Free Republic

CBN News --SANTA ANA California – It is an image that is hard to forget: illegal immigrants by the thousands demanding legal citizenship. But American patriotism seemed to be lost in a sea of flags from South of the border. This has led many Americans to wonder where these protesters pledged their allegiance – to America or Mexico? More than half of the 12 million illegal immigrants come from Mexico, and 22 percent come from the rest of Latin America. That means 78 percent of the illegals are Hispanic. This is Santa Ana, California, not Mexico. But sights and sounds...

<p>Now Moreno is part of the growing movement to stem the flow of illegal immigration.</p>

Lupe Moreno knows the immigrant struggle. She has lived all her life in Santa Ana, a gateway community for Mexican immigrants. Her father helped smuggle them into the country; her former husband sneaked in illegally. Now Moreno is part of the growing movement to stem the flow of illegal immigration. "I want people to know that there are Latinos who are law-abiding," she said. "We need to protect our borders." Although polls suggest that the majority of Latinos are sympathetic to illegal immigrants once they have settled in the United States, opinions vary by generation, home country, economic class and...

<p>SANTA ANA – As a child, Lupe Moreno helped her father run a safe house for illegal immigrants. She cooked large pots of beans for them and filled out their job applications on her family's dining-room table.</p> <p>Three decades later, she lives in the same modest stucco house, but it's no longer a haven for those here illegally. The dining room serves as her headquarters for fighting the flow from the border, which she blames for a devastating childhood and California's decline.</p>