic

The immigrant pizza delivery man arrested by ICE after making a delivery last month to a Brooklyn Army base was released from jail Tuesday night. Pablo Villavicencio broke down in tears as he walked out of the Hudson County Correctional Facility in Kearny, NJ. “I am well… so happy for my wife, my daughters, my lawyers. Thank you! Thank you for everything,” Villavicencio told the Post. The shaven Villavicencio, wearing a gray t-shirt neatly tucked into a pair of blue jeans, left the Jersey lockup from a car-port after a guard gave the thumbs up, shortly before 9pm. The 35-year...

Leading House Democrats say President Obama has a great opportunity to pass immigration reform next year if he keeps the White House, but warn his window to act will be short. But with immigration reform gaining prominence in the 2012 presidential race - and with leaders in both parties conceding the system is broken - some top Democrats are hoping Obama would move aggressively on the issue in a second term.

Most Americans don’t believe Mexico wants to stop the illegal flow of its citizens into this country and think America’s southern neighbor should be asked to compensate U.S. taxpayers for costs incurred by illegal immigration. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 13% of Adults think Mexico wants to stop illegal immigration. Sixty-seven percent (67%) say Mexico does not want to stop its citizens from entering the United States illegally. Another 20% are not sure. Mexican President Felipe Calderon in his meeting today with President Obama complained that Arizona’s new immigration law encourages discrimination. But Arizona officials...

If enacted, the Senate stimulus bill would fund over $100 billion in new government construction projects with the goal of providing additional jobs to unemployed Americans. The House-passed stimulus bill contains explicit language to bar employment of illegal immigrants in these construction projects. However, the Senate bill deliberately omits this language. If the Senate version of the bill becomes law, a great number of the workers employed in government construction programs will, in fact, be illegal immigrants. About one out of seven (or 15 percent) of workers employed in construction in the U.S. is an illegal immigrant.[1] Unless strong mechanisms...

Liveblogging the debate on the Senate floor... 8pm Eastern. There's a motion to compel attendance of absent senators. Sergeant-at-arms sent out to look for the absentees. Attempting get a quorum of 51 on the floor. Where are the missing senators? FAIR sent out this alert that may give a clue: FAIR has learned that instead of debating amendments on the floor, Senators this afternoon are hiding behind closed doors, drafting a massive, 400-page amendment that will replace huge chunks of the Bush-Kennedy bill currently being debated. Senate leaders are hoping to use the new substitute amendment to reverse changes made...

HOMELAND INSECURITY Probe finds terrorists in U.S. 'training for war' Neighbors of Muslim encampment fear retaliation if they report to police Posted: February 17, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2006 WorldNetDaily.com Entrance to Hancock, N.Y., encampment (Courtesy Northeast Intelligence Network) The Pakistani terrorist group Jamaat ul Fuqra is using Islamic schools in the United States as training facilities, confirms a joint investigative report by an intelligence think tank and an independent reporter. A covert visit to an encampment in the Catskill Mountains near Hancock, N.Y., called "Islamberg" found neighboring residents deeply concerned about military-style training taking place there but frustrated...

WASHINGTON — Texas lawmakers are calling on the Department of Homeland Security to give Mexicans the same freedoms Canadians get when traveling through the United States. Mexicans can stay up to 72 hours in the United States, but must have a border crossing card, also known as a laser visa, from a U.S. consulate when traveling to the United States for tourism, visits with relatives or to do business. Their travel is restricted to up to 25 miles from the border, except at certain ports of entry on the Arizona-Mexico border. Canadians can stay in the United States up to...

Maria Teresa Villalva was not able to fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming a U.S. citizen Friday. Villalva was one of more than 300 immigrants who had planned to be naturalized at a ceremony at Bowie High School, but the event was postponed. "I got a phone call Thursday saying it was canceled, but the person could not tell me why," Villalva said. "I thought it was someone playing a cruel joke." The Immigration and Naturalization Service is faced with new operational requirements that call for additional security checks on immigrants, INS spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa said. "It's recent and I...