Free Republic

LITTLE ROCK (AP) -- Arkansas Health Department director Dr. Fay Boozman, appointed to the post in 1999 after an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate, died Saturday in an apparent farm accident. Boozman was 58 years old. He is survived by his wife, Vickie; their three children; his brother, U.S. Rep. John Boozman, R-Ark.; and their mother, who lives in Fort Smith. Officials said Fay Boozman was working by himself in his barn in Rogers when part of the barn gave way and crushed him at 4 p.m. Saturday. The Boozman family didn't want further details released. "The family...

LITTLE ROCK (AP) -- Former Arkansas congressman and U.S. Homeland Security undersecretary Asa Hutchinson has been named chairman of a private Washington law firm's homeland security practice but will be moving him family to Little Rock. Hutchinson told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he took the position at Venable LLP in Washington because the firm allowed him to make his primary residence in Little Rock and establish his own consulting firm, Hutchinson Security Strategies, in Arkansas. "Venable gave me an opportunity to head up their homeland security practice in a way that's consistent with me pursuing personal and...

LITTLE ROCK (AP) -- Lt. Gov. Win Rockefeller has informed state Republican officials that he will definitely run for governor in 2006. Rockefeller stated his intentions in a letter dated Monday to members of the state Republican Party, state committee and executive committee. "I want you to be the first to know," Rockefeller said. "I look forward to working with you in the coming months to bring about a new era of excellence for Arkansas." He said he would formally announce his candidacy after the Legislature adjourns. He was not immediately available for comment Thursday. In his letter, Rockefeller...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Asa Hutchinson told a newspaper he plans to resign his post with the Homeland Security Department on Monday after he was passed over twice by the Bush administration to be secretary of the department. Hutchinson, a former Arkansas congressman and former federal drug czar, is the undersecretary for border and transportation security issues. He said his resignation would be effective March 1 to allow a more seamless transition when secretary-designate Michael Chertoff takes over the department from Tom Ridge. "It was just a good time to change for me personally and for the department," Hutchinson...

Illegalize illegals: Time for showdown in open frontier By WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY JR. The new intelligence law, courtesy of 9/11, is mystifying because it does not face directly what is the most prominent threat to homeland security. It is: inimical action by non-Americans. All the people who participated in 9/11 were foreigners, here under various auspices. And yet the bill that has evolved from the findings of the 9/11 commission reads like an elocutionary exercise by a national committee to avoid saying anything unpleasant about unpleasant people born abroad. Specifically, the threat at this moment is from foreign terrorism. The...

Good evening. In August, The Investigators on Eyewitness News 4 first reported the possible threat of terrorists using the Arizona/Mexico border to cross into the U.S. While local government officials and immigration advocates questioned the validity of such a threat, our report, "Terrorist Alley," gained national attention. Just a few weeks ago, high-level sources told a Washington newspaper that Chechen terrorists have entered the U.S. through our state. Now, we've uncovered even more evidence that the threat along our border is real. "The story you did was 100% accurate. It showed what's happening on the border on a daily basis....

Why won't the elites in this country face up to the illegal immigration crisis we are facing? Is it all politics, or like the reaction from blue state pundits to President Bush's reelection, do they just know better than the rest of us? Asa Hutchinson, the head of this country's border control efforts, told The Washington Times several months ago that Americans lack the desire to tackle the illegal immigration issue, implying somehow that it was mean-spirited to throw people out of the country once they're here.

Yet fear of offending the race and rights lobbies has trumped national security at DHS. This spring, for example, Asa Hutchinson — the department's undersecretary for Border and Transportation Security and now a contender for the top job — shut down a successful border-patrol initiative to catch illegal aliens.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Tucked into last week's otherwise predictable California election results lay a cautionary tale about the election year's most uncovered issue: illegal immigration. Republican Rep. David Dreier, the 24-year Los Angeles-area veteran who chairs the powerful House Rules committee, won re-election to his House seat with just under 54 percent of the vote, down from 64 percent in 2002. His Democratic opponent, Cynthia Matthews, won almost 43 percent of the vote, despite spending just over $31,000 in her campaign, compared to more than $900,000 spent by Dreier. A Libertarian candidate won 3.5 percent of the vote. While...

Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) considered calling for a top Bush administration official to resign after reading his recent comments on enforcing immigration laws, according to sources.Upset with Undersecretary for Border and Transportation Security Asa Hutchinson's remark that it would not be realistic to enforce current immigration laws, Tancredo, a staunch supporter of more immigration laws, contemplated calling for the administration officials resignation.The two Republicans planned last night to discuss their differences, and it is not expected that Tancredo will ask for Hutchinson to step down.Hutchinson last week told The Washington Times that it would be unrealistic to say that officials...

Letters to the Editor The cost of illegal immigration Regarding "Rounding up all illegals 'not realistic' " (Page 1, Friday) by Jerry Seper: Asa Hutchinson has once again clearly demonstrated that he is not up to the task of protecting the U.S. borders. His statements and inaction show that rich bureaucrats have little view of reality from the gated communities in which they live. Mr. Hutchinson speaks of a lack of will on the part of the American people to uproot illegal aliens in the United States. How did Mr. Hutchinson arrive at such a conclusion? The only lack of...

It is this reporter's opinion that there is one way to shut off and bring a grinding halt to the illegal alien invasion of America... and that is to enforce the Federal Immigration and Nationality Act, Section 8. Let's put meaning into the words: "Any person who encourages or induces an alien to reside knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that residence is in violation of law shall be punished as provided for each alien in respect to whom such a violation occurs be fined under Title 18, imprisoned more than 5 years, or both." It speaks of...

Since 1998, the federal government has fined just four companies in San Diego County and none in Riverside County for hiring illegal immigrants ---- and those statistics seem to paint a very different picture than the one recently described by Undersecretary of Homeland Security Asa Hutchinson. At an Aug. 13 town-hall meeting on illegal immigration held in Temecula, Hutchinson touted the more than 500 investigations of companies the federal government has recently conducted nationwide. Of those, 179 were in Southern California, he said. And while a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman said last week that the number of investigations...

A few weeks ago, Jerry Seper at The Washington Times wrote a well researched three part series titled: "FREE PASS: America's losing fight against illegals."[1] It is still there for anyone interested in catching up on the topic. Last week, Seper struck yet again, this time describing the "Limits sought on Border Patrol" agents. According to Seper: "The Department of Homeland Security wants to restrict the U.S. Border Patrol's arrest of illegal aliens in the nation's interior, concerned that the recent apprehension of 450 illegals by agents in inland areas of Southern California failed to consider the 'sensitivities' of those...

Border Patrol union says new rules 'muzzle' critics of the agency BEN FOX Associated Press TEMECULA, Calif. - New labor rules proposed by the Department of Homeland Security would muzzle internal critics of the Border Patrol by making it easier to punish and fire agents, who have often been vocal critics of management policies, union officials said. The new regulations would take effect upon their release, expected in late summer or early fall. As proposed, they would make significant changes to rules covering some 50,000 Homeland Security employees, including immigration, agricultural and customs inspectors on the border. Homeland Security...

Former Rep. Asa Hutchinson (R-Ark.) has signaled to the White House that he will challenge Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D) if asked, knowledgeable GOP sources said Tuesday.

Arkansas Republicans are growing increasingly desperate to find a challenger to take on Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln next year. For months, Little Rock Republicans pinned their hopes on either Gov. Mike Huckabee or Asa Hutchinson, a former congressman and now a Department of Homeland Security undersecretary. But Hutchinson says he’s not running. And Huckabee, who’s been embroiled in a series of highly charged budget and education debates at the state Legislature, says he hasn’t made up his mind. So Republicans are turning to a raft of possible second- and third-tier candidates with limited political experience and no statewide elections under...

rkansas House Republican leader Marvin Parks is mobilizing for a race against Democratic Rep. Vic Snyder in the state's 2nd Congressional District. Snyder's move to "test the waters" is the first good news in recent months for the state GOP, which has had trouble recruiting a candidate to take on Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln. "I felt it was time for me to put together an exploratory committee -- and see if I can generate the excitement and the interest and the financial resources to make a competitive race out of it," said Parks, 42, who represents the 46th District in...

Anyone else just hear a replay of a talk earlier today (19 May) by former Congressman Asa Hutchison, Homeland Defense Undersecretary for Border Control, going into detail about their new USA Visa program and how it will secure our borders at US points of entry?[This aired on CSPAN Radio.]I couldn't believe that talk. IS THIS REALLY BUSH ADMINISTRATION POLICY?!?!Barf.No wonder we are being invaded on the installment plan and the many law abiding guests and immigrants are being slapped in the face and insulted. It guess, listening to that talk, it will continue to happen regardless if the GOP...

As the Arkansas Legislature opened a special session Monday to resolve a $200 million budget dispute, state Republicans were still searching for a candidate to challenge Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln next year. Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee, who had been expected by some party officials to make a decision by late last week, has postponed any announcement for now, GOP leaders said. Gunner DeLay, first vice chairman of the state GOP and a possible Senate contender if Huckabee bows out, said early last week that Huckabee would be meeting with Republican leaders Friday to make his plans known. Marty Ryall, chairman...