Free Republic

WESLACO - People living along the Rio Grande River often see illegals crossing the border. "All of a sudden you see five, ten, sometimes fifteen, twenty people," says Rosalinda Garza. She's lived along the river all her life. She tells us, "They pack them into vans and the vans would just go shoom." "One after the other. And then within 15 or 20 minutes, those vehicles were back." Like Garza, many are concerned about illegal trafficking. "There's danger along the river, especially at night," says Umberto "Bird" Trevino. NEWSCHANNEL 5 decided to get a firsthand look at what people living...

WASHINGTON - A bipartisan group of senators reached agreement with the White House Thursday on an immigration overhaul to grant quick legal status to millions of illegal immigrants already in the U.S. and fortify the border against new ones. One of the key negotiators, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., said he expects President Bush to endorse it. The deal came after weeks of painstaking closed-door negotiations that brought the most liberal Democrats and the most conservative Republicans together with Bush's Cabinet officers to produce a highly complex measure that carries heavy political consequences. It set the stage for what promises...

A jailed Border Patrol agent who has become a cause célèbre for those seeking tougher border enforcement and controls on immigration allegedly was beaten by fellow inmates last week. The incident has caused Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) to renew his demand that two incarcerated agents, of whom the victim of the alleged attack is one, receive a presidential pardon. Tancredo called the alleged attack "an atrocity" and blamed it on the Bush administration. Ignacio Ramos is one of two Border Patrol agents who each received prison sentences of more than a decade for shooting at a fleeing drug-smuggling suspect at...

One thread in today's culture is a certain horror of any kind of conflict or confrontation.  It is a norm passionately held by some, and they demand deference to it as the price of political correctness. Some people may receive a pass, but not conservatives, who are vilified when they play hardball. One reason President Bush is so deeply reviled by some is his disregard for this delicate sensibility with regard to war. In domestic politics, the need to attend to touchy-feely concepts like "consensus" and "bi-partisanship" created a void of leadership even when the GOP controlled Congress and the...

Rep. Michael McCaul R-Texas, says that for five months the Department of Homeland Security has stonewalled his persistent requests to hand over promised internal reports purportedly substantiating agency claims that former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean were rightly convicted. "The Department of Homeland Security is preventing me and the Congress from exercising our constitutional right and responsibility to provide oversight of the executive branch of government," McCaul told WND. McCaul said that "every minute DHS officials refuse to provide requested reports on the Ramos and Compean investigation and case, they are increasing the legitimate questions about how...

Calls State of the Union speech 'total sellout of the United States of America to Mexico' Monica Ramos, the wife of one of two U.S. Border Patrol agents imprisoned last week for wounding an escaping drug smuggler, attended the State of the Union speech in person last night – and was sharply critical of President Bush, calling him a hypocrite and worse. Ramos, wife of Border Patrol agent Ignacio Ramos, attended the event as a guest of Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif. Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean began prison sentences last week, of 11 and 12 years respectively, for their...

While liberal interest groups were quick to criticize President Bush's State of the Union comments on issues ranging from the war in Iraq to the environment, conservatives were also upset as he continued to push for immigration reforms that they claim go easy on illegal aliens. While Bush reported that he is doubling the size of the Border Patrol to monitor the U.S. border with Mexico and pledged to enforce immigration laws at the workplace, his temporary worker proposals are still a touchy subject for his conservative base. "We should establish a legal and orderly path for foreign workers to...

INVASION USA Law would make Minutemen guilty of 'domestic terrorism' 'Patrolling to detect alleged illegal activity' while carrying any weapon would be felony Posted: January 20, 20071:00 a.m. Eastern By Jay Baggett © 2007 WorldNetDaily.com An Arizona lawmaker has introduced a bill to revise the state's statutes on organized crime and fraud by defining "domestic terrorism" in such a way that members of the Minuteman Project or other border-patrol groups could be prosecuted and forced to serve a minimum six-month jail term. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix, introduced HB 2286 in the Arizona House on Thursday. Sinema, formerly of the...