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An Arizona co-chair of Mitt Romney's presidential campaign resigned after announcing that he is gay. Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu was forced to come out after allegations that he dated a Mexican immigrant and hosted a pornographic online profile. The Romney campaign said they received a call from Babeu and accepted his resignation. "Sheriff Babeu has stepped down from his volunteer position with the campaign so he can focus on the allegations against him. We support his decision," spokesperson Ryan Williams said. Arizona is holding its primary on February 28, and all four candidates will be in the state Wednesday...

CHICAGO— Immigrant rights groups are calling on Mayor Rahm Emanuel to look at the arrest of a 54-year-old mother from Cameroon. Relatives say Rose Tchakounte was pulled over for not using her turn signal, driving through the South Side of Chicago Wednesday. Without any valid reason, activists say, police checked Tchakounte's immigration status. Because she'd missed an immigration hearing, due to an error by her lawyer, family members say 1st District Chicago police arrested her, eventually transferring her into the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

A Florida family endured three days of torture and fear as they were held hostage by a group of criminals demanding thousands of dollars in cash. Today the father testified against one of his abductors, telling how they terrorized the family and played Russian roulette with their five-year-old son. The scarring details came out as Victor Manuel Sanchez, the first of the four assailants, is on trial for numerous felony charges including attempted murder, home-invasion robbery, and kidnapping. Sanchez and his three partners were arrested after they had held the Morais family hostage in their Winter Garden, Florida home for...

ARLINGTON, Texas - A two-time “Teacher of the Year” in Arlington is now fighting to keep her job after allegedly telling a Hispanic student to “Go back to Mexico.” Barnett Junior High School math teacher Shirley Bunn has 24 years of teaching experience. But her career could end with what she called a moment of frustration. Bunn admitted she lost her temper on Sept. 30 while distributing Title 1 forms to her eighth grade students. According to public documents, a student who had a history of being disruptive repeatedly asked his teacher for a form printed in Spanish by saying,...

McALLEN — Another reminder of why we need a secure border emerged this week, as U.S. Border Patrol officials confirmed three Afghan nationals were detained in the Rio Grande Valley - an increasing "hot zone" of cartel invasion and violence against American ranchers. Border Patrol confirmed the detentions, but would not say where or when they occurred. Enrique Mendiola, assistant chief Border Patrol agent for the Rio Grande Valley sector, said that human smugglers see moving people besides Mexican nationals as a "business opportunity." "Average smuggling rates for other-than-Mexican nationals far exceed those of Mexicans and Central and South Americans,"...

ARLINGTON, Texas - A two-time “Teacher of the Year” in Arlington is now fighting to keep her job after allegedly telling a Hispanic student to “Go back to Mexico.” Barnett Junior High School math teacher Shirley Bunn has 24 years of teaching experience. But her career could end with what she called a moment of frustration. Bunn admitted she lost her temper on Sept. 30 while distributing Title 1 forms to her eighth grade students. According to public documents, a student who had a history of being disruptive repeatedly asked his teacher for a form printed in Spanish by saying,...

LONG BEACH A workplace encounter turned deadly when a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent turned a gun on his boss after he threatened disciplinary action at the Long Beach Federal Building Thursday evening. Police officers were seen arriving at 5:50 p.m. Thursday to a report of shots fired on the 7th floor of the Glenn M. Anderson Federal Building. Emergency dispatchers initially reported that one person was shot behind closed doors. They later reported that an ICE agent fired upon another agent in the stomach. The victim was transported to St. Mary Medical Center and was listed in stable...

COLLIER COUNTY - NBC2 Investigators discovered there are parents living in Florida illegally, but their children are getting millions of your tax dollars in public assistance. The amount they're receiving is growing. Despite little Sergio's smile, the Collier County kindergartener doesn't live an easy life. "He travels with his family. They don't know where they are going to sleep and eat when they get to another place," says Barbara Mainster, director of the Redlands Christian Migrant Association. The non-profit of 70 schools cater to poor migrant workers' children. Born in United States, Sergio's parents moved to the U.S. illegally to...

Relative: Mother of Drowned Toddler Sought Help, But Was Turned Away SOUTH LOS ANGELES (KTLA) -- A South Los Angeles mother accused of using a baby bathtub to try to drown her two young daughters could make her first appearance in court Thursday. Authorities say Lorna Valle drowned her one-year-old daughter, Lindsay Stephanie Taque-Valle, and also attempted to drown her 5-year-old daughter, Marian, by shoving their faces into the small tub, said Deputy Police Chief Pat Gannon. Marian remains hospitalized at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. She has been upgraded to serious but stable condition from critical condition. Valle, who may...

PHOENIX - An Iraqi family living in the valley claim it is part of their culture, but police say it’s a crime. Police have re-arrested Yusra Farhan, an Iraqi woman taken into custody last week. Farhan was accused of beating her 19-year-old daughter for talking to a boy, but detectives have found that wasn't the first time. Back in November, Farhan allegedly burned the victim's face and chest with a hot spoon, because she did not agree to an arranged marriage with a 38-year-old man. Also arrested were Farhan's husband and 18-year-old daughter. 45-year-old Mohammed Altameemi is facing one count...

President Barack Obama recently assured El Salvador that the United States would not deport more 200,000 Salvadorans residing illegally in the United States. As the election nears, and the president looks to court Hispanic voters, he also created a new position of "public advocate" for illegal immigrants. His duties would appear to be to advocate that millions circumvent, rather than follow, current federal law. The administration has also said it will focus enforcement only on those who have committed crimes -- with the implicit understanding that it is no longer a crime to illegally enter and reside in the United...

TOPEKA — With protesters chanting and pounding drums outside the Capitol, Secretary of State Kris Kobach, one of the nation’s most prominent advocates of illegal immigration crackdowns, urged lawmakers Wednesday to force employers and law enforcement officers to help chase off illegal immigrants. “There’s no question that if a state passes laws to discourage illegal immigration … then you will see some self-deportation,” Kobach told the House State and Federal Affairs Committee. The protesters outside said those laws are more likely to produce discrimination, worker shortages and costly lawsuits. “If Mr. Kobach, who is promoting, not only here in Kansas...

BROOKFIELD — Thousands of illegal immigrants are living in southeast Wisconsin. Some of them are stealing other people’s identities to get jobs. A FOX6 investigation exposes a bustling black market for fake IDs that could put your family at risk. Imagine learning that your five-year-old has a full time job! That’s what a Milwaukee mom discovered when she applied for state benefits. The truth is, her little girl is a victim of identity theft. Rebecca Morales found out about her daughter’s phantom work history when she tried to apply for government benefits last year. A state worker told her that...

This has always been the chicken-and-egg question over unauthorized immigration. And the answer usually reflects where a person stands on immigration. Opponents are quick to argue that undocumented workers take jobs from the poor, while advocates respond most American workers don’t want those jobs. Opponents come back – suddenly advocates for labor unions and decent wages – that unemployed workers would snap up the jobs if they paid better. The advocates point to the fact that these are often back-breaking, dirty jobs that even desperate unemployed workers would never touch. Opponents reply that some of those jobs aren’t all that...

Republicans are demanding an apology Wednesday from President Obama's campaign manager after a tweet that they argue was insulting toward Latino Americans. Jim Messina, who is helming the president's reelection effort, tweeted a line from a column written by The Washington Post's Dana Milbank, in which he argues that Republicans will struggle to attract the Latino vote after coming out against the DREAM immigration reform act. "Line of the day from WAPO's Dana Milbank: 'The chimichanga? It may be the only thing Republicans have left to offer Latinos,' " Messina tweeted. But the comments drew rebuke from Republicans, who argued...

A Texas congressman wants to know why the former treasurer of a Mexican border state who's under indictment in that country — and has connections to San Antonio — was granted a visa and was released after his arrest this month in Texas. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, said he asked the State Department why Hector Javier Villarreal, the former head of the tax office for Coahuila who's facing fraud-related charges, was allowed to enter the United States. Villarreal was granted a visa in October, Gohmert said, shortly after Mexican officials released him on bail. Gohmert said he also wants to...

by John HillStand With Arizona The inmates are running the asylum. This Administration has served notice on every illegal alien invader across America: do not be afraid - you are above the law.Eleven illegal aliens who claimed ICE agents "violated their rights" in 2007 raids on their New Haven neighborhood have won a $350,000 settlement from the U.S. government, which also agreed to halt deportation proceedings against the plaintiffs, their attorneys said Tuesday. New Haven is American's most notorious "sanctuary city"- the first in the nation to offer identification cards to illegal immigrants, and critics including the mayor have contended...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – An illegal immigrant gets 33 months behind bars for helping others like him get registration and plates for their vehicles. Paulino Ascencion-Apolino, 23, used a loophole that allows people to get vehicle registration without having to provide a valid social security number. Because businesses don’t have social security numbers, Indiana allows them to use an IRS provided Employer Identification Number (EIN) instead. The IRS allows that EIN to be assigned to people with Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN). That number is something the IRS typically issues people who do not have or are not eligible to...

MONTGOMERY, Ala.—Hundreds packed the Alabama Statehouse courtyard on Tuesday to rally against the state's tough immigration law, with organizers saying they chose to send a message on Valentine's Day that lawmakers need to love and respect immigrants. People bused in from across the state to demand repeal of the law that aims to be tough on those in the country illegally. Protesters carried signs reading, "Gov. Bentley, don't you have a heart?" "No Juan Crow" and "Una Familia, Una Alabama" while chanting in Spanish and English "no more HB56" (the bill that became the law) and "one family, one Alabama."...

A decision was made during the Bradley County Commission work session Monday afternoon to place a resolution to call for a referendum on the question of whether a countywide motor vehicle tax (wheel tax) of $32 should be levied. Commissioner and Education Committee Chairman Jeff Yarber proposed the wheel tax resolution several weeks ago as a solution to funding requests for capital projects by the county school system. The county school system needs an estimated $25.5 million for a new elementary school, improvements and expansion for Walker Valley High School and Lake Forest Middle School and land for a third...

Barrack Obama: F- Ron Paul : D- Newt Gingrich: D Mitt Romney: C+ Rick Santorum: A-Excerpts about Rick's grades STOPPING AMNESTIES Sen. Santorum earned an A+ on stopping amnesties while in Congress. And he has challenged his own Catholic Church leaders as well as other candidates for supporting the legalization of millions of people who have broken immigration laws. MANDATE E-VERIFY. In 1996, Sen. Santorum voted against creating the program that became E-Verify. But on the campaign trail 15 years later, he has promised to push mandatory verification. He misses an EXCELLENT rating because he continues to talk about there...

Ana shudders at what could have happened. She has heard about people who walk and die in the desert, who freeze in the mountains and who drown in canals. She knows that some suffocate in semitrailers or boxcars, where they are crammed so tightly they cannot turn. She knows that others are beaten and raped by smugglers, who leave them to die. Every year, migrants risk their lives to illegally cross the 2,100-mile border that separates Mexico and the United States, two neighboring nations that have one of the largest income gaps on Earth. "I was lucky," said Ana, who...

California is in the middle of a far-reaching demographic shift: Hispanics, who already constitute a majority of the state’s schoolchildren, will be a majority of its workforce and of its population in a few decades. This is an even more momentous development than it seems. Unless Hispanics’ upward mobility improves, the state risks becoming more polarized economically and more reliant on a large government safety net. And as California goes, so goes the nation, whose own Hispanic population shift is just a generation or two behind.

by John Hill Stand With Arizona Kris Kobach, architect of Arizona's landmark S.B. 1070 and Kansas Secretary of State, brought needed common sense to the CPAC Conference discussion on immigration. Following remarks by Alex Nowrasteh, a policy analyst at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, in which he denounced E-Verify and claimed - to boos from the audience - that "free market conservatives" should allow employers to hire illegal aliens (see synopsis here), it was Kobach's turn to restore sanity. First Mr. Kobach laid out the concept of "attrition through enforcement" with a simple analogy. He then laid out how Arizona and...

  Which Is Anti-Immigrant, Arizona or California? David C. Stolinsky Feb. 13, 2012 If you relied on the mainstream media, you would conclude that Arizona is anti-immigrant, while California is pro-immigrant. You would conclude that Republican Arizona Governor Jan Brewer must hate immigrants. After all, she signed SB-1070, which requires police to refer illegal immigrants to Immigration if they are arrested for other crimes. The law was passed after illegals committed a series of crimes, culminating in the murder of well-known rancher Robert Krentz, a man who went out of his way to help others. But Democratic California Governor...

An Iraqi woman has been accused of beating her teenage daughter and padlocking her to a bed after she was seen speaking to a young man. After Yusra Farhan was arrested in the Arizona hospital where her daughter was being treated for her injuries, she told police she wanted to punish the girl for violating her 'culture'. Farhan, 50, faces charges of aggravated assault, unlawful imprisonment and resisting arrest. She was being held in a Maricopa County jail. Police did not identify her daughter by name. The incident started on Tuesday, when the daughter was spotted by her father talking...

Co-author of Arizona immigration law says 'self-deportation' workingBy Josh Lederman - 02/11/12 10:39 AM ET Immigration crackdowns in Arizona and Alabama are succeeding in persuading illegal immigrants to voluntarily leave the country, the co-author of tough immigration laws in both of those states said Saturday. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, an ardent opponent of illegal immigration who has endorsed Mitt Romney, said jobs are opening up for Americans and school budgets flourishing thanks to tough new policies. "If you want to create a job for a U.S. citizen tomorrow, deport an illegal alien today," Kobach said to boisterous applause...

by John HillStand With ArizonaFox Phoenix TV (KSAZ FOX 10) on Thursday showed a ridiculous propaganda piece purporting to show "the Arizona border" and how "safe" it is, as they follow Americans from around the nation on a "tour" of the border. Here's how they describe the piece: Make your own decision about life on the border. What is life on the border really like? Hop on the Border Bus Tour, and do your own fact finding about what it means to have a secure border. And in the video, the tour leader, Bob Feinman, tells us on the bus...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Republicans are looking to deny child tax credits to illegal immigrants — refund checks averaging $1,800 a family — in an effort that has roused anger among Hispanics and some Democratic lawmakers. The proposal, which would require people who claim the federal credit to have Social Security numbers to prove they're legal workers, is being offered as a way to help pay for extending the Social Security tax cut for most American wage-earners. It would trim federal spending by about $10 billion over a decade. .... Says Leticia Miranda, senior policy adviser of the National Council of...

A billboard "welcoming" illegal aliens to Florida and sarcastically thanking Gov. Rick Scott appeared on Interstate 75 Wednesday. Produced by Floridians for Immigration Enforcement, the billboard calls out Scott for the state's failure to adopt an E-Verify law. "This is a wake-up call for Governor Scott, who promised Floridians he would work to get mandatory E-Verify in the state to protect our legal workers," said Jack Oliver, legislative director of the group that goes by the name FLIMEN. The 40-foot-by-10-foot illuminated billboard is along I-75's southbound lanes between the Georgia border and I-10. Georgia, along with neighboring Alabama and South...

SACRAMENTO, Calif- A new tax proposal could be the answer to our state's budget mess. The proposal? Tax illegal immigrants. The people behind the initiative said they can get illegal immigrants to pay income taxes, but first the Governor must get a promise from the federal government, it won't go after anyone here illegally and is part of the program. "Trying to get the federal government to not spend resources on those folks who are filing and paying I don't know why that would come about, I would suspect some sort of political motivation in Sacramento visa vie Washington." Attorney...

PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday affirmed a ruling that barred a woman from running for a city council seat because she doesn't speak English proficiently. The state's highest court ruled that Alejandrina Cabrera's name shouldn't appear on the March 13 election ballot in San Luis but didn't list a reason for the decision. A full written ruling is expected at a later date, according to an Arizona Supreme Court spokeswoman.

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A bill that would require police in New Hampshire to check the immigration status of any people they arrest has drawn the ire of opponents who say it would encourage racial profiling

A ruling that an activist's language skills are insufficient for a City Council seat unsettles border towns where Spanish is used in day-to-day life. An appeal is before the state Supreme Court. Reporting from San Luis, Ariz.— For almost a decade, Alejandrina Cabrera has had no trouble speaking her mind in this dusty Arizona border town. She's gone door to door campaigning for City Council candidates. She's addressed the City Council. She's even led two recall petitions against the mayor. But when she decided to run for San Luis City Council, she hit a surprising roadblock: her language. Like virtually...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP) -- Fearful members. Declining church attendance. Concerned pastors. Uncertain futures. Despite dramatic changes in the life of many Hispanic congregations in Alabama with the new immigration law, the news isn't all bad. "A lot of people left," Carlos Gomez said of the Hispanic congregation he leads at First Baptist Church in Center Point. "I called them back and some of them returned. But I know of another ministry that is close to me here in town that had around 120, and now it has about 40." Reports of decreased attendance in Hispanic congregations are common since the...

Although Latinos make up only a seventh of the population, they have "racked up half the employment gains posted since the economy began adding jobs in early 2010", the Los Angeles Times reported this morning. In 2011, the trend accelerated. Of the 2.3 million jobs added in 2011 according to the Household Survey of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1.4 million, or 60 percent, were won by Latinos.

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,...

FLORENCE, Ariz. - An officer-involved shooting may have involved as many as seven illegal immigrants. The shooting occurred just outside of Florence, near the Hunt Highway and Felix. That’s about 60 miles southeast of the valley. An officer with the Florence Police Department attempted to pull over a black pickup truck that stuck out to that officer for a couple of reasons. No. 1 -- this happened early in the morning, so there weren't many vehicles out on the road, and No. 2 -- the officer says the truck appeared to be having some mechanical problems. Just before 7 a.m.,...

TIJUANA — Less than four months after he was released from a Nevada prison and deported to Mexico, Fermín Pérez Juárez is in trouble again. He is now behind bars in Tijuana, accused along with four others in the kidnapping and torture of a man who was hoping to be smuggled into the United States. It wasn’t just the brutality of the crime, committed last month in the city’s Zona Norte, that commanded attention in Tijuana newspaper headlines and on TV broadcasts. It was the people allegedly behind the crime: Pérez and the other suspects are deportees with U.S. criminal...

n the shadow of the glass and steel skyscrapers of London’s Square Mile, hundreds of Muslims kneel in the street for Friday prayers. Yesterday’s hour-long service a stone's throw from the heart of the financial district proved so popular that worshippers filled the streets around the tiny community mosque. City workers in pinstripe suits mixed with Muslims from the local Bangladeshi community, cramming into the streets beside a Bentley and other parked cars.

Supreme Court to hear Arizona immigration arguments April 25Reuters – Fri, Feb 3, 2012 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court said on Friday it will hear arguments on April 25 on the power of states to adopt tough immigration laws, concluding the term's scheduled oral arguments with a major case pitting Arizona against the Obama administration. The high court released on Friday its April calendar, listing immigration and other cases scheduled to be heard in its final argument sitting for the current term, which began in October and ends in late June. At issue is whether federal immigration laws...

by John HillStand With Arizona PARDON THE INTERRUPTION: While America is focused on the Super Bowl, or a meaningless state primary - the constant, steady, MASSIVE stream of illegal aliens continues across our border....unabated, undefended, as the video below video - posted this very morning - demonstrates. With the Administration reducing National Guard troops on the border by 75% by May 1st...with nearly zero progress on the border fence since 2006...with the Border Patrol ordered away from "wilderness" areas to "protect endangered wildlife"... They keep on coming. 14 illegals captured in just 24 seconds in the video below - 30...

DISCOVERY BAY, Calif. — Three women and one man pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to a $20 million crime that involved wire fraud, tax evasion and harboring illegal immigrants, and one of the alleged victims was a relative. Three and a half years after being indicted, Ronald Nelson, his second wife, Edith Nelson, and two former mortgage brokers pleaded guilty to dozens of charges tied to a mortgage loan fraud scheme. Kim Funke, the daughter of Ronald Nelson, said she was one of the victims. "It was kind of a sickening feeling," Funke said. Internal Revenue Service Special Agent...

Cesar Fuentes, a math instructor at Sylmar High School, teaches Algebra I to Spanish-speaking students using Project SOL (Secondary Online Learning), a collaboration between the Mexican government and the UC system. Teachers are using the rigorous Spanish-language curriculum in an attempt to get more Latino students to take and pass the courses they need to go to college. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times / December 9, 2011) Four high schools in Southern California are offering math and science courses using online curriculum from Mexico to get more Latino students to meet requirements to go to college.Four high schools...

SANTA FE (KRQE) - The House Judiciary Committee late Friday approved a bill to ban drivers licenses for illegal immigrants after efforts to find a compromise failed. A bipartisan group had been trying to find common ground with Gov. Susana Martinez and the Senate but couldn't do it. One Democratic version would have continued the licenses but for shorter terms and with tighter restrictions. There was also a proposal to give illegals temporary permits that could be used for driving but not for ID or other purposes.

The story seemed suspicious: That 5-year-old Candy Flores died after just falling off a toilet and hitting her head. Paramedics who responded to the 911 call Tuesday night at the one-bedroom apartment where she lived with 14 others were wary of her family's explanation. So were Houston police officers called by the paramedics and homicide investigators now looking into her death. Candy had a bump on her forehead as well as one on her nose, but the child also had bruises and scratches from her head to the bottom of her feet, said HPD homicide investigator Kevin Carr. She had...

Five people are charged in a plot to employ African Americans from Compton to avert suspicion when bringing illegal immigrants across the border. In the calculus of cross-border human smuggling, Maria Lopez-Diaz allegedly concluded that black instead of brown equals green. The 60-year-old Compton woman, prosecutors say, tried to cash in on racial profiling by operating a human smuggling ring that hired mostly African American drivers who didn't speak a word of Spanish to ferry small groups of immigrants from Mexico to Los Angeles. In the end, the venture failed. Authorities announced charges Thursday against Lopez-Diaz and four others, including...

Duck if you’re headed into the state of Kansas. Mixed signals are flying fast. On the subject of undocumented immigrants, officials are all over the place. The secretary of agriculture wants to put them to work. The secretary of state wants to deport them. The governor vows to eradicate child poverty while taking food aid from the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants. Are we confused yet? Let’s start with the simplest piece. That would be Secretary of State Kris Kobach, whose position on illegal immigrants never changes. He wants them gone, period. The legal eagle is always very busy helping...

LAS VEGAS — Ron Paul dropped his standard stump speech on Wednesday and aggressively courted Latino voters. At a senior center in East Las Vegas, the Texas congressman told about 100 Hispanics that they have been unfairly made “scapegoats” for the country’s economic troubles. He said it’s “part of human nature” for newcomers to be shunned, but that prejudice toward outsiders worsens when unemployment is high. He said that illegal immigrants were being scapegoated in a manner similar to Jews in Nazi Germany because of tough economic times. “When things go badly, individuals look for scapegoats,” he said. “I just...