Free Republic

SPRINGFIELD - City Councilor Dave Ralston says he's prepared to respond to critics offended by comments he's made in an e-mail calling for local legislation to crack down on illegal immigrants who he believes are "invading" the United States. Ralston is holding firm to his position despite taking heat Wednesday from Mayor Sid Leiken for remarks Ralston sent last week to his fellow city councilors detailing his views on illegal immigration. Ralston's outspoken comments are political dynamite at a time when illegal immigration is being debated intensely across the nation. "We cannot continue to absorb the flow of illegal immigrants,...

Time: if you oppose illegal immigration, you might be a Nazi, or a Klansman, or maybe even a member of the Minutemen. And to think Kaus thought the media was going to line up with the Senate against the House. You’re too young to be so cynical, Mickey. A quick check of the Time archives reveals no mentions whatsoever of “MEChA,” let alone the fact that the lieutenant governor of California and the mayor of Los Angeles once belonged to the organization. If you can find any, let me know and I’ll update here. Meanwhile, it’s a very special edition...

The Washington Post reports this morning that prospects for the Senate's immigration package are dimming, due to House members' concerns about November's election: Republican House members facing the toughest races this fall are overwhelmingly opposed to any deal that provides illegal immigrants a path to citizenship -- an election-year dynamic that significantly dims the prospects that President Bush will win the immigration compromise he is seeking, according to Republican lawmakers and leadership aides. Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) will not allow a vote on a House-Senate compromise that does not have the support of most GOP lawmakers or one that...

WE MUST CONSIDER THIS POSSIBILITY strong message: We are not going to take any affirmative action to insure that the Mexican invasion across our southern border is brought to a halt. We must consider the possibility that these politicians want this invasion to continue because it serves their political needs. For the Democrats, this one is easy. Enabling the invasion is step one. Amnesty for those who have crossed our borders is step two. Step three will be figuring out a way to get those who were once illegal aliens, but by virtue of the amnesty program are illegal no...

Dear (Technogeek): Thank you for writing me about immigration. I understand that this is an issue that evokes very strong reactions. Even before the protests over the last several weeks, the need for comprehensive immigration reform was unmistakable. Over 12 million undocumented immigrants reportedly live in the U.S. Most are here for a better life; they pay taxes and they perform low-paid, unskilled jobs few Americans desire or seek. By forcing these hardworking individuals to remain in the shadows, we risk creating an environment where a minority criminal element can operate unchecked. This situation only threatens our national security and...

DENVER -- Several students at Shaw Heights Middle School have been disciplined for wearing shirts that depict the American flag, an act that is in direct violation of the public school's recent ban on all flags, depictions of flags, or flag colors on student clothing. One student said he was suspended for wearing a DARE program shirt with a flag behind the logo. Another student, Katie Golgart, said she was suspended for wearing a Marine Corps shirt. "I'm gonna going to school and wear another Marine shirt just to show that I support my brother and what he does," Haas...

Rep. Peter King, R-NY, said Sunday that the immigration reform bill that he's co-sponsoring with Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wisc., would have no impact whatsoever on Catholic Church programs that minister to illegal immigrants. "There's absolutely nothing in this bill that is going to put at risk any nun or priest or social worker or social agency," King told WABC Radio's "Religion on the Line." "There's been language in our law for over 50 years saying it's wrong to aid and abet or encourage illegal immigrants to come into the country or stay in the country," King said. "And that's aimed...

CNN's Bill Tucker reports on a town in texas where over half the residents are illegal aliens.

‘I Watch My Back’ July 25,2005 Cari Hammerstrom The Monitor Oil and gas workers report attacks by undocumented immigrants Aurelio and Carolyn Talamantez, along with their trusty chow dog, Arcas, hunker down in the shade beneath the awning of a small trailer and watch cars whiz by on a deserted stretch of U.S. Highway 83 for most of the day. Judging by their log book, they are only occasionally interrupted by the workers at H&P’s Rig 142 going to and from their job drilling for natural gas on the Ridge Crest Dominguez Ranch, a roughly 1,500-acre tract of land bordered...

ICE Honors Citizen Soldier Heroes As the nation celebrates the 229th anniversary of its= Declaration of Independence, ICE offices all over the country= are honoring their citizen-soldiers who have courageously served= and sacrificed to help the people of Iraq and Afghanistan secure= their independence and freedoms=2E More ICE Agents Arrest 34 in San Juan Project SAN JUAN, P=2ER=2E=97ICE agents, working with other federal, state= and local law enforcement agencies in Puerto Rico, arrested 34= persons on gun and drug charges in the Vista Hermosa public= housing project in the municipality of Rio Piedras, Puerto= Rico=2E=09=09 More ICE Joins Forces with...

Raul Garcia-Gomez, 19, is suspected of shooting two Denver police officers at about 1 a.m. Sunday after they refused to let him re-enter a baptismal party. Detective Donald Young, 44, died at the scene after being shot from behind three times in the back and head.

Behind the counter at the busy Hart Lane driver testing center here, Rosa King looked over the man's fistful of documents, including a Mexican birth certificate and a separate, typewritten English translation. The translation, Ms. King explained in Spanish, was not exact enough. It would have to be redone. When the man returned, he would be eligible for a card bearing his photograph, date of birth, height, eye color and the words "Not Valid for Identification." Tennessee is one of only two states that issue two different driver's permits: a license, for citizens and permanent residents; and a certificate for...

When opponents of the “Real ID” legislation announced a rally for illegal immigrants and their allies in Montgomery County, MD, there was one immigration-related group I was absolutely certain would not show up: The Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the people responsible for actually enforcing our immigration laws. Casa de Maryland and others claimed 5,000 people would gather on Saturday to protest the “Real ID” Act working its way through Congress, and many of these people would be illegal immigrants themselves, we were told. If I were looking for immigration criminals, it’s exactly where I would be. That’s why...

Latino and immigrant support groups are mobilizing against the proposed Real ID Act, a federal law that would prohibit states from issuing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. Immigrant support groups say Real ID would make roads less safe and could erode national security, not improve it. "It will make millions of people that live in our nation hide even more," said Gustavo Torres, executive director of Casa de Maryland, a Latino advocacy group. "They are going to keep driving, keep working, but now they are going to be even more scared to participate in our society, to cooperate with police...

"Congressman Reconquista": Immigration Reformers Not Welcome In GOP by William Norman Grigg May 7, 2005 According to Utah Congressman Chris Cannon, a shameless flack for the illegal immigrant lobby, those committed to protecting our borders cannot be true Republicans. During a May 4 Washington, D.C. forum sponsored by the Latino Coalition, Representative Chris Cannon (R-Utah), a congressional point man for the Bush administration’s illegal immigrant amnesty proposal, suggested that fellow Republican congressman Tom Tancredo of Colorado "ought to reconsider his membership in the Republican Party," reported the Rocky Mountain News. While Rep. Tancredo, like most politicians, has a lot to...

LIKE MANY other southern Arizonans, I am deeply grateful to the few dozen vigilantes calling themselves Minutemen who set up camp along the Arizona-Mexico border last month. That few people around here were much impressed with a bunch of retirees in camouflage playing soldier, and that there turned out to be almost as many reporters as patriots on the ground, was irrelevant: We were just thrilled by the publicity. We’ve been trying to get the rest of the country to notice what’s going on down here for years. U.S. immigration policy has turned the Arizona desert between Tucson and the...

A new opinion poll by Zogby International indicates Americans are hardly pleased with the Bush administration on the subject of illegal immigration. The poll, cited on CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight" program yesterday, noted a huge majority – 81 percent – believes local and state police should help federal authorities enforce laws against illegal immigration. Only 14 percent disagreed. Voters were also asked, "Do you support or oppose the Bush administration's proposal to give millions of illegal aliens guest worker status and the opportunity to become citizens?" Only 35 percent gave their support, and 56 percent said no. "A majority opposed...

Friday, May 06, 2005 - SACRAMENTO -- Stymied in his efforts to allow illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses, Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, has found a backdoor way around the ban with a proposal that would exempt undocumented motorists from vehicle-impound laws. Under current law, for 30 days police can impound the vehicle of a motorist caught driving without a valid license. Cedillo's bill would exempt those who don't have a license simply because they are not legal U.S. residents. Cedillo said law enforcement resources should be dedicated to going after serious driving offenses such as drunk driving, not...

WASHINGTON - Rep. Tom Tancredo ought to reconsider his membership in the Republican Party, a Utah congressman said Wednesday after the two GOP lawmakers put an intraparty rift over immigration policy on full public display. "I think he ought to consider his views and decide whether they're consistent with the Republican Party," Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, said of the Colorado congressman after the two clashed repeatedly during a forum sponsored by the Latino Coalition, a Hispanic business group. Advertisement Cannon, a leading proponent of President Bush's proposed guest- worker program, has had a running feud with Tancredo, an opponent of...

After the White House news conference this morning, Bill Kristol on Fox News praised President Bush's remarks about "immigration reform" as "eloquent." Beg to differ. The president's open-borders statements were empty, garish platitudes strung together sloppily like cheap Christmas lights: Illegal aliens "do the job Americans won't do." President Bush used that dog-tired phrase about a half-dozen times during today's press conference as he defended his impending illegal alien amnesty plan. Mark Krikorian effectively puts this mindless rhetoric to rest here. "Family values don't stop at the Rio Grande." Uh huh. Well, terrorists and gang members and drunken murderers and...