Free Republic

A pollster hired by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach testified Monday that a survey of 500 adults he conducted found just one person who couldn't produce a document proving U.S. citizenship. The Topeka Capital-Journal reported his testimony came on the seventh day of a federal bench trial challenging Kansas' proof-of-citizenship requirement. Pollster Pat McFerron also acknowledged possible bias in his survey under questioning by an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union.

There is no doubt that I am lucky. I’m certainly not rich (though not for lack of trying), but I was born into a loving family, have a great wife and daughter, get to write for a living, and I was born an American. Over time I’ve grown to appreciate each of those things, as happens in life, more than I did when I was younger. But one of them has seen its value be diminished significantly – the being an American part. Don’t get me wrong, I love the United States, it’s the most amazing of all human experiments...

Spain said Friday it would extend by one year a law that makes it easier for descendants of Jews who were forced to flee five centuries ago during the Inquisition to get citizenship. The law - which aims to correct the "historical mistake" of sending Jews into exile in 1492, forcing them to convert to Catholicism or burning them at the stake - came into effect in October 2015 and was set to expire in October 2018. But government spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo said Spain's cabinet had agreed to extend the measure by one year until October 2019. So...

Right. And I’m the flippin’ King of Siam. Cesar Vargas, an illegal immigrant, told Tucker Carlson tonight: “I’m an American. Citizenship does not make me an American.” Tucker pointed out that citizenship is precisely what makes someone an American. Carlson also objected to Vargas repeatedly referring to what “we” as Americans have done. Get the rest of the story and view the video here.

A Republican lawmaker wants to strip U.S. citizenship from foreign-born gang members, in response to escalating violence from MS-13 and other immigrant-based gangs. The bill by Rep. Lee Zeldin, New York Republican, is titled “Protecting our Communities from Gang Violence Act” and would revoke the naturalization of anyone who becomes involved in gang activity either 10 years before or 10 years after taking the U.S. citizenship oath.

My Congressman Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) hosted another error-ridden town hall in Hermosa Beach last week. On immigration, he claimed to support two parts of President Trump’s proposed(?) plan: granting legal status to 1.8 million young illegals; and enhancing border security (although Lieu called the border wall “stupid”). He differed on ending chain migration and the diversity lottery. He quoted the Bible in his defense: “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in.” (Matthew 25:35).My response: “Then take them...

Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump's administration has unveiled a sweeping new immigration plan to Congress that offers 1.8 million young unauthorized immigrants known as "Dreamers" a path to citizenship over 10-12 years. In a comprehensive reform that will be formally presented next week, Trump also asked Congress Thursday to eliminate the popular "green card lottery" program and severely restrict family immigration, steps analysts say could cut in half the more than one million foreign-born people moving to the country annually.

For those who have forgotten the 1986 Simpson-Mazzoli Act of 1986, here is a refresher. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/99/s1200 At the time, Congress PROMISED that the Amnesty given to ILLEGAL ALIENS would be a one time deal and would NEVER be brought up, again. President Reagan foolishly signed the bill into law.

(QUITO, Ecuador) — Ecuador has granted citizenship to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been living in asylum at the nation’s embassy in London for more than five years. The nation’s foreign minister announced Thursday that officials had decided to permit Assange’s naturalization while they look for ways to resolve his situation. Ecuador gave Assange political asylum after he sought refuge in the embassy in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden for investigation of sex-related claims. Sweden dropped the case, though Assange has remained in the embassy because he is still subject to arrest in Britain for jumping bail. Britain’s...

A simple request from the Trump Justice Department to the Census Bureau to add a single question to the 2020 federal census is causing a huge uproar among liberal and Democratic groups because it could have a devastating political impact for Democrats in the next decade. This is the “C” question: are you a citizen or not.

The number of United States-born children who were given birthright citizenship despite at least one of their parents being an illegal alien living in the country now outnumbers one year of all American births. A new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report the booming number of U.S.-born children to illegal aliens who are given automatic citizenship, forever anchoring their families in the U.S. These children are commonly known as “anchor babies,” as they are able to eventually bring an unlimited number of foreign relatives to the U.S. through the process known as “chain migration.” Every two new immigrants to the U.S....

“This is a recipe for sabotaging the census.” The Justice Department is pushing for a question on citizenship to be added to the 2020 census, a move that observers say could depress participation by immigrants who fear that the government could use the information against them. That, in turn, could have potentially large ripple effects for everything the once-a-decade census determines — from how congressional seats are distributed around the country to where hundreds of billions of federal dollars are spent. The DOJ made the request in a previously unreported letter, dated Dec. 12 and obtained by ProPublica, from DOJ...

his U.S. territory in the western Pacific is known for its epic World War II battle, white-sand beaches and the enduring culture of its indigenous Chamorro people. But for a certain class of Chinese parents, Saipan has become known as the latest hot spot for birth tourism, a place where women can give birth to babies who will automatically acquire U.S. citizenship.

An atheist woman seeking citizenship in Massachusetts is suing to remove the phrase “so help me God” from the United States citizenship oath. Olga Paule Perrier-Bilbo, a French national who has lived in the U.S. since 2000 with a green card, says that the inclusion of the phrase is an unconstitutional violation of her religious freedom. Her lawyer, Michael Newdow, drew attention for a similar Supreme Court case in 2004, when he argued that the Pledge of Allegiance should be rewritten to omit “under God.”

Here is a news story that will make no sense whatsoever to anyone who is not Australian - and, indeed, shouldn't really make any sense even if you are Australian. From The Sunday Times of Perth: Senator Parry has released a statement confirming he will step down as President of the Senate and resign his seat if British authorities say that he is a British citizen. The senator is still awaiting confirmation from the authorities... "As a result of this I have had cause to examine my citizenship status in relation to my late father having being born in the...

The Turnbull Government has lost its one-seat majority after the High Court ruled Barnaby Joyce's election invalid because of his New Zealand citizenship. Mr Joyce will now face a by-election. The court also found former Greens senators Scott Ludlam and Larissa Waters were not validly elected, along with One Nation's Malcolm Roberts and the National Party's Fiona Nash.

Ultra high-net worth individuals are turning their attention away from sports cars, yachts and designer clobber, and are instead focusing on acquiring the latest status symbol among the super wealthy: passports. Today it is entirely possible to buy and sell citizenship, and for the ultra rich, the more passports they can get their hands on, the better. Citizenship by investment programmes (CIPs) is a concept that began in 1984, when the two-island Caribbean nation of St Kitts and Nevis came up with the idea to encourage wealthy individuals to pump money into its economy in exchange for a passport, which...

The Australian government said Thursday it was prepared to relax its proposed English language test for new citizens as a compromise to get other tough new restrictions on attaining citizenship through Parliament. Immigration and Borden Protection Minister Peter Dutton said his conservative government was prepared to reduce its proposed English-language skill threshold from “competent” to “modest:” a level of basic communication with many mistakes. The change would be from level six to five on the nine-level International English Language Testing System scale. Language skills are not currently tested in the Australian citizenship process although some English is required. ”We believe...

Sweden’s main opposition party, the Moderates, want to tighten the rules for people seeking Swedish citizenship, suggesting a string of new measures they say will encourage integration and better correspond to the rules of other Nordic countries and Germany. In an opinion piece published in daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter on Thursday, Moderate party members Tomas Tobé and Gunnar Strömmer said that the rules to become Swedish aren’t strict enough, and in some cases even hamper the integration of the country’s new citizens. “Sweden should be an open country (…) But at the same time we have to make demands: Everyone...

If Trump does turn the matter over to his wobbly Republican colleagues, he must demand they cut a deal: agree to grant the “Dreamers” permanent status in the U.S. in exchange for abolishing birthright citizenship. That single change could forever reduce the allure of sneaking into the U.S.