Free Republic

LAREDO, Texas--A glimpse into the reality of the thousands of illegal immigrants being released into the U.S. by the Obama Administration was captured on video in a Greyhound Bus station in Laredo, Texas this weekend. The illegal immigrants who cross as incomplete family units simply enter the U.S. illegally, turn themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol agents, are processed, and then released with a notice to appear at a future date for court proceedings. U.S. taxpayers then fund bus tickets for the illegal immigrants to go to the U.S. city of their choosing. Approximately 95 percent of the illegal immigrants...

LAREDO - One man from Mexico and another man from Ecuador have been charged with assaulting a U.S. Border Patrol agent. Mexican National Jose Luis Zavala-Rodrigue, 22, and Johnny Jose Redrovan-Pesantez, 23, of Ecuador are both in custody. Rodriquez is also charged with conspiracy to transport illegal immigrants for financial gain. Both men are expected to make an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Scott Hacker, Friday. The agent required medical attention but survived the attack. Each faces up to 20 years in prison and a possible $250,000 fine. Zavala-Rodriguez further faces an additional 10-year possible sentence on each of...

On Thursday, the Dallas News reported: Three grenades exploded Thursday evening in Nuevo Laredo, just feet from the U.S. Consulate office, sources in the Mexican border city said. No injuries were reported, but the explosions rattled the neighborhood, as locals scurried for cover amid a firefight between what’s believed to be members of the Zetas criminal group and their former allies, the Gulf cartel, which is making a push to reclaim the territory. The two groups appear to be battling, leaving a trail of killings and burned houses. In recent days, sources said, seven people have been killed — three...

Bordertown Laredo will not be back for a second season. But Laredo will be featured on the majority of the national geographic hit, Border Wars, which will premiere Wednesday night. Border Wars is back and the city of Laredo is set to be featured on seven of the ten episodes this season. You can expect some changes from what was seen on Bordertown Laredo. "The difference between Bordertown and Border Wars is one, Bordertown consistently concentrated on Laredo PD, Border Wars actually expands a little bit and bring in U.S. Border Patrol, Customs, other law enforcement agencies, and Laredo PD...

Laredo has landed itself on several lists over the past few years. Now it's grabbing national attention in an article by the Huffington Post. Our Lauren Kendrick has more in our top story tonight at six. "No I don't take it as negative." Mayor of Laredo, Raul Salinas says he's not surprised to hear that Laredo is ranked the least diverse city in the United States. But he's not worried about it. "In Laredo, it's a unique border city...a great city. The minority is actually the majority." The article in the Huffington Post states there is 95.7% Hispanics in laredo....

Congressman Henry Cuellar is extending an invitation for Mexico's newly elected president to visit the gateway city. Congressman Cuellar was one of the only Americans to greet Enrique Peña Nieto on Sunday. the congressman says he hopes relations between the u-s and Mexico strengthen and improve with the new administration. Cuellar says he and Nieto spoke about several potential projects. He also says he invited the president-elect to visit Texas especially Laredo as soon as possible. Mexican electoral authorities said today that they will recount more than half of the ballot boxes used in Sunday's elections after finding inconsistent vote...

LAREDO, Texas (AP) - A man and a woman from Mexico face up to 10 years in prison for illegally having about 27,000 rounds of ammunition in South Texas.

State Representative Richard Peña Raymond speaks to us about a proposal he is taking to the capitol in a couple of months. The proposal aims to eliminate denominations such as Hispanic, Latino, or Chicano and identify all those of Hispanic descendents as Hispanic-Latinos. Our reporter Carolina Garcia has that story. Armando Garcia says he is Hispanic because he was born in the U.S. if you've ever filled out a survey asking for your ethnicity you may be among the thousands that for a second stop and wonder what box the should select Hispanic, Latino, Chicano perhaps Mexican American or even...

A South Carolina man was gunned down by federal agents Saturday in Laredo after a sting targeting U.S. soldiers who wanted to work for the Zetas drug cartel went wrong, federal prosecutors said. Former Army 1st Lt. Kevin Corley, 29; Army Sgt. Samuel Walker, 28, both of Colorado Springs, Colo.; Shavar Davis, 29, of Denver; and Jerome Corley, of South Carolina, drove into Laredo Saturday armed with two semiautomatic rifles, a knife and a .300-caliber bolt-action rifle equipped with a scope and a bipod, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court. They were in Laredo, prosecutors allege, to...

LAREDO — A former hit man for the Zetas cartel calmly related to jurors his role in killings on both sides of the border, testifying Monday in the drug conspiracy trial of a man prosecutors say was also a hired killer. From the witness stand in U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez's courtroom here, Rosalio Reta pointed to Gerardo Castillo Chavez, 25, and identified him as a fellow Zeta. Pressing his fingertips together and speaking in a slow, soft voice, Reta, 22, told jurors that he had been in a team of hit men headed by Gabriel Cardona, an admitted Zeta...

Laredo police on Tuesday and Wednesday rounded up five people they say carried out hits for the notorious Zetas drug cartel on this side of the Rio Grande. Customs officers on Tuesday night detained Nicolas Reyes Sanchez, 48, identified in an arrest warrant affidavit as the supervisor of a group of Zetas operating in Laredo, as he attempted to enter the U.S. at one of the city's international bridges. Starting early Wednesday, police launched a series of raids nabbing four more people accused of being Sanchez's subordinates and taking part in three homicides last year. Another man was arrested on...

More state and local officials are speaking out about that report issued Monday by Department of Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples. The independent study co-authored by a retired general and a retired major general stated that conducting business in a Texas border county was like living in a war zone, and citizens are under attack around the clock. The report also stated that hundreds of people had been killed in Texas border counties because of spillover violence. When asked where that information came from, an official wasn't able to give proof to support the claim but said about 500 people are...

The heat continues claiming the lives of dozens of illegal immigrants facing extreme temperatures day after day out in area ranches. For the Webb County Medical Examiner, more deaths poses a bigger task of identifying all those people who were left stranded to die alone. Our Annette Garcia spoke with her about the illegal crossers their tragic story and chances of being reunited with their loved ones. Dozens try but never make it. This is one who illegally crossed the border who walked for miles most likely days, but fell victim to the blistering heat. “We understand why they want...

An illegal alien from Guatemala was charged with attacking a Border Patrol agent when the agent found him walking through the bush. LAREDO, TX .- Edgar Acevedo , a native of Barrio Villalobos in Guatemala, was placed under arrest after an investigation by members of the FBI because it involved an attack on a federal agent. According to the report of the case , two agents were on surveillance on northwest of Laredo, in the area of ​​Rancho La Mesa, near the Colombia Bridge Road in the area of ​​Mines road. The officers saw signs of at least 12 people...

"Yesterday, a Mexican Military helicopter landed at the Laredo airport. it has some residents wondering just how safe our border is." "I just really worry for my family. Without security, everyone would come in here unauthorized and make a lot of chaos." The Mexican officers apparently landed at the Laredo airport after mistaking the landing strip for the one in Nuevo Laredo. One woman doubts it was a mistake. "Well I am a little upset that it happened. I think they knew what they were doing. I don't think it was a mistake. I think they were here to find...

A new religious center is being built here in Laredo, finally giving people of the Muslim faith their own place to worship. Previously the Islamic group here in Laredo had been renting a location but soon construction will begin on their own mosque. The space will be close to 2,000 sq. feet and will be able to accommodate the school they are currently running. Dr. Zakariah Hamdan, "for many years there hasn't been a place for the Muslim community to perform their prayers and practice aspects of the religion. So this will be a very important step." Leaders also said...

LAREDO, July 2 - U.S. residents are being advised not to visit Nuevo Laredo this Fourth of July Weekend. The advisory comes from the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Webb County Sheriff’s Office. Both agencies say they have received credible intelligence from multiple sources indicating that the Zetas Cartel is planning to target U.S. citizens who travel to Nuevo Laredo this weekend. “According to the information we have received, the Zetas are planning a possible surge in criminal activity, such as robberies, extortions, car-jackings and vehicle theft, specifically against U.S. citizens,” said DPS Director Steven C. McCraw. “We...

A convoy of three Mexican military trucks loaded down with soldiers and weapons may have violated territorial sovereignty near Laredo, TX on Thursday, driving through a border checkpoint and crossing into the United States. KGNS-TV reports the crossing happened at a section known as Bridge Number Two: Mexican leaders say the soldiers, who had just been deployed to Nuevo Laredo, didn’t know the area, got lost and then made their way through Bridge Two.

Signs informing travelers on I-35 of the distance they are from Laredo can be seen along the freeway, but motorists traveling south have begun to notice a change over the past few weeks. Signs that proudly displayed the distance's carried both Laredo and Nuevo Laredo, but recently our sister city to the south has been blacked out. Ryan Bailey has more on this controversial decision. It may look like this sign was vandalized with spray paint, but TX-DOT says they are the ones blacking out Nuevo Laredo in an effort to distance the two neighboring cities, and it started as...

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) – A program to expand the busiest commercial crossing over the U.S.-Mexico border was inaugurated on Friday, nearly doubling the capacity for trucks entering Laredo, Texas, from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, authorities said. The program increased the number of truck lanes at the World Trade Bridge into Laredo, to 15 from eight, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency said. The expansion also added an additional exit lane for vehicles leaving the facility, which currently handles around 5,000 trucks a day and has been so busy that trucks were delayed several hours. "It is going to be a...