Free Republic

Geraldo Rivera on Thursday lambasted Lou Dobbs for the outspoken CNN host's views concerning illegal immigration. Speaking at a luncheon sponsored by El Diario La Prensa NY, Rivera disgracefully said, "Lou Dobbs is almost single-handedly responsible for creating, for being the architect of the young-Latino-as-scapegoat for everything that ails this country." Rivera also told the audience that he had spoken to his boss, and was assured Dobbs was not coming to Fox (video embedded below the fold with partial transcript): CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO "One of the aspects of our reality in the United States now is the...

EL CENTRO, Calif. (AP) - Esteban Contreras had a bad feeling when his daughter and her husband said they were going to sneak across the border with their children. He remembers telling his son-in-law: "You're going to put your children's lives in danger. You're going to put your wife's life in danger, your own life." "He replied that he found a good smuggler, that everything would be all right, nothing would happen," Contreras said Friday in an interview with The Associated Press.

A new survey by Zogby International finds that people in Mexico think that granting legal status to illegal immigrants in the United States would encourage more illegal immigration to the United States. As the top immigrant-sending country for both legal and illegal immigrants, views on immigration in Mexico can provide insight into the likely impact of an amnesty, as well as other questions related to immigration. Among the findings: * A clear majority of people in Mexico, 56 percent, thought giving legal status to illegal immigrants in the United States would make it more likely that people they know would...

Democrats are still not satisfied with my former colleague Joe Wilson’s apology after he shouted “You lie!” when Obama claimed in his address to Congress that “There are also those who claim that our reform efforts would insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false. The reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.” Last night, they disciplined him with a formal resolution of disapproval for his violation of what Nancy Pelosi’s spokesman calls the “House rules of decorum.” Whether or not he breached House decorum, Joe’s actions were both true and effective. Obama admitted as much...

Border Crackdown Makes Farming in U.S. Forests Attractive; Cartel Links Suspected Marijuana growers, many believed to be affiliated with Mexican drug cartels, are aggressively expanding their illegal farming operations in the U.S., clearing land to plant pot in dozens of national forests from coast to coast. Illicit cannabis farms on public land first sprang up in California more than a decade ago and remain a serious problem in that state. But in the past two years, the U.S. Forest Service has documented a rapid expansion of the practice. Authorities have discovered pot farms in 61 national forests across 16 states...

Texas wildlife officials say there are six alligators living in the Rio Grande, east of Fort Hancock in Hudspeth County. "There were approximately six alligators that were observed, three of them that were in the 2- to 4-foot range, and about three of them in the 5- to 6-foot range," Texas Game Warden Ray Spears told KFOX-TV, El Paso, Texas. Spears said the alligators are in a rural area, so they don't pose much danger to humans. He said it is believed they were dropped off in the area by someone who was previously keeping them. The warden said his...

LAREDO, Tex. — When he was finally caught, Rosalio Reta told detectives here that he had felt a thrill each time he killed. It was like being Superman or James Bond, he said. “I like what I do,” he told the police in a videotaped confession. “I don’t deny it.” ... The young men all paid a heavy price. Jesus Gonzalez III was beaten and knifed to death in a Mexican jail at 23. Mr. Reta, now 19, and his boyhood friend, Gabriel Cardona, 22, are serving what amounts to life sentences in prisons in the United States. Other young...

GENEVA – Nations need common rules for responding to flu outbreaks to prevent discrimination and unfair trade restrictions, Mexico's U.N. envoy said Friday, complaining that Mexican citizens and exports were being unfairly singled out. Some countries have "developed some attitudes which I will straightforward qualify as discriminatory against Mexicans," Luis Alfonso De Alba said. The World Health Organization is looking into the measures countries take in combatting the outbreak and the justifications they give, but WHO has no plans to make the findings public, said spokesman Gregory Hartl.

POTTSVILLE — Two Shenandoah teenagers were acquitted late Friday night of killing illegal Mexican immigrant Luis Ramirez Zavala. Brandon J. Piekarsky, 17, of Shenandoah Heights, and Derrick M. Donchak, 19, of Shenandoah, were convicted of simple assault. The Schuylkill County jury also convicted Donchak on three counts of corruption of minors and three counts of furnishing alcohol to minors. The defendants hugged each other after the verdicts were read, and friends and family members clapped. Jurors deliberated for nearly eight hours before reaching their verdict around 10:45 p.m., Friday. The all-white jury of six men and six women began deliberating...

Jay Severin, the fiery radio talk show host on Boston�s WTKK-FM, was suspended today after making derogatory comments about Mexicans. Heidi Raphael, a spokeswoman for the station, said Severin had been suspended indefinitely. She declined to comment further. George Tobia, Severin's lawyer, said it was not clear how long his client has been suspended.

Officials at several health clinics serving largely Hispanic residents in the Chicago area today cautioned against unfairly tying Hispanics to the outbreak. At a news conference held at the Pilsen Wellness Center, 2319 S. Damen Ave., the center partnered with the Centro de Salud Esperanza clinic to voice concerns about potential racism directed at Hispanics because the virus is believed to have originated in Mexico. "Right now one of the things that we want to prevent is the stereotyping" of Hispanics and Mexicans in particular," said Eddy Borrayo, director of substance abuse at the Pilsen Wellness Center. Dr. Alejandro Clavier,...

Another Planned "RALLY" for "Immigrants" is scheduled for May 1st.....Are You Ready!!!???

An unemployed construction worker frustrated with trying to find work was arrested Saturday on Staten Island for saying he "killed two Mexicans," police said. Michael Franklin called 911 five times Thursday morning after a contractor rejected him in favor of three Hispanic day laborers. The 44-year-old Staten Island man boasted that he just "killed two Mexicans" and "threw them into the Great Kills Harbor." "I'm gonna be riding around all day looking to kill Mexicans," he threatened in his last call. "It all came back negative," said Inspector Michael Osgood, commanding officer of the hate crime unit, of the phony...

"My country has let me down." That's the assessment of an Arizona rancher who was sued by six illegal immigrants he detained on his property and turned over to the Border Patrol in 2004. On Tuesday an eight-member federal jury in Tucson threw out the claim brought by the six illegal aliens that Roger Barnett violated their civil rights when he detained them at gunpoint on his ranch nearly five years ago. The panel also ruled against the plaintiffs' claims of battery and false imprisonment. But the jury did find Barnett liable on four claims of assault and four claims...

Responding to fears of escalating violence in Mexico that could spill over the border into Texas and other states, the U.S. government has stepped up law enforcement. Border Patrol and Drug Enforcement Administration agents were sent to shore up local law enforcement, and to their credit the violence has not spread to those communities and regions. In fact, El Paso — just across the border from Ciudad Juarez, which ranks as one of the most dangerous places in the world — is ranked as one of the safest cities in the United States. Unfortunately, the stepped-up enforcement in border cities...

A federal jury on Tuesday ruled that an Arizona rancher did not violate the civil rights of 16 Mexican nationals he detained at gunpoint after they had snuck illegally into the United States in 2004, but the jury awarded $78,000 in actual and punitive damages to six of the illegal immigrants on claims of assault and infliction of emotional distress

An Arizona man who has waged a 10-year campaign to stop a flood of illegal immigrants from crossing his property is being sued by 16 Mexican nationals who accuse him of conspiring to violate their civil rights when he stopped them at gunpoint on his ranch on the U.S.-Mexico border. Roger Barnett, 64, began rounding up illegal immigrants in 1998 and turning them over to the U.S. Border Patrol, he said, after they destroyed his property, killed his calves and broke into his home. His Cross Rail Ranch near Douglas, Ariz., is known by federal and county law enforcement authorities...

In a case that federal prosecutors trumpeted as the “largest ever” of its kind, 10 members and associates of the Florencia 13 street gang were convicted Monday on a range of federal charges, including racketeering, drug trafficking and attempted murder. The verdicts followed a 3 1/2-month trial in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana in which prosecutors told jurors of a widespread criminal enterprise directed by Mexican Mafia members, both on the street and in prison.

It was late November when Angel and her boyfriend visited Silent Voices, a pro-life pregnancy resource center (PRC) in Chula Vista, Calif. Angel's menstrual cycle was also late. It wasn't the first time. The sexually active 17-year-old Latina had stopped in at Silent Voices five or six times since 2004 to take a free pregnancy test. Over the years, said Sharon Pearce, the center's executive director, Angel revealed herself bit by bit. From her perfect French manicure to her designer handbag and jeans, it was clear that her family had money. When she wanted a certain kind of car for...

McALLEN -- A man accused of aiding three Sri Lankan nationals to enter the country illegally is set to make an early court appearance this morning. U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested Suresh Suntharalingam, 38, of Canada, on Wednesday, after customs inspectors at McAllen-Miller International Airport found him holding plane tickets for the three illegal immigrants carrying fake Canadian identification cards. The men later told authorities that their families had paid $32,000 to Suntharalingam to guide them to Canada through Mexico and the United States. After flying into Mexico City and traveling to the border, the group snuck across the Rio...

Mike Reilly spent his lifetime chasing the California dream. This year he's going to look for it in Colorado. With a house purchase near Denver in the works, the 38-year-old engineering contractor plans to move his family 1,200 miles away from his home state's lemon groves, sunshine and beaches. For him, years of rising taxes, dead-end schools, unchecked illegal immigration and clogged traffic have robbed the Golden State of its allure. Is there something left of the California dream? "If you are a Hollywood actor," Reilly says, "but not for us."

Adviser to area Mexicans was ordered to pay debt Friday, December 19, 2008 7:50 PM By STEPHANIE CZEKALINSKI DISPATCH FRONTERAS In Spanish To read this story and related coverage in Spanish, pick up Fronteras de la Noticia, a free weekly available at more than 400 locations across central Ohio, or go to DispatchEspanol.com. A man who is an adviser to Mexicans living in the United States failed to pay money he owed to a charity that helps Venezuelan orphans. On Nov. 6, Hector Villareal was ordered by Municipal Court Judge Janet A. Grubb to pay $500 to Casa Hogar Mission...

A former INS official who attended meetings with Rahm Emanuel when Emanuel was a White House aide says the hard-charging Democrat relaxed rules to naturalize even criminal immigrants and secure their votes for President Clinton ahead of the 1996 presidential election. President-elect Barack Obama, who has chosen Emanuel to run White House operations as his chief of staff, has promised to sign legislation that loosens immigration and puts even illegal aliens on a fast track to citizenship. Emanuel coordinated with Hispanic community organizers in Chicago to rubberstamp immigrants for citizenship, the INS official said in an exclusive interview with WND....

DENVER – After going months without a full-time job, Daniel Ramirez has decided it's time to return to family in Mexico. Vicenta Rodriguez Lopez .. can't afford to live in Colorado any more because her husband was deported. Roberto Espinoza is going back, too. ...

More than 5,000 people have been killed in Mexico's out of control drug cartel wars this year, so why is our government opening even more border crossings at this time with Mexico. Many elected officials are ignoring Mexico's raging war against the drug cartels and instead of focusing on safety and public security, trying to widen the openings in our border with Mexico strictly for commerce purposes. DOBBS: Disturbing new details emerging tonight from Mexico proving that the raging drug cartel wars there are far more deadly than the government of Mexico has previously admitted. The U.S. response, however, is...

The columns date back to 2004! :)

Arizona’s Supreme Court chief justice has agreed to enforce the Hispanic Bar Association’s demands of banning the terms “illegal” and “aliens” in all of the state’s courtrooms. Claiming that the terms are inflammatory, the president of Arizona’s Hispanic Bar Association, (known as Los Abogados) has asked state Supreme Court Chief Justice Ruth McGregor to stop using them at trials or hearings because they create perceptions of judicial bias. In a strongly worded letter to the chief justice, Los Abogados’ president says attaching an illegal status to a person establishes a brand of contemptibility, creates the appearance of anti-immigrant prejudice and...

How Many Non-Citizen Voters? Enough to Make a Difference October 13, 2008 By David Simcox The Impact of Non-Citizen Voting on American Elections Executive Summary The approaching 2008 general elections underscore concern that the growing access of non-citizens to the ballot box could distort the outcome. Groups arguing for easier access to the polls deny there is a problem at all, seeing restrictive registration and identification rules as anti-democratic and even racist. They dismiss non-citizen voting as rare, not criminal in intent or concerted, and more harmful than beneficial to non-citizens. Yet anecdotal evidence persists and grows that non-citizens are...

“Sanctuary Cities” are replicating disease like throughout the country. These make-shift communities serve as safe havens for illegal immigrants, with sometimes tragic results. Just ask Jamiel Shaw, a 17-year-old Los Angeles resident, who was recklessly gunned down by a 19-year-old "Sanctuary City" resident named Pedro Espinoza. Espinoza, an illegal immigrant and member of the 18th Street gang, murdered Shaw without reason. Even worse, Espinoza was allowed to seek cover for his murder by hiding out in "Sanctuary Cities." Espinoza’s motive for killing Shaw was imprinted on the two-letter tattoo that stretched across his neck: "BK." The letters are an acronym...

MEXICO CITY - Mexicans living in the U.S. sent home 12 percent less money in August, the largest drop on record since the Bank of Mexico began tracking remittances 12 years ago, the central bank reported on Wednesday. Remittances began dropping early this year, economically stranding many small towns and neighborhoods that live off the stipends. The Bank of Mexico said remittances will likely continue to fall in the coming months because of the "difficult problems the U.S. economy faces." The bank said remittances in August dropped 12 percent to US$1.9 billion. That compares to US$2.2 billion in August 2007.

SPRINGFIELD - The owner of Toni's Family Restaurant in Mount Clare pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to unlawful employment of illegal aliens. Besim Tabaku, 34, who co-owns the restaurant with his wife, Gentiana, 31, is scheduled to be sentenced before U.S. District Court Judge Byron C. Cudmore on Oct. 23. Authorities confirmed to The Telegraph in May that two federal search warrants were executed (at Toni's Family Restaurant and a Benld residence) on May 28, resulting in four Mexican nationals being taken into the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on suspicion of immigration violations. However, ICE spokeswoman...

SANTA ANA – Five men appeared in federal court Wednesday to face charges that they made and sold counterfeit identity and immigration documents, authorities said. The five men, all Mexican nationals in the United States illegally, were arrested Tuesday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and Anaheim police officers, ICE officials said. Luis Rosas, 32, of Anaheim, Guillermo Ramirez-Yanez, 43, of Anaheim, Geraldo Reyes-Reyes, 40, of Fullerton, Jose Albert Reyes-Garcia, 19, of Fullerton; and Marcelo Macias-Alejo, 37, face up to 10 years in prison if convicted. [snip] The group charged $70 for a set of documents that included a...

A majority minority nation: that's what the U.S. Census Bureau is projecting by the year 2042, according to new figures released this week. By mid-century, according to the government's projections, Hispanics, Asians and blacks will outnumber non-Hispanic whites by about 32 million. The statistics make for interesting headlines -- and, no doubt, cause heartburn in certain circles -- but the fact is: they are more or less meaningless. The problem in all such predictions is that they don't take sufficient account of intermarriage and assimilation. From our founding as a nation, there have been those who worried that "foreigners" would...

More than 30 American black bears have been sighted in Known as Ursus americanus and native to North America, there are some 600,000 black bears across Canada, the United States and Mexico, but the large populations of northern Mexico are dwindling to a only a few thousand as deforestation and cities destroy their habitats. The bears, with black fur and brown muzzles, stand often over 6.5 feet (2 meters) tall, live off plants, fruits and nuts, as well as carrion. But deforestation and droughts in northern Mexico can force many bears to seek food in rubbish dumps on the edge...

As pointed out by this representative of the Florida Attorney General's office, it is impossible to separate national security issues from illegal immigration, and one of the most important illegal immigration issues in Florida is the issue of human trafficking. And as Jake at Freedom Folks notes (thanks for the tip), this story doesn't appear to have been covered by the news wires. Here, a horrifying story is described of a little girl who, after being taken to the Florida panhandle from Mexico, resisted while being raped, and was subsequently made an example of by being beheaded in front of...

Police documents show that at least one of the suspects involved in a home invasion and homicide were active members of the Mexican Army. View Police Documents: Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 A top member of a Phoenix police union is standing by reports that at least one of the men involved in a Monday morning home invasion and homicide was an active member in the Mexican Army. Click Here for the update. "Even if you put aside the Mexican military, you have illegals in the country...they're protected with tactical gear using tactical strategies in police uniforms willing to...

Mexicans urged to reclaim a piece of Texas By Tom Leonard Last Updated: 9:11PM BST 26/06/2008 Mexicans are being encouraged to reclaim a piece of Texas, more than 150 years after they lost the Lone Star state to the United States. Texan estate agents are heading south of the border to drum up the interest in buying cut-price land and property in the foreclosure-hit state. Thanks to a rising Mexican peso and an economy which is growing faster than that of the US, a country that has previously been looked on by America as a source of cheap labour is...

In the meeting, attendees said McCain promised that, if elected, Congress would pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill.

More than dozen people living in New Mexico and Texas are named in what appears to be a hit list from a Mexican drug cartel, law enforcement officials said. At least one police officer from southern New Mexico is among the 15 to 20 people named in the threat, said Arturo Baeza, a sheriff's captain in that state's Luna County. The list, thought to be a threat from one of Mexico's powerful and warring drug cartels, was provided June 12 to local authorities by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, Baeza said. Drug cartels are waging a bloody fight for...

Federal and local law enforcement have arrested seven alleged members and associates of the Hermanos Pistoleros Latinos prison gang over the last week.Prosecutors say the seven people from Laredo and 17 from the Houston area were involved in a conspiracy to transport large amounts of cocaine from Laredo to Houston and launder the proceeds in Laredo. Pedro Gil III, 37, also known as "Master P," "PG" and "Carwash," was arrested over the weekend and charged with five counts of conspiracy with intent to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine and one count of money laundering. Police later arrested his...

The Border Patrol has discovered 61 suspected illegal immigrants from Mexico inside a tractor-trailer on Interstate 8 near San Diego. Border Patrol agents discovered them inside the eastbound truck during a vehicle stop Saturday night, about 45 miles east of San Diego. They were hiding behind bales of cardboard. The agency said Monday that it arrested the driver, 29-year-old Jose Pina Flores, who will be charged with immigrant smuggling. The Border Patrol says the Mexican man admitted being in the U.S. illegally. No injuries were reported.

LORETITO, Mexico — It's the end of the day here. Down one lonely street two young boys kick a ball between them, as an elderly woman slowly makes her way nearby. On most days, this little town about 300 miles northwest of Mexico City feels like the set of a Hollywood movie — its narrow streets and alleyways silent, stark, deserted. From the sidewalk outside his small liquor shop, Edmundo Cruz takes in the vast emptiness, pointing out one house after another left vacant when families headed north — to Seattle. It is said more Loretito people now live in...

Mexican truck drivers allowed to travel throughout the U.S. under a Bush administration demonstration project may not be proficient in English, despite Department of Transportation assurances to the contrary. A brochure on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's website instructs Mexican truck drivers, "Did you know … You MUST be able to read and speak English to drive trucks in the United States." Still, at the Senate Commerce Committee oversight hearing Tuesday, Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters and DOT Inspector General Calvin L. Scovel III reluctantly admitted under intense questioning from Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., that Mexican drivers were being...

When Woodrow Wilson went to Congress to ask for a declaration of war in 1917, the U.S. Army was ranked 17th in the world, behind Portugal. On Armistice Day, 19 months later, there were 2 million doughboys in France, where they had helped to break the back of Gen. Ludendorff's theretofore invincible army in its final offensive, and 2 million more in the United States ready to march on Berlin. No other nation could have done that. After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, FDR demanded that a disarmed America "build 50,000 planes" -- a seemingly impossible number, but one...

Gangs: From Prisons to Back Yards Mexican Mafia's roots run deep in San Gabriel Valley By Fred Ortega, Staff Writer Article Launched: 02/10/2008 09:55:57 PM PST Special Section Gangs: From Prisons to Back Yards Frank Girardot's Crime Scene blog Ralph "Perico" Rocha and Rafael "Cisco" Gonzalez-Mu oz committed what is considered a mortal sin among the ranks of the dreaded Mexican Mafia prison gang: they encroached into the drug territory of a senior gang member. Their transgression marked them for death according to county prosecutors, who in early December charged six individuals with trying to murder Rocha and Gonzalez-Mu oz...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Monday decried anti-immigrant perceptions in the United States and argued that Mexican immigrants complement American workers. On his first trip to the U.S. as Mexico's president, Calderon said he is working to combat anti-Americanism in Mexico and to improve job prospects there to reduce migration. He said he hopes that Americans resist anti-Mexican sentiments. "The worst thing that happened in this country is this anti-Mexican or anti-immigrant perception of people. We need to contain this," Calderon said after a speech at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. "I need to change...

Digger’s Realm did a terrific job compiling this clip reel of open borders zealot/McCain Hispanic outreach director Juan Hernandez’s greatest hits. He considers Canada, the U.S., and Mexico “a bloc, not one nation.” He puts “Mexico first.” He doesn’t believe there are any criminals among the 12-20 million illegal aliens he thinks should be legalized. He’s been saying all of this for a long time. The McCain campaign knew what it was getting. So should Republican voters: VIDEO at michellemalkin.com

What would Americans think, then, of a member of Congress who introduced legislation, not to improve health care in the United States, but to improve health care in Mexico? What would Americans think, then, of a member of Congress who introduced legislation, not to improve health care in the United States, but to improve health care in Mexico? Even more unbelievable, the senator who sponsored the bill is not on the verge of being thrown out of office for this odious piece of legislation. No, the senator who introduced the bill, Senator John McCain of Arizona, is on the verge...

With John McCain’s victory in the Republican Primary in Florida, a lot of attention has come his way. The reaction of the pundits and the blogosphere has been all over the map. Some, such as Michael Medved, are enthusiastic about the candidate and his chances in the general election; others, such as Rush Limbaugh, are concerned that a McCain candidacy will spell the end of the Republican party as we know it. And with the cheering for and against him, so to have his past actions and policies come under scrutiny. Everything, from the Keating Five, to the Gang of...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A federal judge has ruled that the at-large system of election used by the Village of Port Chester, N.Y, to elect its trustees violates the Voting Rights Act because it discriminates against Hispanics(...) (...) According to the evidence at trial, and as cited in Judge Robinson's opinion, the 2000 census shows that almost half of Port Chester's residents, and 22 percent of Port Chester's citizens of voting age, were Hispanic. By July 2006, the number of Hispanic citizens of voting age had increased to about 28 percent. Despite these figures, no Hispanic has ever been...