Free Republic

It’s not clear why Lou Dobbs resigned from CNN Wednesday. Fox said he’s not headed there, and from his comments it sounds to me like he’s going to run for office in New Jersey (though Bob Menendez’s seat, the next Senate opening, isn’t up until 2012). Be that as it may, it’s likely that part of the reason was the vilification campaign against Dobbs by pro-amnesty groups, part of a broader jihad against any public expression of skepticism about amnesty and open borders. After the June 2007 collapse of the Bush-McCain-Kennedy amnesty push in the Senate, a demoralized Frank Sharry,...

Immigrant advocates filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of a Salvadoran woman who was detained by Frederick County sheriff's deputies in a case they say illustrates the problems with a federal program that has deputized dozens of state and local police departments to catch illegal immigrants. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, alleges that Roxana Orellana Santos, now 29, was eating lunch alone near Buckeystown Pike in Frederick on Oct. 7, 2008, when two deputies approached her, asked for identification, then detained her and turned her over to immigration authorities for possible deportation. Orellana...

Sen. Durbin (D-Ill.) last night and today is once again using his leadership position to make (false claims about E-Verify's reliability) and to project the absolutely foolish notion that unemployment and immigration have no relationship. But while he laments the 125,000 who have recently lost their unemployment benefits (I do, too), he ignores the fact that HIS immigration policies now in place have given out 125,000 brand new work permits to foreign workers during the last month. Sadly, Sen. Durbin is Exhibit A of the intellectual hypocrisy that is pervasive in Congress. He gives speeches as a champion of (unemployed...

The GOP needs to shed its image as the "old white guy party," Jeb Bush said this week. Speaking at George Washington University, Bush said Republicans need to reach out to a more diverse group of voters. "You don't have to be a rocket scientist to realize that in order for a political party to be successful it has to reach out to everyone," Bush said, according to the GW Hatchet. "In politics, you never win when you say 'us and them.' We need a more welcoming message."

A Dallas rookie police officer erred when he cited a woman earlier this month for being a non-English speaking driver, police said. Officer Gary Bromley issued a citation Oct. 2 to 48-year-old Ernestina Mondragon after stopping her for making an illegal U-turn in the 500 block of Easton Road, near East Northwest Highway, according to a copy of the citation.

Regarding a pinata of Sherriff Joe Arpaio.

WASHINGTON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Republican Senator John McCain said on Wednesday his party needed a positive agenda to better attract those Americans who are disenchanted with Democratic policies. McCain said he sensed "a lot of anger and a lot of frustration" among Americans over taxpayer-backed bailouts of banks and auto companies while they cope with a persistently high U.S. jobless rate of 9.8 percent and see bank executives get "obscene" bonuses. McCain, who was his party's presidential nominee and lost the 2008 election to Democrat Barack Obama, spoke to a Reuters Summit in a roundtable interview with journalists.

The O’Reilly Factor had the Fox News senior judicial correspondent Judge Andrew Napolitano on the show last night. He claimed that it would be unconstitutional for Congress to ban illegal aliens from participating in any health insurance plans, particularly the public option. He based his analysis on the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection clause. A constitutional law professor who was also on the show essentially echoed Napolitano’s opinion without adding anything of substance. First off, with all due respect to Judge Napolitano and the law professor, I would have preferred some constitutional law heavyweights to argue the issue from a liberal...

JERUSALEM – The U.S. should move in the direction of socialism but the country's "white majority" opposes welfare since such programs largely would benefit minorities, especially blacks and Hispanics, argued President Obama's newly confirmed regulatory czar, Cass Sunstein. "The absence of a European-style social welfare state is certainly connected with the widespread perception among the white majority that the relevant programs would disproportionately benefit African Americans (and more recently Hispanics)," wrote Sunstein. The Obama czar's controversial comments were made in his 2004 book "The Second Bill of Rights," which was obtained and reviewed by WND. A prominent theme throughout Sunstein's...

In the Long Run, the GOP Must Be Inclusive. BY MICHAEL GERSON Mel Martinez's recent resignation from the U.S. Senate was for personal and family reasons. But the departure of the Republican Party's most visible Hispanic leader crackles with political symbolism. Martinez does not consider himself disillusioned, but he is "frustrated." "There are lots of Hispanics to the right of you and me on immigration," he told me, "but they think, 'Republicans just don't like us.' " Martinez makes clear that a number of his Senate colleagues were "conservative, but not inflammatory." Other elected Republicans, however, made "pretty divisive use...

GASTONIA, N.C. -- Two state representatives announced plans today to fight a recent ruling to allow illegal immigrants into state community colleges. "What part of illegal don't you understand?" said Rep. Wil Neumann as he spoke in front of the Gaston County Courthouse Tuesday morning. He said he has received a number of calls and e-mails about the state community college system's decision to allow illegal immigrants the chance to enroll in any of the 58 state community colleges as long as the student graduated from a high school in the United States. The students would have to pay out-of-state...

SODUS NY— The Border Patrol is again being accused of racial profiling in Wayne County, this time at the dawn of the annual apple harvest that brings thousands of migrants to the area. According to Migrant Support Services organizer John Ghertner — who was there taking photos — and Mi Ranchito owner Primitivo Vasquez, Border Patrol agents blocked off the two entrances to Vasquez’s store Aug. 29, demanding identification from customers before allowing them in. Mi Ranchito is a specialty grocery store that sells Mexican foods, calling cards and other items targeted at migrant workers. Vasquez was born in Mexico...

I’m not usually one to care much what a celebrity thinks, but I’m going to briefly comment on Eva Longoria’s statement about immigrants before I get offline for the evening. Longoria is the national spokesperson for the Padres Contra el Cancer (Parents against Cancer) non-profit organization, and she attended their 9th annual fundraiser gala in Hollywood. She was either asked a question at the event about illegal aliens or just brought it up herself. From FoxNews’ Pop Tarts column.

After plugging his latest column in a September 10 post on the magazine's Swampland blog, Time's Joe Klein pegged Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) as "vile" before defending taxpayer-funded health care for illegal immigrants: On this whole question of whether illegal immigrants will be included in the plan, which caused the vile Congressman from South Carolina to shout "You lie" when the President said they wouldn't be covered. Why shouldn't they be? After all, when an illegal immigrant cuts his hand while chopping cabbage and goes to the emergency room, the rest of us pay for it. Isn't the point to...

Here is video of a man being booed when he asked a question in Spanish at a town hall meeting. (Watch Video)

The Obama administration took an overhaul of the country’s immigration laws off its legislative agenda this year, but the prickly issue of public benefits for illegal immigrants has resurfaced in the health care debate. During the summer recess, members of Congress faced persistent questions from constituents worried that health care changes could leave taxpayers footing medical bills for illegal immigrants. President Obama has not been able to extinguish the doubts despite giving repeated assurances that illegal immigrants would be excluded from any subsidized benefits under proposals before Congress. ... Republicans argue that some of the voters’ concerns are justified because,...

This is Dick Armey of Freedomworks. Retired Congressman Dick Armey is the top national organizer for the 9/12 Marches coming this month in Washington, DC. FOX News host Glenn Beck set the 9/12 movement in motion. Please let us know how you feel about Dick Armey's positions on illegal immigration.

A letter to the president says local enforcement of federal immigration laws has led to racial profiling and civil rights violations.A coalition of advocacy groups sent a letter to President Obama last week demanding that the administration end a program that allows local police to enforce federal immigration law. The program, known as 287(g), deputizes police to turn over suspects or criminals to immigration authorities for possible deportation. Immigrant rights groups said the program has led to civil rights violations and racial profiling. "Racial profiling and other civil rights abuses by the local law enforcement agencies that have sought out...

A federal three-judge panel this week delivered a major blow to the Texas Democratic Party's so-called “Texas Two Step” process for selecting convention delegates, paving the way for its review by the Justice Department. Describing its claim as lacking merit, the 24-page unanimous ruling denied the state Democratic Party's motion for a summary judgment, or dismissal, of a lawsuit filed by the League of United Latin American Citizens of Texas, the Mexican American Bar Association of Houston and others. LULAC's suit charges that the Texas Two Step dilutes the Latino vote by awarding more delegates to “white majority districts” at...

Every 10 years, the federal government undertakes a constitutionally mandated count of the American population to determine the apportionment of elected representatives among the 50 states, and, given the political stakes, it has always been a lodestone for controversy. In recent decades, the blasts and the blows have been mostly about the counting - or undercounting, as the case may be - of minorities. The squalls this year are blowing in from three different directions, and two of them are based on constitutional complaints. First fury up, a charge that President Barack Obama has made a power grab by transferring...

Note: Video included. SNIPPET: "(CNSNews.com) - At a joint press conference with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Guadalajara, Mexico on Monday, President Barack Obama referred to American opponents of amnesty for illegal aliens as “demagogues.”" SNIPPET: "Obama gave a long answer indicating that he believed he could secure an immigration reform package that included a “pathway to citizenship” for illegal immigrants. In his answer, he characterized opponents of this “pathway” as “demagogues.” “Now, am I going to be able to snap my fingers and get this done? No,” said Obama. “This is going...

During his recent HBO special, "Tall, Dark and Chicano," comedian George Lopez tore a hole in the Big Tent. Incensed that 31 Senate Republicans had voted against Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court, Lopez informed the GOP that it would never again get the votes of Latinos. In fact, he said, given changing demographics, Republicans might as well get used to losing in the years to come because "you won't win a . . . pie-eating contest." That's harsh, but fair. Republicans know not what they did. They're only fooling themselves if they think they won't pay a price...

Several activist organizations called for immigration reform in front of U.S. Senator John Cornyn's office in Harlingen on Monday. La Union del Pueblo Entero (LUPE) and several organizations told Action 4 News that they wanted to show their dissaproval to what they're calling the Republican Texas seantor's unsupportive behavior for Latino issues. Although Senator Cornyn's office was closed, the picketers called him by cell phone and chanted in unison for better representation for the Hispanic community. Marta Sanchez with LUPE said they are seeking a legislation for comprehensive immigration reform and support on several other acts in Congress up for...

Texas Sen. John Cornyn and President Obama don't agree on much. One subject of common purpose: Both men want comprehensive immigration reform. But Cornyn took strong exception today to Obama's comment at a press conference in Guadalajara that immigration reform would have to wait until next year. "Today President Obama backtracked on his promise to address comprehensive immigration reform during his first year in office," Cornyn said in a statement released by his office. "After stating several times on the campaign trail that it would be a 'top priority,' I am disappointed he has changed his tune." O Said Cornyn:...

Sonia Sotomayor is a groundbreaking nominee for the Supreme Court who defies easy pigeonholing. She's a tough-minded former prosecutor who's denounced the death penalty. She's a product of South Bronx public housing who excelled in the Ivy League. Sotomayor, tough-minded yet true to her roots, defies simple labeling Sonia Sotomayor is a groundbreaking nominee for the Supreme Court who defies easy pigeonholing. She's a tough-minded former prosecutor who's denounced the death penalty. She's a product of South Bronx public housing who excelled in the Ivy League. Sotomayor picks up more GOP support with vote nearSupreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor picked...

Olympia Snowe said today that her Republican colleagues' pending "no" votes on Sonia Sotomayor raise "a serious concern" about alienating their Hispanic constituencies. The Maine moderate was among the first GOP lawmakers to say she would vote yes, joining Mel Martinez of Florida and Richard Lugar of Indiana on July 17. Snowe told reporters that voting for Sotomayor "would have certainly been an avenue for appealing to the Hispanic community, where we did poorly in the last election. I think we can ill afford to lose their support in the future when we're attempting to rebuild the Republican Party nationally,"...

The Obama administration intends to announce an ambitious plan on Thursday to overhaul the much-criticized way the nation detains immigration violators, trying to transform it from a patchwork of jail and prison cells to what its new chief called a “truly civil detention system.”. The plan aims to establish more centralized authority over the system, which holds about 400,000 immigration detainees over the course of a year... Detention on a large scale must continue, he said, “but it needs to be done thoughtfully and humanely.” But Mr. Morton, a career prosecutor, said he was taking a new philosophical approach to...

Video at link.

With the help of unions, partisan politicians and pro-amnesty groups, the White House intends to push for back-door amnesty and bypass Congress altogether. “It makes sense to do now what the administration can do… it doesn’t have to go through Congress. It (amnesty) doesn’t have to go through the toxic political process,” said Ana Avendano of the AFL-CIO at a recent press conference. The AFL-CIO is one of the largest union representatives which include all the radio/broadcasters as well as the Hollywood crowd. The Obama Administration is making a three pronged effort to gain amnesty without bringing the always hot-button...

CHICAGO – Activists disappointed that the Obama administration has not given immigration top billing are trying to yank the issue off the back burner by pressing ahead with lobbying and legislation plans they hope will reinvigorate reform efforts. By honing in on national lawmakers they believe are sympathetic or can be swayed to support their cause and drawing on voters who said reform was a top priority, many immigrant rights advocates are striving to make headway at a time when the economy has become the top priority. "We're not going to just be chanting, 'Yes we can! Yes we can!'"...

The US Census has released its employment documents and they are an eye-full. US Census Form D-262 of 23 June 2009 indicates who is eligible for employment as a census taker. To be eligible for the job, non-citizens are eligible if they present One Each from Lists A, or B, plus one from C. List A is the toughest: US passport (expired or unexpired) Permanent Resident or Alien Registration Card Unexpired foreign passport Employment Authorization Document Form I-766, I-688, I-688A, I-688B Then there’s List B: Drivers License or state-issued ID ID card issued by local, state, or federal government School...

Debate over Health Care to Illegal Aliens will Continue after August Recess Updated Wednesday, July 29, 2009, 1:42 PM Blue Dog Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee have struck a deal with the House leadership that will prevent a floor vote on the health care reform bill before the August recess. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has been optimistic on holding a vote before the House breaks at the end of the week, but key details of the bill, including the coverage of illegal aliens, remain topics for debate. Although the bill contains a section that excludes illegal...

Maverick senator should battle Supreme Court appointment. It's time for Sen. John McCain to step up to the plate on an issue he usually leaves to others. The Arizona Republican ought to fight hard against the confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. Mr. McCain is usually not a partisan warrior on the subject of judges. But that's a reason why his active involvement would be effective. As the Republican Party's most recent presidential standard bearer, he commands more attention than almost any other senator in his party. As a man with a reputation for principled independence, his...

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., drew praise from across the country Wednesday for his speech explaining his Senate Judiciary Committee vote for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. Graham, a second-term senator and military lawyer from Seneca, S.C., was the only Republican to back President Barack Obama's high court pick Tuesday in the judiciary panel's 13-6 confirmation vote. "I gladly give her my vote because I think she meets the qualifications test that was used in (confirming Justices Antonin) Scalia and (Ruth Bader) Ginsburg," Graham said. Editorial writers from newspapers as diverse as the Greenville (S.C.) News and the Los Angeles Times...

While truth can shine a light, it usually takes lies to generate heat. Take the immigration debate, which is about to get underway again. President Obama has said that he intends to pursue comprehensive immigration reform. And recently, New York Senator Chuck Schumer said that he planned to have a bill written by Labor Day. We can expect six to eight months of spirited debate before Spring 2010, at which point Congress will either have passed the bill or defeated it. Whenever we talk about immigration, much of the heat that is generated comes from myths and assumptions masquerading as...

July 20, 2009 NCLR ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN CHICAGO WILL FEATURE POLICYMAKERS, BUSINESS LEADERS, CELEBRITIES, AND MORE White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett; Cabinet Secretaries Solis, Donovan, and Duncan; Bank of America President and CEO Ken Lewis, and Philanthropist Melinda Gates to Speak at Largest National Latino Event of the Year Washington, DC— NCLR (National Council of La Raza), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, will draw some of the nation’s foremost business and community leaders, government officials, and entertainers to participate in the 2009 NCLR Annual Conference held July 25–28 at McCormick Place...

Video at link.

...unlike in 2006, when Democratic and Republican reformers agreed on what was needed in an immigration law overhaul, this year there's a new fault line. It surfaced when Obama called lawmakers to the White House to discuss immigration...Obama had said little about what he wants in a bill -- in fact, he has been studiously vague. But McCain knew enough about what has (and has not) been said recently by immigration experts close to the White House and those pushing Obama to take up reform that he felt it necessary to launch a preemptive strike. This year, organized labor and...

The city's plans to step up cooperation with federal authorities in efforts to deport illegal immigrants is garnering new debate in the 2009 mayoral contest. Latino advocates have pressed candidates to distance themselves from Mayor Bill White's request that Houston be allowed to participate in two federal programs that, at least within the confines of the city's jails, would put police officers in the immigration enforcement business. While each of the four major candidates generally opposes diverting too many resources to immigration enforcement, they all support the thrust of the city's new effort to screen jail inmates and turn over...

--- Date: Thursday, July 16, 2009, 10:14 PM From the Desk of: Steve Elliott, President, Grassfire.org Alliance We've just learned that The National Council of La Raza has issued a strong, but transparent plea to lawmakers that universal health care should include illegal aliens. From their site, they are "strongly urg[ing] President Obama and Congress to make every effort to ensure that health care reform reaches all communities." They also added that they aren't the slightest bit interested in any citizenship or eligibility testing. After reading this obscene statement, I almost fell out of my chair. The audacity of this...

McConnell, Bunning, Inhofe, and Roberts say no but Snowe, Lugar, and Martinez say yes oh yes. I predicted 75 yays; how’s that shaping up so far? Kennedy and Byrd are out sick, so with every other Democrat plus the three committed Republicans voting yes, we’re at 61. Graham is almost certainly a yes, so that’s 62. Maverick and Kay Bailey Hutchison are both running in states with huge Latino populations next year and Cornyn, as head of the NRSC, is now a party spokesman and can’t risk being seen as, ahem, “intolerant,” so there’s 65. Grassley, Collins, and Voinovich are...

Berkeley-based "Latino MoveOn" ticks off Rush and O'Reilly The two-month-old Berkeley liberal online hub called Presente -- which wants to be the Latino MoveOn -- has scored the progressive daily double: It has ticked off both Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly. How: It is airing a radio ad this week in on Spanish-language stations in St. Pete and Orlando, Fla. calling out El Rushbo for referring to Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor as a "racist" and a "bigot." It called on local GOP Rep. John Mica to rebuke Rush's comments. Uh, not a high chance of that happening. Even if...

(snip) Students spent a week visiting national monuments, learning how democratic institutions function. They also met with Rep. Ed Pastor, D-Ariz., and U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz."She's a very bright student and her sister, Julieta, went last year," Cruz said. "Close-Up gives students the chance to open their eyes to other lifestyles and the variety of opportunities available in other parts of the country." While in Washington, D.C., in mid-June, Ariana visited the Capitol buildings where students had workshops on how a bill becomes a law. She says she "fell in love" with the city and she wants to prepare...

Sometimes good advice comes from the most unlikely of places. In this case, it comes from a Bush. In an interview with Tucker Carlson for Esquire magazine, Gov. Jeb Bush stated the most obvious fact of American electoral politics today: if the GOP is to rise again, it has to stop hating on Hispanics– or at least it has to stop appearing to be hating on Hispanics! He’s talking about you, Tom Tancredo, non-office-holding cable-news ranter. [T]he demographics are going against us. Alex [Castellanos, Republican media consultant] told me today, for example, that there is not a district in California...

Sen. John McCain touched on a variety of topics with The Daily Courier while visiting Prescott July 4, from single-payer health care to a revived push for a national scenic area designation in the Sedona area. . . . . . Other topics with McCain included: . . . . . * Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. McCain said he hasn't decided how he will vote on Sotomayor, especially since he still needs to talk to fellow Sen. Jon Kyl about her. Kyl serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“We believe that the coup was not legal,” the president told reporters on Monday, “and that President Zelaya remains the president of Honduras, the democratically elected president there.” The administration has not yet officially designated the overthrow of Zelaya as a coup d’etat, but Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “We do think that this has evolved into a coup.” The official view of the transition makes a difference to the amount of U.S. aid that can be sent to Honduras. Regardless of the official position, however, the president apparently enjoyed saying the word coup, perhaps to show off his...

The Senate passed today a $838 billion stimulus plan that did not include E-Verify, a mechanism to check whether workers are legal immigrants or U.S. citizens. While Senate Democrats blocked the E-Verify amendment from being voted on, the House has voted 417-2 in favor of including the worker identity checking program in its version of the stimulus package. The fight over E-Verify, or Basic Pilot, now moves to the House-Senate conference where the differences between the two economic recovery packages will be hammered out in negotiations. Proponents and opponents of the E-Verify measure have targeted the legislative negotiations as a...

GREGORY: ...the potential of revisiting a second stimulus come the fall. Do you think that’s appropriate? GRAHAM: Yes, I think we should revisit it and make sure that it’s focused on jobs, not adding to the debt. If you had another vote in the Senate or the House, I think it would be redone, it would be more focused on job creation, because it clearly has not helped jobs, has added to the debt, and I think it just missed its mark. So I’d love to revisit it.(snip) GRAHAM: I can be a leader on an issue, quite frankly. I...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 25, 2009 Contact: Francisco Lopez, Executive Director: (503) 269-5694 Erik Sorensen, Communications Director: (503) 488-0263 Historic White House Meeting on Immigration a Complete Success Roadmap to Immigration Reform makes a strong and positive beginning Salem, Ore--Today members of Congress from both houses and from both sides of the aisle met at the White House for an historic working session on Immigration Reform. The White House meeting, which was postponed from last week, was rescheduled for today after immigration reform proponents generated over 200,000 faxes, 30,000 phone calls, and 3,300 personal notes calling on the President to...

On Monday, June 15, the National Council of La Raza (La Raza), an open borders advocacy group, issued a statement calling upon Congress to ensure that illegal aliens are given health benefits if and when Congress considers health care reform. La Raza's statement "strongly urge[d] President Obama and Congress to make every effort to ensure that health care reform reaches all communities" in the United States, and stressed that "one out of every three uninsured persons and roughly 40% of all uninsured children [in the United States] are Latino," and demanded "health care reform that makes coverage affordable and accessible...