Free Republic

HOUSTON - The Houston Police Department has announced that it will work more closely with federal officials to identify illegal immigrants involved in crimes.Under the policy announced Sunday, police will ask everyone who is arrested whether they are citizens. Those without identification will be fingerprinted and their criminal histories checked in a national database.Officers are still barred from asking people who aren't under arrest about their immigration status, a restriction that has prompted critics to denounce Houston as a "sanctuary city" for illegal immigrants.But city officials said the new policy will help identify and remove violent criminals from Houston's streets."[We...

Just hours after it became known that the accused killer of a Houston police officer was an illegal Mexican immigrant, top city officials braced themselves for another round of criticism of the city's policies toward illegal immigrants. Houston police officer Rodney Johnson was shot four times in the head during a traffic stop last week. Investigators say Juan Leonardo Quintero, a Mexican national living in the United States illegally has confessed to killing Johnson, a father of five. Quintero had been deported once and crossed the border illegally again. U.S. Rep John Culberson, R-Houston, reminded the public Monday of his...