Free Republic

President Barack Obama recently assured El Salvador that the United States would not deport more 200,000 Salvadorans residing illegally in the United States. As the election nears, and the president looks to court Hispanic voters, he also created a new position of "public advocate" for illegal immigrants. His duties would appear to be to advocate that millions circumvent, rather than follow, current federal law. The administration has also said it will focus enforcement only on those who have committed crimes -- with the implicit understanding that it is no longer a crime to illegally enter and reside in the United...

by John HillStand With Arizona The inmates are running the asylum. This Administration has served notice on every illegal alien invader across America: do not be afraid - you are above the law.Eleven illegal aliens who claimed ICE agents "violated their rights" in 2007 raids on their New Haven neighborhood have won a $350,000 settlement from the U.S. government, which also agreed to halt deportation proceedings against the plaintiffs, their attorneys said Tuesday. New Haven is American's most notorious "sanctuary city"- the first in the nation to offer identification cards to illegal immigrants, and critics including the mayor have contended...

The Obama administration on Tuesday announced a new "public advocate" charged with listening to immigrants' concerns about its law enforcement policies — but Republicans said the position amounts to an official mouthpiece for illegal immigrants being deported.

American kids denied food stamps in Alabama under immigration law By Liz Goodwin Some U.S.-born children with parents who are illegal immigrants have been denied food stamps under Alabama's new immigration law, Southern Poverty Law Center President Richard Cohen told Yahoo News on Monday. Five people have called into the group's Alabama hotline to say they were denied food stamps because they couldn't prove they were legal residents, even though the food stamps are for their children, who are citizens. Cohen says the civil rights group, which has already filed two lawsuits against Alabama over the law, will most likely...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP) -- Fearful members. Declining church attendance. Concerned pastors. Uncertain futures. Despite dramatic changes in the life of many Hispanic congregations in Alabama with the new immigration law, the news isn't all bad. "A lot of people left," Carlos Gomez said of the Hispanic congregation he leads at First Baptist Church in Center Point. "I called them back and some of them returned. But I know of another ministry that is close to me here in town that had around 120, and now it has about 40." Reports of decreased attendance in Hispanic congregations are common since the...

Reporting from Washington— After scraping by on handyman jobs for a year, Bert Qintana figured he'd have to leave his wife and teenage son at their home near Taos, N.M., and find work elsewhere. Then Qintana got a call last month from Chevron Mining, which runs a mine 20 miles away. Would he be interested in hauling muck from the molybdenum mine for $17.05 an hour? He leaped at the offer. (SNIP) While they make up only 15% of the country's workforce, Latinos have racked up half the employment gains posted since the economy began adding jobs in early 2010,...

We are a group of Latino Republicans invested in the growth of the economy and the support of Hispanic communities. Some of us have supported Newt Gingrich from the beginning of his campaign, and others of us have supported you. Our purpose here is to advise you that those of us who have stood by you are now withdrawing our backing in favor of Newt Gingrich. We’ve come to our decision based on our belief that your support of the Hispanic community is not a clear representation of what we need.

VICTIMS of human sex trafficking have told how they were enslaved by witchcraft, torture and death threats in modern-day Scotland. The harrowing stories of ten women were compiled by campaigners investigating the world’s fastest growing organised crime. Nine came from Africa, one from South America. In one of the testimonies to a Glasgow charity, a 21-year-old told how she was branded and forced to take a “witchcraft oath” to prevent her escaping. She said: “I had to take the oath. I was given this mark on my hand. I was told that this mark, if you tell anyone what has...

A bill being drafted by a state legislator would limit local law enforcement from holding arrestees on behalf of immigration authorities seeking to deport them. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) said he is finalizing amendments to a bill that would be the first statewide measure to counter the Secure Communities enforcement program, which requires law enforcement agencies to forward to immigration authorities the fingerprints of all arrestees booked into local jails. "States have their own ways of fighting back," Ammiano said. "We can't stand by and let innocent people, food vendors, etc., be caught up in sweeps, assume they're guilty...

One thing was missed in Newt Gingrich's victory in the South Carolina primary: Conservatives embraced a pro-amnesty candidate without batting an eyelash. This should come as a wake-up call to those who've been pushing a hard-line anti-illegal immigrant position in the Republican Party. Granted, Gingrich didn't spend a lot of time discussing his position, which favors amnesty for those illegal immigrants who have been here for a long time, have deep family and community ties, and have paid taxes and avoided breaking other laws. But that's the point. He didn't have to spend a lot of time defending his position...

Student protesters disrupted a speech Friday by US Senator Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American and rising Republican star, accusing him of "anti-immigrant" positions. Rubio was addressing a Hispanic leadership conference at a golf resort near Miami about the American dream when students in the audience rose up and shouted, "Then why don't you support the immigrants?" The protesters, including some undocumented immigrants, also brandished signs that said: "Marco Rubio - Latino or Tea Partino?" and "Your party or your people?"

Grassroots advocates are targeting Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio over his support for Arizona's immigration law and other policies. The nonprofit group Presente is leading the "No Somos Rubios" (We are not Rubios) campaign. It plans to protest and fly an airplane over the Hispanic Leadership Network's conference Friday at the Doral Country Club near Miami. Rubio and the top GOP presidential candidates are speaking there.

In the 15 states that are likely to decide who controls the White House and the Senate in 2013, Hispanic voters will represent the margin of victory. For the Republican Party, the stakes could not be greater. Just eight years after the party’s successful effort to woo Hispanic voters in 2004, this community — the fastest-growing group in the United States, according to census data — has drifted away. .Although Democrats hold the edge, Republicans have an opportunity. We also have a record of winning Hispanic voters in certain statewide and national elections. Here are four suggestions on how Republican...

LAS VEGAS — Enrique has this to say about the first time he noticed Ramona, a pretty brunette from Mexico. “It was as if I had seen the most beautiful girl in the whole world standing in front of me,” said Enrique, a construction worker. “And from then on we've been together.” She’s also smitten with him. “It’s been about 10 years,” Ramona said. “And it still feels like the first day, right Enrique?” The couple is now raising four children in Las Vegas. But things became complicated. Ramona is undocumented, which is why we aren’t using the couples’ last...

Romney and Gingrich Battle for Florida's Latino Vote Though Gingrich still lags Romney in support from the bloc, he appears to be gaining ground, especially among Cuban Americans. A Univision/ABC poll showed him with a 15-percentage-point advantage over Gingrich among likely Hispanic GOP voters. By Alana Semuels, Paul West and Seema Mehta January 25 Mitt Romney is defending an increasingly precarious position among Florida's Latino voters, a key voting bloc whose growth and diversity has complicated efforts to unify it behind one prospective nominee in Tuesday's Republican primary. Newt Gingrich opened the newest front against Romney on Wednesday by mocking...

MIAMI — Fighting to curry favor with Florida’s large pool of Hispanic voters, Newt Gingrich on Wednesday called for a guest-worker program for most illegal immigrants, but his campaign could not say whether those people would be on a path to citizenship - the key question in the immigration debate. Under close questioning by Univision’s political host, Jorge Ramos, Mr. Gingrich said he would grant quick citizenship rights to illegal immigrants...

MIAMI — Former House speaker Newt Gingrich on Wednesday mocked as an “Obama-level fantasy” Mitt Romney’s plan to deal with illegal immigration by encouraging “self-deportation.” Gingrich made the comment as he began a day of outreach to Florida’s Hispanic voters with an extensive interview on Spanish-language television and a speech at Florida International University in which he called for a more a forceful U.S. role in ending communist rule in Cuba, as well as an overhaul of U.S. economic policies toward all of Latin America. In an interview with the Univision network, Gingrich said it was unrealistic for millions of...

Gingrich: Romney shows no concern for 'Humanity' of illegals"..

President Obama drew one of his sharpest contrasts with Republicans at Tuesday night's State of the Union address when he called for Congress to pass legislation giving illegal immigrants a pathway to citizenship.The president urged lawmakers to pass comprehensive immigration reform, or, absent that, a law like the DREAM Act that gives immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children a way to earn U.S. citizenship under certain conditions. "I believe as strongly as ever that we should take on illegal immigration. That’s why my administration has put more boots on the border than ever before. That’s why...

He should have delayed a month, or a month and a half. Was it the decision to schedule back surgery on July 1, putting Perry’s physical recovery on a collision course with a grueling schedule of fundraisers and campaign events? Was it the failure to prepare better for debates that soon turned disastrous? Was it simply a matter of getting in the race too late? Perry’s own string of verbal goofs, probably some of the worst in modern American political history, were so crippling that it is questionable whether any paid professionals could have pulled him out of the ditch....

Romney Stance On Dream Act Magnified In Florida By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ MIAMI (AP) — Mitt Romney's promise to veto a measure that would create a path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants threatens to turn off some Hispanic voters. Their support could be critical in a general election match-up against President Barack Obama. The issue is gaining prominence as the GOP front-runner heads toward the Florida primary, even though most of the state's Hispanics are Puerto Rican or Cuban-American and, thus, aren't affected by U.S. immigration law, nor view it as a priority.

When Allie Jennings and her husband, Ethan, graduated form college in 2003, they had no trouble finding jobs. “I just think raising a son, and then being married to someone who would like to climb the ladder in business, I think Gov. Perry represents a lot of opportunity for our family,” Allie Jennings said. Perry announced his candidacy during a rally in Charleston over the summer, and the Jennings were there to see him as Perry emphasized his record on job creation while governor of Texas. In January 2001, a month after Perry took office, there were 10,023,806 jobs in...

MITT ROMNEY: "But my view is that those 12 million who have come here illegally should be given the opportunity to sign up to stay here..." I know Romeny quotes are date stamped but before he goes off on others, here he is in his words:

An evangelical group hoped young Central Florida Hispanics would turn out in force Tuesday night at its get-out-the-vote rally aimed at spurring them to become engaged about issues such as poverty, immigration and education and get motivated to go to the polls this year. The National Latino Evangelical Coalition hoped to draw total of 2,000 people. However, about 200, a mix of young and older people, attended the rally at Iglesia El Calvario, one of the biggest Hispanic churches in south Orlando. Even so, organizers said it was important to reach out to Hispanics, who are expected to wield significant...

These are precisely the immigrants who have been waiting in line and now face a bureaucratic challenge to obtaining the physical green cards. The proposed rule change falls precisely within the scope of what administrations do. The regulatory change is important because, under current procedures, some persons who have already met the eligibility requirements for green cards must leave the U.S. to obtain their permanent residence status, but as soon as they leave, they are immediately barred from re-entering the U.S. for three or ten years because of a period of unlawful presence in the United States. There is a...

SPARTANBURG, SC -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Sunday that he's not giving up on the race for the Republican presidential nomination, comparing himself to the fighters who rode back into the Alamo knowing there would be no reinforcements coming.

What comes to mind when Mexican immigrant Elsa Garcia thinks of Baltimore's drawbacks? "Basura. O las drogas," said the East Baltimore resident. "Trash. Or drugs." Then, quickly, comes her list of Baltimore's pluses: Her husband has been able to find construction work. They have affordable housing. Police are not automatically suspicious of immigrants. (SNIP) At her inauguration, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake set the goal of increasing the city's population by 22,000 people — 3.5 percent — in 10 years. Drawing native-born people back from the suburbs and working to retain current residents will help stem the population decline but cannot alone...

They were short about 50K votes of the 500K required.

Ready, aim fire. That’s apparently Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s idea of relaxation before returning to the campaign trail this weekend. Ahead of Saturday night’s ABC News-Yahoo-WMUR debate in New Hampshire Perry took a few moments to himself at an Austin-area shooting range. “Just relaxing a bit @ Red’s Range before we leave for New Hampshire!” @governorperry tweeted Friday along with a photo of himself wearing a green sweatshirt and a baseball cap with a firearm in hand. On the campaign trail, Perry, a staunch defender of second amendment rights, has not been shy about talking about his “long love affair”...

Three days after cancelling appearances in South Carolina and returning to Texas to “reassess” his presidential campaign, Texas Gov. Rick Perry released a statement Friday saying he will compete nationwide. "As my campaign for president moves forward, our superior organization and resources allow me to compete nationwide, where I’m confident our unmatched jobs record, conservative fiscal and social policies, and status as the only Washington outsider can win over Republican voters," Perry said in a news release announcing he had filed paperwork to be listed on primary election ballots in Arizona, Illinois, Ohio, Vermont and Washington, D.C.

"Rick Perry Will Not Depart From His Conservative Record or Path" - The Real Record, The Real Man Musings of a Rick Perry supporter... I don’t think the American people know Gov. Rick Perry. He burst onto the national stage and seemed like a Texan, okay, a politician with some nerve, some courage, some outspokenness, who was taking on the sacred cows and telling it like it is. But the debates reversed that image...the early ones. Then there are the lies...oh so many, many MANY lies about him. Because of them, people might be forgiven for their confusion, for not...

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Even Rick Perry's top advisers thought it was over. After the Texas governor finished fifth in the Iowa caucuses on Tuesday night, Perry's staff and volunteers gathered around the bar in a Des Moines hotel to say goodbyes, drink beer and mourn what appeared to be the end of his quest for the Republican nomination for president. Perry had, after all, just said that he would return to Texas and "reassess" his campaign in a speech that had all the markings of a withdrawal from the race. Only it wasn't. Less than 12 hours later,...

When a primary candidate suffers a substantial defeat and states that he will “reassess” his campaign while suspending his travel to the next state in the campaign, it generally means that the candidate has decided to withdraw.

Last night, I wondered if four of the “Not Romneys” would “have the self-control to stop hitting the other Not Romneys and focus on Romney?” For much of this morning, it appeared there would be two fewer of them, with indications that Perry and Bachmann would depart the race. But now, perhaps not; Perry’s personal Twitter account just chirped, “And the next leg of the marathon is the Palmetto State…Here we come South Carolina!!!” It featured this photo:

GovernorPerry 15 mins, 1 sec ago Twitter And the next leg of the marathon is the Palmetto State...Here we come South Carolina!!! yfrog.com/odz8ujrj

In a campaign speech late Tuesday night, Governor Rick Perry stated that he is "returning to Texas" to reassess whether he is going to continue running for President. The speech contained several emotional moments, in particular two moments. The first was when he read a letter from an adoring supporter who called him a "great man." The letter described a conversation that Mr. Perry had had with a soldier and how his supporter looked on in awe as he watched Governor Perry call the veteran his "Christian brother." The second was when Perry announced that he would be returning to...

by John Hill Stand With Arizona As if Obama's plan to cut National Guard troops on the Mexican border by 75% at a time when there has been a sudden surge in border crossers wasn't leaving the United States vulnerable enough, now a report has revealed a new insanity - lowered standards for granting immigration visas: Higher-ups within U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services are pressuring rank-and-file officers to rubber-stamp immigrants’ visa applications, sometimes against the officers’ will, according to a Homeland Security report and internal documents....A 40-page report, drafted by the Office of Inspector General in September but not publicly...

Must See – Rick Perry: America is Calling The Right Scoop January 3, 2012 Wow. This ad from Perry has got to be the best ad I’ve seen this political season. It spawns those deep feelings of patriotism and eagerness to fight for this country and elect a leader who will have our back in Washington. Just a dang good ad.

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: I mentioned Rick Perry earlier. He's out doing the media rounds today, and he's sounding good -- and he had a great exchange with Mike Allen of Politico. Everybody that says, "Ah, Perry is a nice guy, but he looks slow, Rush." I can't tell you the number of people, wherever I go, whose number one complaint about practically every Republican hopeful is that somebody thinks they're stupid or that they sound stupid or that they talk stupid, or that they talk dumb. It's really a powerful, influential thing that has happened here. Some people tell me,...

....“You’ve got a choice, and that choice is in a governor who has a track record of creating jobs,” Perry told a standing crowd of about 175 in a packed hotel ballroom here in the town that shares his name. “We understand how to compete.” ....No other candidate in the race talks about their home state anything like the way Perry does about his. Michele Bachmann behaves as though if she represents Iowa in the House, not Minnesota. Mitt Romney seems to downplay his history in Massachusetts, highlighting instead the vacation home he owns in New Hampshire. Newt Gingrich represented...

"Okay. It is now officially crunch-time for conservative voters. Time for them to grow-up, stand on principle, admit there is not a perfect candidate, cast aside the pretenders, flip-floppers, and flakes, and unite behind the most genuine traditional values espousing candidate in the field. That being Texas governor Rick Perry."

VIDEO: length 12:45

With less than 48 hours until Iowans kick off the GOP caucuses, a crowd of California lawmakers have joined Steve Forbes, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and other supporters making a final push for Texas Gov. Rick Perry. California Assemblymembers Dan Logue, Shannon Grove, Brian Jones and Curt Hagman have all hit the ground in the Hawkeye State Iowa Monday, ready for duty. Logue, in a phone interview, just told us that “Iowa is going to do well for Perry — and this is just the first step of many steps.”

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – Walk into this West Des Moines hotel, and you’ll easily encounter volunteers in Rick Perry fleeces or staffers wearing official Rick Perry badges. The Perry campaign has set up shop here just days before the Iowa caucuses while nearly two thousand volunteers fan out across the state to promote the Texas governor with an expansive ground game as the campaign hopes he’ll earn a top three spot in the caucuses Tuesday. A source close to the Perry campaign confirmed to ABC News they have signed up 1500 precinct leaders across Iowa. At each of the...

Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry is a so-called double dipper, collecting a state government pension and salary totaling more than $240,000. Perry’s disclosure that he “retired” this year while still governor of Texas has become somewhat of an issue in the days leading up to the GOP presidential caucuses in Iowa on Tuesday. Given New Mexico’s distaste for double dipping by public employees, I thought you might want to know more. We banned the practice for most state and local government workers in 2010. Perry, 61, filed a financial disclosure this month with the Federal Election Commission showing he is...

........There remains no one in the GOP field quite like Perry, a plain-speaking governor from a sprawling, Southwestern state who, when he says he's never been a creature of Washington, is telling it straight. With the debates behind him, he's been able to play to his strengths, his record as an 11-year governor, his anti-government attitude, and his capacity to bond with voters through allusions to faith, farm work and military service. But there's no doubt he has altered his approach. Gone are the days when he tried to stand toe-to-toe with front-runner Mitt Romney and boast about his job-creation...

December 31, 2011TRENDING: Perry bets Iowa fortunes on robust ground game CNN Political Reporter Peter Hamby Boone, Iowa (CNN)...with public and internal polling from various campaigns showing the fight for third place to be a fluid one between Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Perry, a robust organization can mean the difference between a ticket home and a ticket to New Hampshire. There are 1,774 Republican caucus precincts around the state, 900 of which are combined and held at the same location. As of Friday, the Texas governor had signed up 1,500 precinct leaders in Iowa, a source inside the Perry...

(CNSNews.com) -Texas Governor Rick Perry is attempting to label himself as the presidential candidate that best represents conservative values as he campaigns across Iowa. “Why should you settle for anyone less than an authentic conservative to represent your values and your views without apology in Washington D.C. ?” Perry told the crowd at the Blue Strawberry Coffee Company in Des Moines, Iowa on Wednesday. “If we replace a Democrat insider with a Republican insider do you think Washington is going to change any? I agree with you, listen, I’m a limited government, fiscal conservative.” “I’m asking for your vote, and...

With a revamped message and a significant TV presence here, Rick Perry is hoping to revive his disappointing presidential campaign with a surprise finish Tuesday. But even as they hold out hope that Perry can find a way back into contention, some of his advisers have begun laying the groundwork to explain how the Texas governor bombed so dramatically in a race that he seemed to control for a brief period upon his entry in August. Their explanations for the nosedive come against the backdrop of a campaign riven by an intense, behind-the-scenes power struggle that took place largely between...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry hammered President Obama's energy and immigration policies Wednesday and berated him for not holding a welcome-home parade to salute the U.S. soldiers who served during the war in Iraq over the past nine years. "It really disturbs me that nearly after nine years of war in Iraq that this president wouldn't welcome home our many heroes with a simple parade in their honor," ... We need to welcome our soldiers home -- give them that parade, give them that pat on the back, tell them thank you for the freedom that we have in this country,"