Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- Undocumented Chinese nationals claiming asylum are flocking in record numbers to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, the nation's busiest, raising national security concerns, U.S. intelligence and immigration officials say. O'Hare has become a popular entry point for Chinese immigrant smugglers since early last spring, when the INS district director in Los Angeles began cracking down on undocumented Chinese nationals making false asylum claims at Los Angeles International Airport. "There was almost an immediate surge here after LAX starting keeping them in custody," rather than releasing them on recognizance before deportation or asylum hearings, as was the customary practice, an...

A Virgina state trooper was shot and an unidentified gunman killed when officers attempted to arrest an illegal alien from Mexico after receiving a tip that the alien had a plan to poison the state's water supplies, reports the Virginian-Pilot. An informant had told authorities that Ipolito "Polo" Campos, who is now in custody, had said he was from an "Arabian" country and "if he did not poison the water someone would kill him," court records state. The FBI began investigating Campos after receiving the information on Jan. 18. When state troopers arrived at Campos' mobile home on Virginia's Eastern...

IDs for Illegals - The 'Matricula Consular Advances Mexico's Immigration Agenda Center For Immigration Studies By Marti Dinerstein January, 2003 In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a migration deal with Mexico was tabled while attention turned to homeland security. So, the Mexican government abruptly changed its White House strategy and substituted a grass roots approach that would focus at the local level, seek small successes, and build momentum for Congressional action. The lynchpin for this new strategy was to be the "matricula consular," an official identity card issued by the Mexican government, which they wanted to be officially...

<p>It was just one sentence at the beginning of his withdrawal statement from his New Jersey re-election campaign, but it spoke volumes about Sen. Robert Torricelli. Reviewing his 30 years in Democratic politics, including two decades in Congress, Torricelli said Monday, "I have witnessed friends build families and businesses, sometimes fortunes, and I never had any regret."</p>

A proposed transit hub linking a rebuilt PATH station with downtown subway lines could be completed as soon as 2005, officials said yesterday. At a news conference announcing the release of $4.55 billion in federal aid for downtown transportation projects, Port Authority and Lower Manhattan Development Corp. officials said the cash infusion could allow most projects now on the drawing board to become reality in three to five years.(See link for full story.)