Free Republic

The Trump administration has moved to seize more than 14 acres of land owned by the Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces to expand border‑wall infrastructure near Mount Cristo Rey in southern New Mexico, according to court documents reported by KVIA. The effort puts federal border‑security construction on a collision course with religious‑freedom protections tied to one of the region’s most significant Catholic pilgrimage sites. If approved by a judge, the action could disrupt annual pilgrimages and set a legal test for using eminent domain against religious institutions along the U.S.-Mexico border. The civil case was filed at the request of...

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- Montgomery County authorities are crediting the advancements in DNA technology for helping solve the haunting case of Deanna Ogg, a 16-year-old girl who was found sexually assaulted and murdered in a wooded area near Old Houston Road in 1986. The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office confirmed that 60-year-old Bobby Taylor Sr. was arrested and charged with capital murder and is being held at Montgomery County Jail. In a press conference on Wednesday, authorities said Taylor Sr. had been identified as the suspect in the case after detectives began re-examining evidence. Through that investigation, a DNA lab...

Rubén Rocha Moya, the Mexican governor indicted by the United States this week, said Friday night that he would temporarily step down from his post, expanding the political fallout from accusations that he aided a powerful drug cartel for years. Mr. Rocha, 76, said in a two-minute recorded statement late Friday that he was innocent but would take “a temporary leave of absence” as governor of the Mexican state of Sinaloa to focus on defending himself from the accusations.

The Mexican government says two US agents who died last weekend in a car crash had not been authorised to operate in the country.The officials, who reportedly worked for the CIA, had taken part in a raid on suspected drug labs in the northern state of Chihuahua before their vehicle skidded off a mountain road and exploded.Following an investigation ordered by President Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico's security ministry said that "neither had formal accreditation to participate in operational activities" and that federal authorities had not been informed of their presence.The incident comes amid at-times fraught relations between Mexico and the US...

Fentanyl sales. Arms dealing. Kidnapping. Extortion. Murder. Court documents from Thursday’s massive Mexican Mafia takedown revealed the terrifying alleged crimes of foot soldiers conducting the gang’s sinister business in Southern California. The California Post watched Thursday as FBI agents executed a raid on the bungalow of Andrew “Speedy” Hernandez — just one of 43 alleged gangsters arrested in 30 stunning raids targeting the Mafia’s crimes in Orange County.

Mexican-Born Kansas Mayor Pleads Guilty to Illegally Voting in U.S. Elections Department of Homeland SecurityDHS John Binder24 Apr 2026143 2:15 Coldwater, Kansas, Mayor Jose Ceballos, a green card-holder from Mexico, has pleaded guilty to illegally voting in United States elections and falsely claiming to be an American citizen. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials credited the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program, which allows states to enter Social Security Numbers (SSNs) to verify a voter registrant’s American citizenship and thus eligibility to vote, and urged passage of the SAVE Act. […] This week, Ceballos pled guilty to three counts...

Federal agents arrested 37 accused gang members with ties to the infamous Mexican Mafia Thursday in a series of stunning predawn raids in Orange County meant to put Southern California’s criminal underworld on notice. Dubbed “Operation Gangsta’s Paradise,” agents aimed to disrupt operations of the group, also known as La Eme — a violent, prison-based “gang of gangs” said to control almost all Hispanic street gangs in California.

A gunman who fatally shot a Canadian tourist and wounded more than a dozen others atop a historic pyramid in Mexico on Monday has been identified, according to officials.Authorities identified the gunman as 27-year-old Julio Cesar Jasso, a Mexican national, according to a state official who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss the case publicly.

Huawei, China’s answer to Nvidia, is rapidly expanding its AI technology into other countries and signaling a rapid acceleration in the global AI race. It’s a move AI experts predicted would not occur. Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, South Africa, and Turkey will now be able to build on Huawei’s Model-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform, which includes AI models like DeepSeek. Much like individual consumers who become dependent on Apple’s ecosystem, companies that build on Huawei’s models and cloud infrastructure risk becoming deeply tied to that platform. At scale, this creates a ripple effect — as companies that...

The shooting of Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez by federal immigration agents on Tuesday is a sickening reminder. It is a sign of what’s to come if California doesn’t do more to protect its communities from government agents behaving like a lawless occupying force

Colorado attorneys are starting to push back after a certification prompt began appearing when they log into the state’s court e-filing system. The requirement traces back to Senate Bill 25-276 and related statutes, including C.R.S. § 24-74-105, which deal with how the state handles nonpublic personal identifying information. Under that law, access to certain data comes with a certification—made under penalty of perjury—about how it will be used. On paper, the statute applies broadly to third parties accessing protected data. In practice, though, the certification has now been built into Colorado Courts E-Filing (CCE), meaning attorneys are being asked to...

The House of Representatives passed bipartisan legislation that gives the U.S. president the power to restrict U.S. port access for countries with governments that have seized American property abroad. The Defending American Property Abroad Act of 2026, introduced by Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, passed 247 to 164. In March 2023, the Mexican government seized a U.S. company's port at Punta Venado. “When countries violate trade agreements and illegally seize assets from U.S. companies, it puts American job security, economic security, and national security at risk. This legislation is critical because it ensures there are enforceable consequences for those actions,” Pfluger...

A California Marine has been hauled into federal custody after authorities say he treated a military armory like a personal pawn shop, stealing high-tech missile systems and selling them off in Arizona. Corporal Andrew Paul Amarillas, an Arizona native who served as an ammunition technician at Camp Pendleton, is accused of making off with a terrifying haul of restricted “weapons of war,” including Javelin missile systems and military-grade ammo, according to federal court documents.

A California bishop who allegedly frequented Mexican brothels is facing more than a dozen felony charges stemming from allegations that he stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from his church. Bishop Emanuel Shaleta of Saint Peter’s Chaldean in San Diego pleaded not guilty to eight counts of embezzlement, eight counts of money laundering and one count of aggravated white collar crime enhancement at a court hearing on Monday, according to KUSI. Shaleta was arrested at the San Diego International Airport while trying to leave the country on Thursday, March 5, the San Diego Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

The eldest daughter of “El Mencho” quietly snapped up a suburban California home after serving time for laundering drug money — and baffled neighbors say she’s had no shortage of cash to renovate the place. They say strange cars — some bearing Mexican license plates — appear and disappear from the property while mysterious visitors come and go. Jessica Johana Oseguera Gonzalez, 39 — known as “La Negra” — purchased a newly built five-bedroom house in Winchester, Southern California, for $590,000 in September 2023. She apparently paid cash for the property about 18 months after being released from federal prison....

Costa Rica authorities handed over a Syrian national to the United States after his arrest last year on charges of running a human smuggling operation. The man, known by the last name Maklad, led a group that moved migrants from Egypt, Venezuela, and Guatemala through New Mexico between 2022 and 2025, according to Osvaldo Ramírez, who heads Interpol operations at the Judicial Investigation Agency. Officers captured the 39-year-old in May 2025 as he crossed into the country from Nicaragua. Ramírez shared details in a video briefing, confirming the transfer went smoothly. Maklad escaped the U.S. after agents there broke up...

Ultra-rich Americans were forced to flee by boat when one of Mexico’s top tourist destinations turned into a cartel hellscape following the killing of a murderous drug kingpin. Wealthy vacationers escaped Puerto Vallarta via the ocean when its airport shut down and narco-terrorists set up roadblocks across the state of Jalisco this week. An insider told The California Post that people were hiring well-armed mercenaries or security teams to smuggle them to the port, where they chartered vessels up to Cabos before flying back to the US. Mexico descended into a war zone when special forces killed cartel boss Nemesio...

The Mexican newspaper El Financiero reported on Monday that CJNG’s wave of terrorist violence forcefully left 1,080 tourists stranded at the Guadalajara Zoo. The stranded visitors reportedly came from other states neighboring Jalisco and had arrived on Sunday morning before the violent acts broke out. The visitors were unable to return to their places of origin due to the “narco-blockade” roadblocks that CJNG deployed across the city and were reportedly placed under law enforcement protection at the zoo. “We have 1,080 people of all ages, from babies to seniors, sheltered at the Guadalajara Zoo. They are people from other states...

Cartel warfare has threatened to spill into California as a Mexican border city was engulfed in violence following the killing of a notorious drug kingpin. Suspected narco-terrorists torched vehicles at the border wall in Tijuana, a stone’s throw from San Diego, set up roadblocks and targeted local businesses on Monday. Haunting footage showed a major highway that runs parallel to the United States completely shut down while cops cautiously inspected a burning car. Violence has also spread farther up the west coast, with local media reports detailing attacks in parts of Baja California and as close to the US as...

Drug lords have been killed or captured, and cartels have splintered or collapsed, only to see more violent ones replace them and the illicit trade expand. So, 60years of war on drugs, what has actually worked? ...The Sinaloa Cartel, after all, did not go away after its chief, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, the notorious drug lord known as El Chapo, was captured and extradited to the United States. ...Rather than simply going after kingpins like Mr. Oseguera, the authorities need to take a holistic approach to dismantle these groups more completely, analysts say. The Mexican government has to use a combination...