Free Republic

Helen Beristain voted for Donald Trump even though she is married to an undocumented immigrant. In November, she thought Trump would deport only people with criminal records -- people he called "bad hombres" -- and that he would leave families intact. "I don't think ICE is out there to detain anyone and break families, no," Beristain told CNN affiliate WSBT in March, shortly after her husband, Roberto Beristain was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In a statement to CNN, ICE said, "On April 4, 2017, officers with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO)...

At the end of a lonely country road in upstate New York, a taxi pulls up. Five people get out and stand uncertainly in the freezing rain - two men from Yemen, a woman from Eritrea and her two small boys. They've come to flee America through its northern border, in to Canada. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police waiting on the other side of the snowy ditch tell them they will be arrested if they cross at this unofficial border point. The two men, the woman and her sons take just a few steps over the invisible border and in...

In California, public education is a right afforded to all children from kindergarten through 12th grade, but an anti-immigration activist is looking to strip undocumented children's access to public schools. "This initiative would prohibit illegal aliens from attending public schools in the Yucaipa-Calimesa school district," said Joseph Turner of American Children First. "It would also prohibit children of illegal aliens from attending for free they would have to pay a non-resident tuition fee." Turner filed a ballot initiative which requires 3,200 signatures to have it placed on an election ballot. The community of Yucaipa is located 87 miles east of...

It's Undocuweek at UC Merced. Undocuweek is a five day series of seminars to help undocumented students and their family members. Alejando Delgadillo works closely with undocumented students at the university, he says ever since President Trump was elected many them have not been able to focus on school. "He promised to deport 11 million people, build a wall, and the recent actions of the Trump administration ICE in particular has really put a deal of fright in these communities," said Alejandro Delgadillo, Associate Director of the Calvin E. Bright Success Center. Delgadillo says Undocuweek will have seminars that address...

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced steps on Monday to prevent the fraudulent use of H1B visas, used by employers to bring in specialized foreign workers temporarily, which appeared to fall short of President Donald Trump's campaign promises to overhaul the program. Trump had promised to end the lottery system for H1B visas, which gives each applicant an equal chance at 65,000 positions each year. Lobbyists for businesses who rely on H1B visas, commonly used by the tech sector, had expected Trump to upend the lottery in favor of a system that prioritized workers who are highly skilled and...

Just 24 days into Donald Trump's presidency, more than 680 undocumented immigrants were forced to leave the country in a series of mass raids. That's an average of about 28 people each day. Now, 27-year-old web developer and designer Celso Mireles, once an undocumented immigrant himself, is developing an open source app that will show people exactly when and where these raids are happening, as Vice's Motherboard reports. While still in the development phase, RedadAlertas (or "raid alerts") plans to give verified, secure information about when the government sends in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to round people...

Massachusetts State Rep. Michelle DuBois posted a warning on her Facebook page yesterday saying that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents would be conducting a raid in the city of Brockton, MA. DuBois claimed the warning came to her from a “friend in the Latin community.” The warning stated, “I have a message for the immigrant community of Brockton. Please be careful on Wednesday 29. ICE will be in Brockton on that day.” It continued, “If you are undocumented don’t go out on the street. If there is a knock on the door of your house and you don’t know...

Speaker Paul Ryan is vowing that Congress won’t let the federal government shut down at the end of April and says lawmakers will pass a package that will fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year, through September. “We’re not gonna have a government shutdown,” the Wisconsin Republican said in an interview that aired Thursday with“CBS This Morning” host Norah O’Donnell. “The president doesn’t want to have a government shutdown. It’s funding the government from April 28 to September 30.” Congress must pass a new spending package by April 28 or the government will shut down. Last year,...

These five apps and tools arm undocumented immigrants with knowledge, safety and moral support without compromising privacy. 1. Notifica With a press of a button, undocumented immigrants who are the subject of a raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement will be able to use the Notifica app to send customized messages to 15 personal contacts. The app hasn't launched yet, but it has more than 7,000 people on the wait list to download it. 2. Arrived A hub for immigration resources, Arrived displays the latest immigration news and educates users on the deportation process. It also offers English lessons, answers...

President Trump’s proposed border wall has been hotly debated as a political, economic and human rights issue ever since it emerged as a signature part of his campaign platform. But it’s also a major conservation issue, wildlife biologist Jeff Corwin argues. “The impact will be huge. It will be an environmental catastrophe,” Corwin told CBS News on Wednesday. Corwin, a nature conservationist known for his television work on the cable network Animal Planet, is concerned that the wall will dramatically disrupt what has been “nature’s corridor through North and South America” for millions of years now. At least 89 endangered...

A Massachusetts law enforcement official testifying before Congress on Tuesday called for leaders of sanctuary cities to be arrested. Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson told the House Subcommittee on Illegal Immigration that sanctuary cities “have become magnets for illegal aliens, some of which have violent criminal records.” “If these sanctuary cities are going to harbor and conceal criminal illegal aliens from ICE, which is in direct violation of Title 8 of the U.S. Code, federal arrest warrants should be issued for their elected officials,” Hodgson said. “Our citizens would be safer if we never stopped enforcing immigration law and if...

Cafes, churches and playing fields are quieter than usual, as undocumented immigrants lay low amid the crackdown United States, New York - With such slogans as "Resiste" and "No Deportaciones" emblazoned on the walls, there is little doubt that La Morada, a restaurant in a gritty district of New York, is more than your average taco-serving Mexican diner. Sure, their Oaxaca-style tortilla, mole sauce and steaming hot chocolate delight locals. But the Saavedra family that owns and runs the eatery sees itself as a Bronx bastion against a revived immigration crackdown under United States President Donald Trump. "There's obviously a...

A Mexican man who entered the United States illegally almost 20 years ago is set to be deported on Friday, amid an uptick in detentions by immigration agents emboldened by President Donald Trump — whom the man’s own wife voted for. Roberto Beristain, 43, has been in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers since he was detained on Feb. 6 in Indianapolis, department spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa told BuzzFeed News. The Mexican national, who owns a steak restaurant in the Indiana town of Granger, arrived in the country in 1998 before being detained two years later and...

he Nebraska Democratic Party is welcoming refugees with open arms, welcome baskets … and voter registration forms. A donation drive organized by the NDP collected some 50 gift baskets for refugees. Each contained items like diapers and kitchen utensils, a welcome letter from the Nebraska Democratic Party signed by its chairwoman Jane Kleeb, and a voter registration form, according to a video posted to Facebook by the Nebraska Democratic Party. The video, posted Saturday March 18, discusses the details of the “Refugee Welcome Basket” project and was recorded at the Nebraska Democratic Party’s Spring Meeting.

Two illegal alien students rape a 14-year-old and no one on the Left cares —Front Page Mag: Maryland is moving forward with “sanctuary state” legislation shielding illegal aliens even after the rape of a 14-year-old girl by two illegals in a Maryland high school bathroom during school hours last week outraged state residents from Hagerstown to Ocean City. In a state under siege by the MS-13 criminal organization, largely made up of ethnic Salvadorans, Gov. Larry Hogan (R) promised to do “everything we can” to quash the legislation while it is before lawmakers and said he would veto it immediately...

ROCKVILLE, Md. – Hundreds of outraged parents pressed Montgomery County, Maryland school officials for answers during a recent meeting at Rockville High School, where police allege two illegal immigrant students brutally raped a 14-year-old girl in a bathroom last week.Media was banned from the school property Tuesday evening as parents, grandparents and other community members packed the meeting to express outrage by the tragedy, which school officials characterized as an “event.”(video at link)Virtually everyone who streamed out of the meeting said school officials did little to alleviate their concerns about safety, and repeatedly dodged questions about the dangers of illegal...

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. - A 19-year-old has been arrested for his connection to the murders of Derek Benjamin Greer, 15, and Natalie Partida, 16. Gustavo Marquez has been booked on two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of kidnapping. Marquez is also facing one count of child abuse resulting in death because Greer was only 15 years old. The arrest is a step forward in the case that began when the teens' bodies were found on the shoulder of Old Pueblo Road about 3/4 of a mile south of Hanover Road on March 12....

Brightly painted murals on high walls look down on the foreign tourists, NGO volunteers and Guatemalan nationals seated around heavy wooden outdoor tables at the Café Red Kat in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala's second largest city. On the face of it, Red Kat is just one more restaurant in the historic center of this growing metropolis. But in reality, this establishment — a restaurant and cultural center — is a social experiment in sustainable economic development created by Guatemalan migrants returned from the United States. The idea for this unique café originated eight years ago when a group of homesick Guatemalan immigrants...

Approximately 30 countries are refusing to accept the deportations of illegal immigrants who have committed serious crimes in the U.S., according to Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar. While these countries are refusing to accept the deportations of these criminals, the U.S. government is still issuing visas and student visas to citizens of those countries, according to the Texan congressman. There is already a law on the books which allows the U.S. to hold visas from a country that is not taking back its criminals, but according to Cuellar, the U.S. is not enforcing it. “We’re not enforcing it, which is amazing....