Free Republic

It's no secret that Alberto Gonzales' appointment as attorney general was a watershed moment for American Hispanics--and for a yearslong effort to woo more Latino voters to the Republican Party. Though the political strategy is long-term, Gonzales has moved swiftly and energetically, more like a political candidate in a campaign than a Cabinet member, to reach out to kindred ethnic audiences and showcase his status as the first Latino U.S. attorney general. In office barely more than 100 days, Gonzales already has visited Mexico and met with Mexican President Vicente Fox and spoken to gatherings of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber...

Congressman Tom Tancredo is abnormally blunt for a politician. He believes immigration law should be upheld and makes no apologies for his position. And just as the dreaded "vigilante" Minutemen - a group that had the unmitigated nerve to hassle a few hundred Mexicans intent on breaking U.S. law - Tancredo's very existence is traumatic to the enlightened of our city. Confused (and enthusiastically unenlightened), I can't understand why it's demagogic to ask a fundamental question: Why do we have borders if we're unwilling to control them? True, the vile murder of policeman Donnie Young by an "undocumented" worker -...

It's bad enough Washington has denied Border Patrol agents the funds, manpower and tools they need to do their jobs effectively and safely. What's worse are the messages they are sending the loyal, brave, front-line defenders of this country: Don't do your job! In case you haven't heard, Border Patrol agents in the Arizona area guarded by the civilian Minuteman organization were told not to make too many arrests in the aftermath of volunteer, month-long effort to hold back the floodtide of invaders coming from Mexico on a daily basis. The message was clear to the rank-and-file Border Patrol agents...

MONTERREY, Mexico (Reuters) - The Bush administration will not renegotiate a controversial free-trade pact with Central America despite strong opposition from labor groups and the sugar industry, U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said on Friday. As President Bush stepped up his bid this week for congressional approval of the U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA, Gutierrez told Reuters the plan would not go back to the drawing board even though lawmakers are skeptical of its ability to pass. "It's a treaty that has already been negotiated and even approved by the congresses in three Central American countries," Gutierrez said...

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Vicente Fox called recent U.S. measures to stem illegal immigration a step back for bilateral relations on Friday and said Mexican migrants do jobs "that not even blacks want to do." In comments likely to raise the temperature of the immigration debate, Fox defended the role of undocumented Mexican workers in the United States to a group of Texas business people meeting in Mexico. "There is no doubt that Mexicans, filled with dignity, willingness and ability to work are doing jobs that not even blacks want to do there in the United States," he...

Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs Luis Ernesto Derbez Bautista urged integration between the United States and Mexico during a talk Thursday at the University of Texas-Pan American. The 500-seat Student Union Theater was nearly full as Derbez spoke about the importance of promoting a symbiotic relationship between the two countries in order to bring security and prosperity to both sides of the border. Derbez is a leading contender to head the Organization of American States, which is made up of 34 countries to promote democracy and regional cooperation. "We are integrating," he said, citing the growing Mexican-American communities in the...

It didn't take long for President Bush to betray those who returned him to office for another four years. The first big insult to his base came this week when he moved to resurrect his ugly plan to relax rules against illegal immigration – as if they weren't relaxed enough. Bush reportedly met privately in the Oval Office with Sen. John McCain to discuss re-igniting his badly misguided initiative to grant legal status to millions of immigrants who broke the law to enter the United States. McCain is one of the Senate's most outspoken supporters of expanding guest-worker programs and...

The nationally disseminated story based on forged military records was nothing less than an attempt to undermine the President in the midst of war and change the election result with a stunning fraud on the electorate. Whoever created those records, ala the infamous Dreyfus Affair, absolutely intended to deceive the American people and defeat our President. Even this morning there remains a chance they will succeed.Could there be a clearer act of treason than to undermine the President and nation during war, and to do it by sowing doubt about the President's respect for the military chain of command?We are...