Free Republic

PHOENIX (Reuters) – The number of illegal immigrants in the United States leveled off at around 11 million last year, ending a two-year slide since the start of the recession, according to a study released on Tuesday. The study by the Pew Hispanic Center noted 11.2 million illegal immigrants living and working in the shadows in the United States in March 2010, virtually unchanged from a year earlier. The report, which drew on U.S. Census Bureau data, noted the number of illegal immigrants in the workforce remained steady at around 8 million. The leveling off last year followed a two-year...

STORYMIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (WSVN) -- A man has been arrested after, officials said, he caused a security scare at a South Florida airport. On Jan. 11, Miami-Dade Police officers stopped Oluwole Aboyade in the Dolphin parking garage at MIA after he reportedly began taking pictures of sensitive areas at the airport. According to a Miami-Dade Police report, an officer said he became alarmed when he saw Aboyade taking pictures of buildings, surveillance cameras, airport runways and restricted areas. When the police approached the Nigerian national, he said he would remain silent. The police report read, "Mr. Aboyade was observed walking...

MARIETTA, Ga. - An illegal immigrant college student whose arrest for a minor traffic violation touched off a wider immigration debate was found guilty Thursday in a suburban Atlanta court of driving without a license... ... Colotl spent 37 days in immigration detention but U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials subsequently agreed to delay action on Colotl's case for a year while she completes her studies. Colotl told reporters before testimony began that she plans to graduate in the spring and wants to stay in the United States. "I've grown up in this country, and I've adopted all the American...

Gov. Deval Patrick says he’ll use his second term to try to implement the rest of an advisory panel’s recent recommendations on immigration reform, including in-state tuition for illegal immigrant students and more English classes. Patrick told immigrant advocates Tuesday that the moves will help better integrate the state’s immigrant population, seventh largest in the country. Last year, an advisory panel released a report on possible Massachusetts immigration reforms, and advocates have been pressing Patrick to push for dozens of recommendations in the report.

An illegal immigrant accused of felony theft will not stand trial. Instead, he was given the chance to go home to Mexico. Damacio Torres-Ochoa, was scheduled in court Monday afternoon in Jefferson County to face charges of theft from an at-risk adult. But Torres-Ochoa never showed up in court. He was in Mexico. "He self deports," said Scott Storey, Jefferson County District Attorney. "He says, 'You know what, I am illegally here, I don't want to fight it, get rid of me.' So what happens? They take him across the border. Do you think he comes back? Well my guess...

A 33-year-old Honduran man is accused of sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl early Tuesday in South Scranton. Santos A. Garcia-Paz fled when the victim immediately told her mother, who called police, according to city Detective Vince Uher. Officers caught Mr. Garcia-Paz a few blocks away. He was arrested and charged with aggravated indecent assault of a child, unlawful contact with minor, indecent assault and corruption of minors. He was held at Lackawanna County Prison in lieu of $50,000 bail. Mr. Garcia-Paz was staying the night at the girl's house, where a relative of his also lived. In an interview with...

Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), the Senate's only Hispanic member, pledged Wednesday to introduce a comprehensive immigration reform bill in the chamber. Sources familiar with the announcement said the bill would be introduced before the Nov. 2 midterm elections, and would closely resemble the reform framework proposed by Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) earlier this year.

".....agents chased a vehicle to the river's edge near Anzalduas Park this morning. The driver swam to Mexico leaving behind his vehicle loaded with drugs. As agents were removing over a thousand pounds of marijuana armed men in Mexico began shooting at agents patrolling on boats."

Turin, 27 August(AKI) - A 19-year-old Moroccan woman suffered second and third degree burns over 20 percent over her body following an late Thursday in the northern industrial city of Turin when attackers threw acid over her. According to a police official, at around 9:00 pm Hasna Beniliha was approached from behind by a man who poured the contents of a bottle on her before escaping on foot. Another three people who were standing near the victim were treated for burns from drops of the acid and released early from hospital. The police official said investigators are working on the...

He came to the United States from Cuba, and since he's been here, he's racked up an extensive criminal record, police say. When he suffered a stroke following a recent arrest, his medical bills hit $400,000. Now, he's paralyzed and in a wheelchair. He needs to be in a nursing home. So what's next for the suspected criminal that's in the country illegally? It's tough to say. But one thing's for sure. Douglas County cannot afford to spend any more money on the man, whose last arrest was for cocaine trafficking. The sheriff's office had to ask the county commission...

NOTE The following text is a quote: August 06, 2010 ICE removes man after investigating a terroristic threat on Metro in January Convicted murder who escaped from jail abroad returned to Panamanian law enforcement WASHINGTON, D.C. - A Panama man convicted of murder in his native country was returned Thursday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Juan Alberto Barrera-Candelaria, 36, illegally entered the United States in 2008 after he escaped from a Panama detention center where he was being held to serve a more than 13 year sentence for murder. In January 2010, ICE special agents assigned to the FBI's...

A 29-page list of 1,300 people accused of being in Utah and the US illegally was mailed anonymously to media outlets and law enforcement agencies last week. It included Latino names, addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, and private health information such as the due dates of babies. Two state employees – identified within the Utah Department of Workforce Services and already placed on administrative leave – could face criminal charges in connection with the list’s release. And state Attorney General Mark Shurtleff says his office is still investigating further leaks. Intentionally releasing a private record in Utah is a...

For a little girl who spent this weekend lying in a Massachusetts hospital, the debate over illegal immigration isn’t... Springfield police have charged 22-year-old Edlizar Mazariegos with aggravated rape of a child with force. Mazariegos, who regularly traveled up and down the East Coast without a driver’s license, is an illegal immigrant. As of this writing, he is on the run from Massachusetts police - likely for the first time ever. He’s certainly had no need to run before. This is, after all, “Welcoming Massachusetts,” where liberal Democrats openly support benefits for criminal immigrants and oppose immigration law enforcement. Gov....

For a little girl who spent this weekend lying in a Massachusetts hospital, the debate over illegal immigration isn’t... Springfield police have charged 22-year-old Edlizar Mazariegos with aggravated rape of a child with force. Mazariegos, who regularly traveled up and down the East Coast without a driver’s license, is an illegal immigrant. As of this writing, he is on the run from Massachusetts police - likely for the first time ever. He’s certainly had no need to run before. This is, after all, “Welcoming Massachusetts,” where liberal Democrats openly support benefits for criminal immigrants and oppose immigration law enforcement. Gov....

The Governor's Office and the state's Children, Youth and Families Department were acting at cross-purposes in May after a high-profile case in which an illegal Mexican immigrant was accused of molesting a 6-year-old girl at an Albuquerque gym. Juan Gonzalez, now 21, had been accused of similar crimes when he was younger, but no one had notified immigration authorities. Enter Gov. Bill Richardson, who announced on May 17 that he was ordering CYFD to start notifying federal immigration authorities when a young illegal immigrant in its care commits a violent crime. At about the same time, though, CYFD was scrapping...

Note: The following text is a quote: Holy Land Foundation Representative Arrested United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade announced today that Mohamad Mustapha Ali Masfaka, a 47-year-old native of Syria, was arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection when he attempted to enter the United States from Canada via the Ambassador Bridge. Mr. Masfaka made his initial appearance in federal court in Detroit on an Indictment charging him with Attempted Naturalization Fraud, False Statements, and Perjury. Joining in the announcement was Brian Moskowitz, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Office of Investigations for Ohio and Michigan...

A passenger in a routine traffic stop attempted to run from police three times before he was booked into the Chelan County Regional Justice Center Thursday, police said. When Wenatchee police stopped the vehicle at about 7:50 p.m. at South Mission and Ferry streets for having a broken mirror, the passenger jumped out and tried to run away, said Sgt. Cherie Smith. The officer tackled the 28-year-old Orondo man, then found a stolen pistol in the vehicle and took both the passenger and 18-year-old driver into custody. While under questioning at the station, the officer had to step away for...

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) -- Paulo Sergio Alfaro-Sanchez, an illegal immigrant being held at a detention center in Washington state, had no idea that the federal government would count him in the census. No one gave him a census form. No one told him his information would be culled from the center's records. But counted he was, along with other illegal immigrants facing deportation in detention centers across the country -

A sudden new twist in the ongoing rhetorical and legal struggle over Arizona's tough new law to round up illegal immigrants. Late Friday night as the Memorial Day weekend began, Arizona's Republican Gov. Jan Brewer, in effect, suspended the state's Democratic attorney general from defending the new law in upcoming legal challenges. The measure, known as S.B. 1070, is due to take effect this summer and, among other things, allows local police under federal guidelines to check the immigration status of people they stop... The governor's abrupt action against Terry Goddard, her likely Democratic opponent in this fall's gubernatorial election,...

Hey, Rep. Moran, how do you say “karma” in Spanish? Michael Moran of Brighton is a staunch supporter of the “sanctuary” approach to illegal immigration we have here in Massachusetts. He voted against the Perry amendment that would require applicants for state benefits to prove they’re here legally. Moran voted for subsidized college tuition for illegals, too. It’s safe to say that no Massachusetts politician has done more to make illegal immigrants feel welcome. Illegal immigrants like 27-year-old Isaias Naranjo, who (ahem) “met” Moran on the streets of Brighton last week. According to Fox 25, Naranjo was driving 60 mph...