Free Republic

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Faced with growing pressure from Southern states, the Bush administration wants the military to come up with ideas to help solve security problems along the U.S. border with Mexico. In back-to-back moves this week, the Pentagon began exploring ways to lend support at the Southern border, while the House on Thursday voted to allow the Homeland Security Department in limited cases to use soldiers in that region. At the Pentagon, Paul McHale, the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense, asked officials to offer options for the use of military resources and troops -- particularly the National...

Senate leaders say they have reached a deal to revive a broad immigration bill that could provide millions of illegal immigrants a chance to become American citizens. The agreement doesn't involve provisions of the law, but it does end, for now, a lingering political standoff. The agreement brokered by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., breaks a political stalemate that has lingered for weeks. Key to the agreement is who will be negotiating a compromise with the House and its tough enforcement-only bill. The House passed much more strict immigration legislation in December. It...