Free Republic

Back in the early 1990s, when Los Angeles was stuck in the pits of a deep recession, somebody facetiously suggested that if Southern California were returned to Mexico _ maybe throw in south Texas and the San Joaquin Valley as well _ it could improve the economies of both countries. But given the current debate about immigration in all its economic and social complexity, that facetious idea left an increasingly compelling question: Where _ and what _ is the border? The obvious answer is that it's the line established by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848, which ended the...

Testimony of Dr. Robert A. Pastor, vice president of international affairs, professor, and director of the Center for North American Studies, American University before a hearing of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Chairmen Lugar and Coleman, Members of the Committee. I appreciate the invitation to testify before your Committee. You asked me to place the issue of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative within the context of North American cooperation and border control and to relate it to the recent report by an Independent Task Force on the Future of North America sponsored by the...

Central America hasn't been on the political radar for a long time, but this week the region takes center stage as Congress debates the Central American Free Trade Agreement. CAFTA would create a free-trade zone between the United States and six countries: Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. CAFTA's vision is to further integrate these young democracies with the U.S. economy, to the benefit of everyone involved. CAFTA is currently bouncing its way through Congress. The agreement passed the U.S. Senate on June 30 by a 54-45 vote, but as of press time (the House...

Washington, DC – “Buy American” laws and similar state and federal legislation would be gutted by CAFTA procurement rules that prohibit all laws that give a preference to domestic or local businesses according to U.S. Rep. Charlie Norwood, who says CAFTA Article 9 overturns every state and federal law that requires federal, state, and local government agencies to buy American products, or use American workforces. CAFTA Article 9.2. No Party (Nation) may treat a locally established supplier any less favorably than another locally established supplier on the basis of degree of foreign affiliation or ownership, or …on the basis that...

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The United States renewed a travel warning on Tuesday for U.S. citizens crossing the border into Mexico, noting more than 100 murders had occurred in the border region since June. The U.S. ambassador in Mexico, Tony Garza, said that with violence showing no sign of abating, the travel warning issued twice by Washington since the start of the year had been extended and would be reviewed as necessary.One of the worst trouble spots is Nuevo Laredo, south of Laredo, Texas, where dozens of people have been murdered this year and some 30 U.S. citizens have been...

The anti-American, anti-Jewish rhetoric coming from the Hispanic separatist movement in the southwest U.S. threatens to spark a second civil war, says geopolitical analysts Jack Wheeler. In a column on his intelligence website, To the Point, Wheeler covers the implication of a recent rally in Baldwin Park, Calif., where a small group of protesters demonstrated against a taxpayer-supported monument that celebrates the time before the white man came to California. Two inscriptions include: "This land was Mexican once, was Indian always, and is and will be again" and "It was better before they came." "The rally was met by a...

I'm in the news business, in case you didn't notice. Every day I pore over hundreds of news stories from dozens of sources. My staff looks at thousands more from hundreds of sources. We have access to tools and services that monitor offline information and news reports. And with all of that information at our disposal, I can tell you with nearly 100 percent certainty that no major polling service in this country has conducted an impartial, scientific survey in the last 45 days on U.S. public opinion about border security and immigration policy. Is that stunning? It is to...