Free Republic

The Colorado Senate this morning passed a Pueblo lawmaker’s bill that would create a discount rate of college tuition for illegal immigrants who attended high school in the state. ... Opponents contend the bill would create an incentive for illegal immigration to Colorado. They also argue that it presents students with false hope because they would not be able to work legally in the country until they attain citizenship. The bill’s passage in the Democratically controlled Senate was not a surprise. Its first true test will come next, when it is heard by a Republican House committee. A similar bill...

Reporting from Washington— After scraping by on handyman jobs for a year, Bert Qintana figured he'd have to leave his wife and teenage son at their home near Taos, N.M., and find work elsewhere. Then Qintana got a call last month from Chevron Mining, which runs a mine 20 miles away. Would he be interested in hauling muck from the molybdenum mine for $17.05 an hour? He leaped at the offer. (SNIP) While they make up only 15% of the country's workforce, Latinos have racked up half the employment gains posted since the economy began adding jobs in early 2010,...

VICTIMS of human sex trafficking have told how they were enslaved by witchcraft, torture and death threats in modern-day Scotland. The harrowing stories of ten women were compiled by campaigners investigating the world’s fastest growing organised crime. Nine came from Africa, one from South America. In one of the testimonies to a Glasgow charity, a 21-year-old told how she was branded and forced to take a “witchcraft oath” to prevent her escaping. She said: “I had to take the oath. I was given this mark on my hand. I was told that this mark, if you tell anyone what has...

An evangelical group hoped young Central Florida Hispanics would turn out in force Tuesday night at its get-out-the-vote rally aimed at spurring them to become engaged about issues such as poverty, immigration and education and get motivated to go to the polls this year. The National Latino Evangelical Coalition hoped to draw total of 2,000 people. However, about 200, a mix of young and older people, attended the rally at Iglesia El Calvario, one of the biggest Hispanic churches in south Orlando. Even so, organizers said it was important to reach out to Hispanics, who are expected to wield significant...

Fifty people have been accused of conspiring to sell the identities of hundreds of Puerto Ricans to illegal immigrants on the U.S. mainland in the largest single fraud case ever for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, authorities said Wednesday. Hundreds of birth certificates, Social Security numbers and driver's licenses were sold for up to $2,500 a set as part of a black market ring based in Puerto Rico that operated from since at least April 2009, according to ICE Director John Morton. (SNIP) About 80 percent of the documents involved were sold by Puerto Ricans whose names were on them,...

What comes to mind when Mexican immigrant Elsa Garcia thinks of Baltimore's drawbacks? "Basura. O las drogas," said the East Baltimore resident. "Trash. Or drugs." Then, quickly, comes her list of Baltimore's pluses: Her husband has been able to find construction work. They have affordable housing. Police are not automatically suspicious of immigrants. (SNIP) At her inauguration, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake set the goal of increasing the city's population by 22,000 people — 3.5 percent — in 10 years. Drawing native-born people back from the suburbs and working to retain current residents will help stem the population decline but cannot alone...

When it comes time for math and phonics at Spring Lake Elementary School, first-graders in an experimental classroom stop speaking English and start learning in a language that's foreign to many of them. For about an hour a day, students at the Seminole County school who have never spoken Spanish will learn their numbers and letters, sing and play games completely in Spanish. The goal is ambitious: Teachers aim to have each student speaking, reading and writing both English and Spanish equally by the end of the year with the hope of giving English-speakers a leg up on a new...

A Jasper woman could get five years in jail after authorities say she threatened the life of Alabama's governor over the state's tough law cracking down on illegal immigration. The Montgomery Advertiser reports that 38-year-old Tiffany R. Morales is accused of calling Gov. Robert Bentley's office Sept. 29 and telling a member of his staff: "Tell the governor he has a bullet with his name on it." Morales, who says her fiance is an illegal immigrant, was arrested Oct. 1 and charged with threatening certain state officers, a felony.

Just a Headline at the moment. No story yet.

On Texas and Presidential Politics September 21, 2011 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: George in South Windsor, Connecticut, you're first on the phones. Great to have you here, sir, hello. CALLER: Yeah, Rush, you know, the first and only time I did order your tea, by the way, was during the last contest, and I have to say: It was everything you said. Taste, the packaging, how quick it came. So I like it. RUSH: I'm glad to hear that. It is. (chuckles) You know, people would expect me to say it's the best simply because it's got my name and...

<p>The daughter-in-law of a slain Mexican activist and her son have been granted asylum in the United States, her attorney said.</p> <p>The El Paso (Texas) Times reported Monica Arias Hernandez, 33, and her 6-year-old son, Eduardo Alejandro Frayre Arias, had requested asylum in March and received it in late August. (SNIP) Arias Hernandez's attorney, Carlos Spector, called the decision to grant her asylum "a great victory that shows the entire world that there are hopes in this country, that they will not continue closing the doors on the victims of the Mexican government. There are bases for political asylum."</p>

BRAVE Chris Green chased and helped capture an illegal immigrant who had repeatedly slashed him with a knife as he protected his pregnant girlfriend. Mr Green, 25, pursued "dangerous" Namo Salah across Derby city centre, which was busy with shoppers, in a T-shirt soaked in blood from his knife wounds. He eventually trapped Iraqi Salah in a building in Iron Gate – with the help of his partner Laura Davey, who had joined in the chase. ... Salah was in the country illegally and on the run after fleeing a trial for other offences of violence... The victim, who still...

Officials released President Obama’s uncle from Plymouth County jail yesterday after holding him for more than two weeks on an immigration detainer for violating an order to return to his native Kenya in 1992. US officials refused to disclose any other information about Onyango Obama, who remained in the United States undetected until Framingham police arrested him Aug. 24 on drunken driving and other charges. Yesterday, federal immigration officials refused to say whether the 67-year-old Framingham resident posted bond, whether they are keeping track of his whereabouts, or even whether they are still seeking his deportation, raising questions about public...

As a Greyhound bus prepared to leave a small town near Atlanta, 19-year-old Azucena headed to the window seat on the last row , on her way to Miami to start school and a new life. (SNIP) Immigration searches on public transportation sites are not well publicized. Border patrol agents generally protect the border or coastline. But, Steve Cribby, spokesperson for U. S. Customs and Border Protection, says agents have the authority to conduct immigration checks in public places. And checks on Greyhound buses and Amtrak are meant to disrupt human smuggling activities into the country’s interior, he said. The...

Everyone Is Saying Britain's Immigrant Communities Are The Real Heroes Of The RiotsAdam Taylor | Aug. 10, 2011, 7:00 PM One fascinating angle that keeps coming up in coverage of the London riots is the way that British press have been championing the bravery of immigrant communities in protecting their neighborhoods. The Daily Mail -- not always the kindest publication to immigrant groups -- is today championing the actions of a group of Sikhs in West London who have been out on the street in an attempt to protect their neighborhood. This follows the actions of Turkish shop owners in...

SANTA FE, New Mexico (Reuters) - An Albuquerque woman was indicted on Thursday on charges of creating fraudulent residency documents to help illegal immigrants get New Mexico driver's licenses. New Mexico is currently one of three states, including Utah and Washington, that allow undocumented immigrants to lawfully obtain driver's licenses if they can show proof of residency and identity. The grand jury indictment accuses Ana Hernandez, 45, of more than 300 felony counts over accusations she used her Albuquerque business address on documents she fraudulently created for Mexican nationals so they could obtain licenses. "This is yet another egregious case...

The only chapter missing from Pradipkumar Vora’s “American Dream” is the one with the happy ending. In just four years, Vora has gone from providing room service to pay for his rent at the Wildflower Inn to owning the same Cuero motel. Vora is now capitalizing on the oil and gas boom by constructing an RV park behind the Wildflower Inn and has plans to build a Taco Bell restaurant nearby on Esplanade. But despite being one of the most successful buesinessmen in Cuero, Vora, along with his wife, Kokila, are far from content. Overcoming tragedy Vora was raised in Mumbai,...

BELLEVUE, WA --(Ammoland.com)- The Second Amendment Foundation has filed a motion for summary judgment in its lawsuit challenging a statute in Massachusetts that denies legal resident aliens the licenses required to possess a handgun in the home for self-defense, or purchase any kind of firearm. The case is known as Fletcher v. Haas. It was filed in April in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Joining SAF in this lawsuit are Commonwealth Second Amendment, a Massachusetts grassroots organization, and two British citizens, Christopher M. Fletcher of Cambridge and Eoin M. Pryal of Northboro. They are represented by attorney...

Maryland Immigrant Tuition Plan Seems Headed For 2012 VoteBy BRIAN WITTE Associated Press Updated: Thursday, 07 Jul 2011, 9:55 PM EDT ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Opponents of a recently approved measure that would allow certain illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition at Maryland colleges have collected enough signatures to put the matter before state voters in November 2012, officials said Thursday. The Maryland State Board of Elections board reported that 63,118 signatures had been validated. A total of 55,736 signatures is needed to put the measure on the ballot for voters to decide in November 2012. About 40,000 signatures remain to...

But the start of high season in Martha's Vineyard has this year been rocked by the unwelcome airing of what some residents admit is the island's guilty secret. An anonymous blogger on the tiny resort, off the coast of Massachusetts, has launched a website naming local firms that he alleges employ illegal immigrants. The site, Operation Punchbowl, has sent local business owners scrambling to insist that they carry out rigorous checks on whether staff have permission to work in the US. "People are very frustrated," Nancy Gardella, the director of the local chamber of commerce, told The Daily Telegraph. "It's...