Free Republic

Mexican officials say a concrete barrier constructed by the U.S. Border Patrol in a storm-water tunnel beneath Nogales appears to be on Mexican soil and was the main cause of serious flooding July 12 in Nogales, Sonora. The flooding caused about $8 million in damage in Nogales, Sonora, the officials say. The 5-foot-high wall on the floor of the tunnel in front of a gate was put in without notifying the International Boundary and Water Commission, said Sally Spener, spokeswoman for the U.S. section of the commission. The commission requests that any agency doing work on the border that could...

Five Koreans ― four men and one woman ― had been abducted by several unidentified kidnappers who had disguised themselves as police officers in a U.S.-Mexico border city on July 14, an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Tuesday. The official, asking not to be identified, said the abductors have demanded $30,000 in ransom, but declined to give details about the whereabouts of the South Korean nationals and their condition. "As far as I know, the kidnappers have contacted one of the families of the hostages and asked if they were willing to meet their demands...

BROWNSVILLE — The border barrier that soon will be built in the Rio Grande Valley hardly fits the Berlin Wall image conjured by its opponents. Rather, it’s a patchwork of permeable structures riddled with apertures for animals and people, with lots of gates and lots of keys. The Homeland Security Department’s Environmental Stewardship Plan for the Valley shows the agency has settled on locations for 21segments totaling about 70 miles, scattered from Brownsville to Roma. Seven segments will be 18-foot-tall cuts into existing river levees, reinforced with concrete. Three segments will be movable in case of hurricane-induced flooding. And one...

A package of baby diapers yielded an unlikely load in Mexico on Friday, according to the defense ministry: nearly half a million dollars in cash. Soldiers conducting a routine check "found in a tractor-trailer a packet of diapers containing 490,300 dollars," the ministry said. It said that the cash was likely a stash of narco-dollars destined for money-laundering, as the truck had come from Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa state in Mexico's northwest, a region known for trafficking by major drug cartels. The driver of the truck was arrested. Copyright AFP 2008, AFP stories and photos shall not be published,...

Washington -- Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff on Monday blamed tightened security on the U.S.-Mexico border for increased violence there, and he said the border probably will not be fully secured until 2011, two years after President Bush leaves office. "(Increased violence) is what typically happens when you start to enforce and make it harder to fight over the shrinking pie, so to speak, and who gets the best opportunity to exploit the additional space that's left," Chertoff said at a news conference at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection headquarters in Washington, D.C. on Monday. "That's a good...

“All the illegal border crossings are down. It looks like the border patrol is doing their job. There’s really no need for a wall like that,” said Mark Abeyta from east El Paso. The El Paso sector has reported that they have apprehended 25,500 illegal border crossers during the first nine months of this fiscal year. This is the lowest since 2000, and it was made possible because of more barriers, increased agents and the zero-tolerance policies. Currently the Department of Homeland Security has completed around 300 miles of pedestrian and vehicle fencing and they expect to have a total...

EDINBURG -- Hundreds of people chanting "No border wall" marched to the Hidalgo County Courthouse on Saturday evening seeking to persuade local politicians to abandon their support for the planned barrier. Protesters specifically targeted Hidalgo County Judge J.D. Salinas and other county officials for linking the building of the wall to the repair of the county's deteriorating levee system. Salinas has consistently said he opposes the border wall. But when it began to seem the barrier's construction was inevitable, he and other officials started lobbying the federal government to combine the project with levee repairs to better leverage federal money...

Escondido city officials refuse to give up. Two years ago, the city passed an ordinance to punish landlords for renting to illegal immigrants. But it rescinded the rental restriction after a legal challenge was filed and bills began to mount. Now Escondido is trying a new approach to what it calls the "public nuisances" of illegal immigration, citing residents for code violations such as garage conversions, graffiti and junk cars. The city is also debating a new ordinance that would restrict overnight street parking without a permit. In addition, it is drafting a policy that would prohibit drivers from picking...

BEIRUT, JULY 3 - The border between Israel and Syria, sealed for 60 years, has been opened exceptionally to allow the passing of some 80 Syrian students from the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel in 1967, who are preparing to start their university studies in Damascus, Syrian state-controlled daily al-Thawra reported today. The passing of the first 82 students took place yesterday in Quneitra, a "freed" Syrian town destroyed in 1973 in the war between Syria and Israel, thanks to the mediation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), the...

Just months from now, either John McCain or Barack Obama will be our President. Neither of these men are strong on stopping the flow of illegal aliens, so this truly is our best--and possibly last chance to get a REAL border fence built.

ICx ships Cerberus units to U.S. borders WASHINGTON, July 8 (UPI) -- ICx Technologies has begun shipping its unmanned mobile surveillance systems for deployment along the U.S. border with Mexico. ICx officials say the shipments of their Cerberus unmanned mobile surveillance technology, part of a $4 million order, will go to support the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol's operations along the U.S.-Mexican border. The Cerberus units offer Border Patrol officers mobile surveillance towers with advanced radars and camera technology that company officials say enhance the ability to identify and track potential suspects attempting to cross the border as part of...

SWANTON, Vt. -- The U.S. Border Patrol says an agent shot at three suspects after being assaulted near the Vermont-Quebec border early today.The agency said the officer was interviewing the three who were on foot at about 2:15 a.m. when he was assaulted. The agent fired two shots.A male and female suspect are in custody. The third suspect, a male, escaped back into Canada.The Border Patrol said it doesn't know if the missing suspect was armed or if he was wounded.Border Patrol Spokesman Mark Henry said the agent was on routine patrol when he spotted the suspects. The suspects knocked...

Mexico City, Official Residence The Presidency reported that President Felipe Calderón met Arizona Senator John McCain, who will be nominated as the US Republican Presidential Candidate in September, at the official Los Pinos residence today. The President remarked that Mexico trusts the United States will value the priority given to bilateral work on migration, trade, development, regional competitiveness and security as the means for promoting the well-being of both societies. President Calderón confirmed his government’s intention of continuing to collaborate on all issues of common interest, including the prevention of and response to natural disasters and pandemics, food security and...

Presumptive Republican U.S. presidential nominee John McCain told Mexican leaders security at the border is a precondition of immigration reform. McCain ended a visit to Colombia and Mexico Thursday, The Arizona Republic reported. I believe we must have comprehensive immigration reform. The American people want our borders secured first, McCain said at a Mexico City news conference. That will require some walls. It will require virtual fences. It will require high-technology equipment. We must secure our borders, and then we will address the issue of comprehensive immigration reform. McCain was one of the authors of an immigration reform bill that...

As pointed out by this representative of the Florida Attorney General's office, it is impossible to separate national security issues from illegal immigration, and one of the most important illegal immigration issues in Florida is the issue of human trafficking. And as Jake at Freedom Folks notes (thanks for the tip), this story doesn't appear to have been covered by the news wires. Here, a horrifying story is described of a little girl who, after being taken to the Florida panhandle from Mexico, resisted while being raped, and was subsequently made an example of by being beheaded in front of...

Refugees shot fleeing North Korea Michael Sheridan in Hunchun, China North Korean guards, newly armed with Russian Dragunov sniper rifles, have shot dead refugees attempting to ford the river that divides their hungry homeland from China, according to human rights campaigners. On the Chinese shore alone, two bodies, marked by several bullet holes, were found by a local activist, said Tim Peters, an American pastor who runs a Christian group supporting the fugitives. The shootings indicate a coordinated change in tactics by North Korea and China to deter refugees from crossing. They want to stamp out bribery among border guards...

<p>Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff issued a strongly worded statement Wednesday on the release of a Mexican man suspected of killing a Yuma Sector Border Patrol agent in the Imperial Sand Dunes west of Winterhaven. SNIP The 22-year-old Navarro Montes, an alleged narcotics smuggler, is suspected of running over 32-year-old Agent Luis Aguilar in a Hummer while fleeing agents on the morning of Jan. 19.</p>

(CNSNews.com) - An appeal by environmental groups to stop the federal government from waiving regulations during construction of a fence along the U.S.-Mexican border was turned down by the Supreme Court on Monday. In its decision, the high court rejected a plea from Defenders of Wildlife and the Sierra Club to challenge a provision of a 2005 law that gives the U.S. Department of Homeland Security the authority to bypass environmental and other laws obstructing completion of the border fence. The controversy began after Michael Chertoff, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, invoked the REAL ID Act while issuing...

Caltrans has announced it will no longer accept applications for its Adopt-a-Highway volunteer cleanup program. The move comes after members of the San Diego Minutemen sued the state agency over the right to sponsor a stretch of I-5 south of San Clemente near a Border Patrol checkpoint. Caltrans routinely posts signs noting the individuals or groups who sponsor that particular stretch of highway, but removed the Minuteman group's sign in January. Caltrans officials said then that they feared vandalism or protesters along the freeway. Caltrans offered the group another stretch of San Diego County highway, but the Minutemen have sought...

The evidence suggests the answer is yes. Regardless if they are secret or not, the bigger problem is that McCain just won’t let go of his Pro-Amnesty agenda:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court rejected on Monday a legal challenge by two environmental groups to the U.S. Homeland Security secretary's decision to waive 19 federal laws so a fence could be built on the Arizona-Mexico border. The high court refused to hear an appeal by Defenders of Wildlife and the Sierra Club challenging a 2005 law that Secretary Michael Chertoff invoked on the grounds that it violated the constitutional separation of powers principles. The Republican-led Congress in 2005 gave Chertoff the power to waive environmental and other laws to build fences and other border barriers in an effort...

FoxNewsChannel Megyn Kelly just now (9:15am CST) reported as breaking news that the Supreme Court will not hear the appeal from the Texas group who sued to stop the DHS from building the border fence......

It was as frightening as a Halloween trick can be: It happened in broad daylight. It was caught on camera. The government says it really happened. On Oct. 31, 2006, a covert agent of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) pulled to the side of a Canadian highway that runs along the U.S. border. Greg Kutz, GAO's managing director of forensic audits and special investigations, explained what happened in a May 16, 2008, report to Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus. The report summarized GAO's efforts (from 2003 to 2007) to covertly test the effectiveness of U.S. border security. The covert agent...

About 50 protesters marched in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday to decry violence by illegal immigrants and to demand that the Los Angeles Police Department change its controversial policy limiting when someone can be questioned about their immigration status. The marchers, including anti-illegal-immigration Minutemen and local community activists, also called for justice for Jamiel Shaw II, 17, a black athlete who was shot and killed in March by an alleged gang member who was in the country illegally.

When the border fence is constructed along the Rio Grande, Fermin Leal will watch as the barrier slices through the backyards of his neighbors, bypassing his 500-acre farm in San Pedro. The fence's trajectory, incontiguous and largely unexplained, has left many border residents suspicious of the federal government's plans. "I'm still not sure how my land is different than theirs," Leal said. "They still haven't given us any answers." The fence will run nearly unabated through Brownsville before stopping at River Bend Resort and golf course. It will break again for nearly seven miles in San Pedro, where the federal...

The two presidential candidates will discuss matters of interest for the latin american community in this country. The Angeles.- The two main presidential candidates, Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, will be the guests of honor at the third Latin American National Congress, that will be carried out on July 18 and 19 in Los Angeles. The organizers confirmed the participation of the two politicians in the event, that will be performed in an exclusive hotel in Downtown Los Angeles, where it is expected that more than 300 organizations of 20 cities will attend. On the first day, McCain...

People don’t have much faith in government, especially the federal government…and who can blame them? The public looks to Washington and sees neither competence nor integrity in the people and institutions who are determining their fate. Into the vacuum have stepped the evangelists for a new god: the free market. In his new book, Let Them In:The Case for Open Borders, Wall Street Journal editorial board member, Jason Riley, argues that immigration policy ought to be set not by legislators and bureaucrats in Washington, but by the demands of the free market. Americans have been raised to believe that free...

Azteca Televsion Visits The Campo Minutemen TV Azteca is the second largest Mexican Television Network. The network also operates Azteca 13 Internacional, reaching 13 countries in Central and South America. Journalism is a dangerous business in Mexico, second only to Iraqi in violence toward the profession.The crew from Azteca was interested in the concerns of American Citizens and the situation in their country which is causing so many of their countrymen to flee. They were amazed at the absence of any physical barrier at the border. The Following Pictures feature Campo Minutemen Ray and Robin and Juan Rocha of Azteca...

*Unconfirmed Reports of three killed* 1:02 a.m. June 14, 2008 CAMPO – At least three people were hit by gunfire Friday night on the Mexican side of the border near Campo, authorities said. The California Highway Patrol said several shooting victims came across the border. The shootings occurred some time after 10 p.m. A Heartland fire dispatcher said he knew of three victims, but that the Border Patrol had said there were more. The dispatcher said he did not know if anyone was killed. Border Patrol officials were unavailable to comment on what occurred. Ambulances were sent to state Route...

Hands down, Joe Arpaio is the toughest sheriff in America. And although he is most well-known for his tough treatment of prisoners, Arpaio has over 30 years experience with different federal drug enforcement agencies, and, as the former head of border and drug enforcement in Texas and Arizona, he is one of the country’s leading experts on how to shut down illegal immigration and cross-border drug trafficking. His is a hard-core, no-frills approach to incarceration, with 10,000 Maricopa County, Ariz., prisoners held in old Army surplus tents, fed on bologna sandwiches, and clothed in black-and-white striped, old-style prison uniforms and...

Guatemala plans to send hundreds of troops, elite presidential guards and anti-drug police to its border with Mexico to stem growing drug violence, the government said on Saturday. "The unit should be ready within about 90 days. We are talking about 500 troops" and members of the presidential guard, Interior Ministry spokesman Ricardo Gatica said. Gatica declined to say how many counternarcotics police would be sent to the border, where drug smuggling into southern Mexico, bound for the United States, goes unchallenged. In southern Mexico, suspected drug gunmen dumped a man's head outside a newspaper in Tabasco state on Saturday...

It has been a refrain during the exhausting battle for the Democratic presidential nomination that once Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama emerged as the party's choice, we could finally dispense with the personality battles and get down to nitty-gritty policy differences. Indeed, now that Obama seems to have the position locked up, he and presumptive Republican nominee John McCain will have plenty to argue about. But some might be surprised at the breadth of issues on which they largely agree. On McCain's side, this is understandable. With a Republican president experiencing some of the worst approval ratings ever, it's...

In response to my recent piece on enforcing our established immigration laws (I did not mention the potential effectiveness of machine guns and land mines, which would be the first resort of any statesman or military commander who really wanted to "secure our borders"), some well-meaning souls have responded with the traditional Libertarian prescription that there's "no need to limit immigration; all we have to do is get rid of the welfare state." First, before anyone tries to insist that "most illegal aliens aren't on welfare," let's stipulate once again that the so-called "public schools" are one of our most...

BISBEE — An employee of American Border Patrol, a non-governmental organization, was threatened on Thursday by a suspected smuggler near the U.S.-Mexico border near Palominas. At about 2:15 p.m. Thursday, Mike Christie was driving a quad on the group’s ranch toward Border Monument Road on his way to Highway 92. Christie saw a white pickup truck heading north and he suspected the driver was involved in nefarious activity. “As he approached it, the fellow turned around and went back to the border,” said Glenn Spencer, president of American Border Patrol. A short time later, the man revved the engine of...

CALEXICO — Two street gangs vying for control of a human-smuggling operation here has resulted in two shootings in a dense neighborhood near the border fence, police said. A man is recovering from a bullet wound after being shot by masked gunmen. Two other men are in Imperial County jail for their suspected involvement of an attempt to murder a rival. “We be-lieve it involves illegal alien smuggling and their attempts to cut into each other’s area and operations,” Calexico police Sgt. Gonzalo Gerardo said. Human smuggling in Calexico is lucrative: smugglers could receive as much as $1,500 per head...

http://www.campominutemen.com/reports/reports.aspx Gman: First I would like to thank the Campo minutemen for their help and support . This week alone I spotted and called the Border Patrol in to apprehended 36 illegals mostly after sundown. The smaller groups try in the day with not much luck Year to date is now 378 apprehensions Gman Gman's name and location are kept secret for his security. He would like to thank everyone for their expressions of Support ***************************************************************** Dan: Last night South of the High School, at approximately .8;17PM near the 7.5 mile marker on Buckman Springs Rd. (West side of range...

TX and AZ Border Watches FOR YOUR INFORMATION...... Border watches on the TX and AZ borders have been scheduled by Texas Border Volunteers and Patriots Border Alliance (AZ). If you are interested in participating....please go to the following websites or contact the following e-mail addresses for further information. MEMBERSHIP IS REQUIRED TO PARTICIPATE ON ANY BORDER WATCH!! BACKGROUNDS ARE CHECKED!! Texas Border Volunteers.....for information to join....go to www.texasbordervolunteers.org and download application or e-mail questions to vol052000-tbvmbrship@yahoo.com . Patriots Border Alliance (AZ).....for information to join (online)....go to www.patriotsborderalliance.com or e-mail questions to quetzal@wbhsi.net . As to recent news articles.....illegal aliens are...

The latest threat assessment prepared for special border enforcement teams says pleasure boats are among the increasingly inventive means used by crafty couriers to slip illicit cargo — including drugs, guns and people — from one country to the other. The marine environment “is viewed as particularly vulnerable and porous to smuggling activity” due to the many challenges in keeping tabs on lakes, waterways and tiny coves, says the August 2007 report, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act. One American criminal group has children carrying bags of tobacco swim across the St. Croix River between...

Federal troops lock down region in effort to bring gangsters to heel CULIACAN, MEXICO — Automatic weapons at the ready, the platoons of federal police officers descend from the transport planes and high-step as neatly as majorettes into the searing heat of this violent city. Gen. Rodolfo Cruz, short, fit and wearing the same starched blue uniform as his troops, puts the policemen through their paces as television cameras whirr. "Here we are, showing our faces," says Cruz, 65, a career army officer, who sprinkles conversations with English phrases learned during military training in Oklahoma. "I fight crime, I put...

Border Patrol drug-sniffing dog detected almost 1,400 pounds of marijuana stacked between pallets of squash in a tractor-trailer rig at the Interstate 19 checkpoint Wednesday. The trailer contained 63 bundles of marijuana, with an estimated street value of $1.1 million, said U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials. The driver, a 41-year-old Mexican national, was taken into custody. The vehicle and marijuana were confiscated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Officials said that since October 2007, the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector has seized more than 520,000 pounds of marijuana. Dog units have been responsible for one-fourth of the seizures.

One windy afternoon last week at the border fence, a construction platform carrying a crew of National Guard personnel moved slowly along the barrier, sparks flying from blowtorches as the guardsmen straightened and retrofitted the steel posts. For most of them, it would be their last task on the border. “I'll go wherever they want me to go,” said Staff Sgt. Dan McBride, 44, the crew's supervisor, a mail carrier from Fresno who plans to go back to his full-time job for a while before his likely deployment to Iraq in February. “But this has been sweet, San Diego.” After...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday will join governors from both sides of the border in Mexico City to push for more action on crime-fighting and border security, a visit that comes as Mexico is facing unprecedented violence. Schwarzenegger will offer support to Mexican President Felipe Calderon for his crackdown against the drug trade, in which he has deployed more than 20,000 federal troops across Mexico. Cartels have responded with increasingly bold attacks against security forces, including beheadings and assassinations of top police officials and soldiers. On Tuesday, seven federal officers were killed in a shootout with one cartel. Beyond policy...

HIDALGO - U.S. Border Patrol agents Sunday detained 18 people from the horn of Africa - an uncommon but not unheard of origin for illegal migrants to the United States, officials said. The east African immigrants - 13 from Eritrea and five from Ethiopia - were walking along a road in Hidalgo on Sunday when they were spotted, said local Border Patrol spokesman Daniel Doty. Agents peacefully took the illegal immigrants into custody, Doty said. None of them was carrying drugs or firearms. Doty said illegal immigrants who come from countries other than Mexico either face an expedited deportation hearing...

Actual headlines from major Texas newspapers: “Is Cornyn in trouble?” “Cornyn not a lock, poll says.” “If challenger raises $10 million, Texas could see a close race.” If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, Rick Noriega would be looking pretty good. Noriega is the Houston state legislator who’s taking on Texas U. S. Senator John Cornyn. He’s got a lot going for him. An Hispanic name. An easy victory in the primary election. Democratic coattails of Barack Obama. But after that, the “candy and nuts” go back to being just “ifs and buts” with the notable exception of a...

Feds OK 'enhanced' NY driver's licenses for border crossingsPublished May 27, 2008 01:05 pm - ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York Gov. David Paterson says the federal government has formally approved the state's "enhanced" driver's license, which can be used to cross the United States border without a passport. The optional enhanced driver's license will be available for use next summer when passports or approved driver's licenses will be required for border crossings, including entry into Canada. New Yorkers will have to provide proof of citizenship to apply for the enhanced license at a Department of Motor Vehicles office. The...

Report from G - Man - 337 apprehended this year It has been very busy over here ,at least two groups every 24 hrs and sometimes three to four with six to 18 per group. I'm not getting much sleep because they are coming through at all hours. In the last 24 hours alone we have apprehended 47. My year to date is now 337, yet the news says apprehensions are down. Who are you going to believe? ----------------------------------------- Campo Minutemen Cleaned up Buckman Springs Road, removing 200 gallons of trash. They had a BBQ dinner at 141 and lit...

Many arguments, pro and con, about how to deal with illegal aliens have been passionately debated over the past couple of years, but there are still other arguments that need public exposure. Mark Krikorian presents a new argument in his forthcoming book called "The New Case Against Immigration, Both Legal and Illegal." The pro-more-immigration crowd argues that today's immigrants are just like immigrants of a century ago: poor people looking for a better life who are expected to advance in our land of opportunity. Krikorian's new argument is that while today's immigrants may be like earlier ones, the America they...

COLUMBUS, N.M. – Talking with officials in this high-desert town, it doesn't take long to understand just how concerned they are over the widespread violence south of the border, which they can't control. From the American side of the U.S. Port of Entry in Columbus you can actually look down the streets of Palomas, Mexico – the town is that close. The problem is that Palomas, along with other Mexican cities, has fallen victim to a vicious turf war between rival Mexican drug cartels that has claimed about 4,000 lives since the start of last year. Among those assassinated are...

In another case of politicians not having a clue what's really going on in this country, an interesting exchange took place in Washington this week. Three Democrat legislators spoke to reporters about what they claim is "anti-immigrant coverage" by conservative media outlets. Apparently, they think floods of illegal aliens crossing into America and the crime and violence at the border are just overblown incidents developed by conservatives to attack our neighbor to the South. After they spoke, the Democrats were asked if they realized that the State Department had issued a "travel alert warning Americans about military-like 'combat' along the...

As reported executively in the Laguna/El Paso Journal the Calderon administration was expected to rush more Mexican Army troops to the border cities of Juarez, Tijuana, Mexicali, Palomas and others. The first leg of that troop enforcement became an reality yesterday -- Hundreds more Mexican army soldiers arrived in Juárez under the cover of darkness as part of Joint Operation Chihuahua, intended to augment the Mexican governments war against the Mexican Drug Cartels operating in Mexico.