Free Republic

The Mexican government opened its latest Plaza Comunitaria, or Community Plaza, Thursday at San Fernando Middle School, minutes from Vidal's house. There are 13 such centers throughout Los Angeles County, aimed at helping Mexican nationals complete their basic education. The centers offer free classes, in person or through video and the Internet, to Mexican nationals living in the U.S. "They are leaving our country without that education," said Mario Velazquez, acting consul general at the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles. "We have failed in giving education to those Mexicans. We must try our best to give that education, even if...

RALEIGH - North Carolina's community college system has ordered the state's 58 campuses to admit illegal immigrants, overturning a policy of letting the heavily enrolled schools set their own rules for handling undocumented applicants. David Sullivan, the system's top lawyer, dispatched a memo this month telling the community colleges that state regulations require the schools to admit illegal immigrants who meet the schools' basic requirements of being either a high school graduate or an adult in need of skills training. "That's just wrong," said Sen. Richard Stevens, a Cary Republican and co-chairman of the higher education committee. "I can't believe...

Inez and Antonio Valenzuela are a marketer's dream. Young, upwardly mobile, and ready to spend on their growing family, the Los Angeles couple in many ways reflects the 42 million Hispanics in the U.S. Age 30 and 29, respectively, with two daughters, Esmeralda, 8, and Maria Luisa, 2 months, the duo puts in long hours, working 4 p.m. to 2 a.m., six days a week, at their bustling streetside taco trailer. From a small sidewalk stand less than two years ago, they built the business into a hot destination for hungry commuters. The Valenzuelas (not their real name) bring in...

Student tears Mexican flag; suspect remains at large 9/19/07 by Jeremy Hunt Daily Lobo A student took down a Mexican flag from a flagpole outside Scholes Hall Monday, tore it and took it to the Air Force ROTC office, police said. A summons was issued for Peter Lynch, 30, by the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court for criminal damage to property, said Lt. Pat Davis, spokesman for UNM Police. Davis said Lynch is not a member of ROTC, and it is unclear why he took the flag to that office. Lynch has not been charged because UNMPD cannot find him, Davis...

When we last left it, Prince William County in Virginia was trying to defend itself and its legal inhabitants against the massive influx of illegal aliens pouring into the county. A migration that is putting a tremendous strain on the infrastructure of the county while substantially raising the crime rate. Toward that end, the county logically decided that the best way to combat this invasion by illegal aliens was to simply enforce the laws. Mistake. At least as far as the illegal aliens, their left-wing lawyers, and the left-leaning Washington Post are concerned. The illegal aliens and their lawyers, with...

FAIRFIELD, Ohio (Reuters) - When 300 U.S. immigration agents surrounded the chicken processing plant where Danny Alvarez-Reyes works, he did the only thing he could think of: he gave his coat to a scared friend determined to hide in the walk-in freezer. Alvarez-Reyes, 27, works legally at the Koch Food plant near Cincinnati and could only watch as co-workers were rounded up during a raid on Tuesday that netted 160 illegal workers. But after an exhausting day trying to help his friends' families, Alvarez-Reyes was still worried about the five co-workers he watched hide in the giant freezer. "I don't...

NEW YORK — The deliverymen of Saigon Grill labored for years at the bottom of Manhattan's food chain. Biking swiftly down the avenues in biting cold and searing heat, they schlepped up high-rises and walk-ups with bags of steaming noodles and shrimp fried rice. Then they surprised their bosses — and others in this seen-it-all town — by serving up something unexpected: a revolt. Saigon Grill's owner fired them. It might have ended there, but as the immigrant-labor movement gains steam in a number of major U.S. cities, the men opted to fight back. With the help of local groups...

Felinda Williams couldn’t make herself go to court on a recent morning, couldn’t bring herself to look at the man accused of driving drunk and killing her daughter, her son-in-law and her 2-year-old grandson. She knows few details of the Aug. 11 crash in Houston that killed the newlyweds and the little boy nicknamed “Peanut Butter.” She does know that her daughter didn’t die on impact. The young woman, according to reports, felt the flames and begged helpless bystanders to pull her free. The grieving woman knows two things about Juan Felix Salinas, the man charged in connection with their...

PASCAGOULA -- A group of Mexican nationals have appealed to U.S. Attorney Alberto Gonzales to investigate their claims that Pascagoula Police Capt. George Tillman and a labor recruiter violated their civil rights when they allegedly kidnapped, enslaved and threatened the workers with deportation earlier this month. The more than 30 workers entered the country on a H2B work visas and filed a notice today of their intent to sue Tillman and the Pascagoula Police Department on state and federal charges of kidnapping, false imprisonment, kidnapping with intent to enslave, human trafficking and violations of the workers' civil and constitutional rights....

Yesterday, the Mexican Senate cheered and greeted Elvira Arellano as a hero. On 12 September 2007, Emma Lozana will take 8 year old Saul Arellano to Washington D.C. to serve as a symbol and an inspiration for an immigrants' rights march. In Lozano's and Arellano's own words, this is what the symbol represents: "We have shown that we are not only for protecting the rights of the undocumented but we are struggling for Latinos to become a voice for justice for all of Latin America. We have supported self-determination and opposed assimilation into this nation’s individualistic, imperialistic values. We have...