Free Republic

The "fiscal drain" of illegal immigrants on American taxpayers is about 6 times the price of deporting them, according to a new study that bolsters the Trump administration's bid to remove criminal illegals and cut overall immigration costs. The Center for Immigration Studies on Thursday said in a new report that deportation costs an average of $10,854. According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, that includes apprehension, detention, and processing. Letting illegal immigrants stay in the U.S., results in a bill to taxpayers of $65,292 "for each illegal immigrant, excluding their descendants," according to Steven A. Camarota, director of research at...

The Justice Department began calling illegal immigrants "illegal aliens," breaking from the Obama-era language of "undocumented," "unauthorized," or "migrants." The change came last month in a press release announcing Attorney General Jeff Sessions' meeting with the families of victims of crimes by illegal immigrants. This week an official statement heralding tougher rules for sanctuary cities also used the term. "So-called 'sanctuary' policies make all of us less safe because they intentionally undermine our laws and protect illegal aliens who have committed crimes," the document read. Some were outraged at the language switch, noting that "word choice is important," as Chicago...

Homeland Security triggered a waiver Tuesday allowing the department to bypass environmental and other land protection laws in order to begin building and testing President Trump’s new border wall. The waivers apply to San Diego, where officials already plan to upgrade miles of existing fence, but where they’ll also stage a competition this summer to build and test prototypes for Mr. Trump’s wall. It’s the first in what’s likely to be a series of waivers that will be needed as wall construction ramps up. Officials insisted they will still try to be mindful of local impacts as they work on...

Police in New York City expressed frustration about not being able to stop naked panhandlers from harassing the public because most of them are illegal aliens. Their status makes it difficult to enforce tickets because of Mayor de Blasio’s sanctuary city policies. The city established “Designated Activity Zones” (DAZ) in 2016 to provide a place for “costumed characters” a place to work for tips. Some of these panhandlers, called desnudas, are nude women wearing painted on costumes. Law enforcement officers frequently decline to ticket panhandling violations because most of them are illegal aliens, the Daily Mail reported. A proposal to...

The news of the day concerns a repeat offender, so we will begin with the news, then move on to the analysis: Sergio Jose Martinez, age 31, having been deported twenty times previously, was arrested in Portland, Oregon on July 24, having broken into the home of a 65-year-old woman, where he raped and beat her, then stole her car, a 2011 Toyota Prius. Now held on two million dollars bond, the police and prosecutors are gathering evidence for trial. Mr. Martinez’ long criminal record includes both felony and misdemeanor convictions over the years, such as repeated border-jumping, burglary, and...

There has been shift in the language that the U.S. Department of Justice is using in its press releases, and it’s not sitting well with some. The DOJ, under the leadership of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, has now begun using the term “illegal aliens” to refer to immigrants who do not have the proper paperwork to be in the United States. Advocates for immigration reform contend that the term “illegal” is a “racial slur” and believe it is dehumanizing. Instead, they prefer if the term “undocumented immigrant” is used. “They’re using a legally inaccurate term that’s deployed to unfairly label...

Thousands of undocumented immigrants in Merced County don’t have health coverage, but advocates supporting the #Health4All campaign say there are ways Merced County could help that could possibly benefit everyone. This week, Building Healthy Communities Merced, or BHC, a nonprofit group funded by the California Endowment, released a report outlining ways the county could potentially provide services for undocumented immigrants. BHS has estimated there are about 25,000 undocumented residents living in Merced County. Last year in California, undocumented children under age 19 became eligible for full-scope health benefits under Medi-Cal, that was able to give thousands of children insurance. Elizabeth...

President Trump gave an impassioned speech on Friday, vowing to "destroy the vile criminal cartel" MS-13 -- but some in the media lambasted him for talking tough about the brutal gang, and instead presented sympathetic coverage of the group known for carrying out gruesome murders. Trump's Friday speech on Long Island, where MS-13 gang members have wreaked havoc, highlighted his plan to crack down on gang violence and enforce immigration policies to prevent criminals from illegally entering the United States. "[MS-13 has] transformed peaceful parks and beautiful quiet neighborhoods into blood-stained killing fields. They’re animals. We cannot tolerate as a...

The Justice Department issued a new warning to sanctuary cities Tuesday, saying they must prove they fully cooperate with immigration agents in order to claim federal law enforcement grant money. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said jurisdictions that don’t allow federal agents into their prisons and jails, and that refuse to give at least 48 hours’ notice before releasing illegal immigrants, will lose money.

WASHINGTON The White House signaled on Wednesday that President Donald Trump will not support a new bipartisan plan to protect young undocumented immigrants — so-called “Dreamers” — from being placed back in line for deportation. A White House official told McClatchy that Trump would not sign a new DREAM Act being crafted by a bipartisan team led by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. and Dick Durbin, D-Ill.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Thomas Homan said Tuesday that he plans on sending hundreds of agents to sanctuary cities in the near future as part of a major crackdown on illegal immigrants. Homan told the Washington Examiner Tuesday that he plans to address "ludicrous" sanctuary cities. "In the America I grew up in, cities didn't shield people who violated the law," Homan told the publication. “What I want to get is a clear understanding from everybody, from the congressmen to the politicians to law enforcement to those who enter the country illegally, that ICE is open for...

Days after Judicial Watch exposed a new policy banning Phoenix police from contacting the feds after arresting illegal aliens, alarming pressure on the city council and chief of police has forced officials in Arizona’s largest city to postpone the order. Crafted at a Hispanic advisory committee that promotes open borders, the policy also prohibits officers from asking about suspects’ immigration status. The new policy’s two principle measures violate key provisions of a state law upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court and leave the city vulnerable to costly lawsuits. In the aftermath of Judicial Watch’s story, which included a copy of...

House Republicans said Tuesday they’ve included $1.6 billion in funding for President Trump’s border wall in their new homeland security spending bill, setting up fight with Democrats who have vowed to block any wall funding — even if it means sending the government into a partial shutdown. GOP leaders said the $1.6 billion fully meets Mr. Trump’s request to begin wall construction, which includes 32 miles of new border fencing in Texas, 28 miles of levee wall along the Rio Grande Valley, also in Texas, and 14 miles of replacement fence in San Diego. The bill also adds 500 new...

President Donald Trump’s executive orders to increase enforcement and follow existing immigration law is leading some illegal aliens to self-deport. In a report by the Pueblo Chieftain, sources told the local newspaper that illegal immigrants, fearful of being prosecuted and deported by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), are self-deporting primarily back to Mexico. “Sources report that some undocumented families have left the area for Mexico rather than run the risk of having a parent arrested or even sentenced to prison for immigration violations,” the newspaper reported. According to the report, families began self-deporting after a total of 14 illegal...

The federal crackdown on illegal immigration is causing anxiety among Europeans who have long been able to fly under the radar even though they're living in the country illegally. Immigration and Customs Enforcement data provided to The Associated Press show that more than 1,300 were deported from October 1, 2016 through June 24. That pace is likely to exceed last year's federal fiscal year total of roughly 1,450 European deportees. Romanians make up the largest share of European deportees, followed by citizens of Spain, the United Kingdom, Russia and Poland.

Federal immigration officials negligently allowed a Kansas City, Kan., man to remain in the country illegally before he allegedly killed five men in a 2016 shooting spree, according to a recently filed lawsuit. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., by the families of two of the five men who Pablo Serrano-Vitorino is now charged with killing. Serrano-Vitorino had previously been deported after he was convicted of a felony in 2003. But according to the suit, Serrano-Vitorino re-entered the country illegally and had several brushes with local law enforcement agencies before March 2016, when he...

The Obama-holdover chosen by DHS Secretary John Kelly to direct Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for the Trump Administration helped author Obama’s controversial immigration priorities and executive orders, and he also publicly praised them. ... Trump’s campaign largely centered around opposing former resident Barack Obama’s executive orders on immigration and the release of criminal illegal aliens into U.S. communities. Acting ICE Director Homan was the Enforcement and Removal Director (ERO) for resident Obama and even received an elite award from the former resident for his efforts on immigration. Homan has come under fire from the ICE Council for being Obama’s...

Texas has put President Trump over a barrel with its threat to sue to stop the 2012 deportation amnesty for Dreamers, said legal analysts, calling the state’s case as close to a slam-dunk as possible. Known in Washington as DACA, the amnesty was started by President Obama — and was roundly criticized in last year’s campaign by Mr. Trump. Now in office, though, Mr. Trump has reversed himself and kept DACA intact, approving tens of thousands of new and renewal applications. But the program has been on borrowed time for more than a year, ever since a series of court...

$10 million Reproductive Health Equity Act approved with no GOP votes, advances to state SenateAn Oregon bill requiring insurers to provide their customers with free abortions—including illegal immigrants—has advanced to the state Senate after winning approval Saturday in the state House with no Republican votes. House Democrats pushed through the Reproductive Health Equity Act after a nearly two-hour debate over the bill, which would allocate $10.2 million for services related to contraception, sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy, including vasectomies and abortions, in the 2017-19 budget period. About $500,000 would be earmarked for the Oregon Health Plan, the state’s Medicaid program,...

On Thursday, the House voted 228-195 against sanctuary cities. Not surprisingly, it went down along party lines. Am I the only one who finds it hard to believe that a member of the U.S. House would support a city that violates federal laws? Would we have a similar vote if some U.S. cities decided to make abortion illegal? or not issue "same-sex marriage" licenses? or a sanctuary cities for employers who refuse to contribute to Social Security? or citizens who refuse to file tax returns? Would Democrats be OK with that? My guess is that Planned Parenthood might object to...