Free Republic

Mexican authorities said Tuesday they staged 153 raids over the last year on a train known as “La Bestia” that rolled toward the U.S. border crowded with hundreds of Central American migrants. Following a big surge in child migrants reaching the U.S. border last year, Mexico’s government cracked down on routes commonly used by migrants to travel from Guatemala to the U.S. border. The head of the National Immigration Institute, Ardelio Vargas, said the 153 train raids were part of 758 immigration inspections over the last year. …

Tuesday Federal Agents forced entry into twenty Southern California locations believed to be orchestrating “maternity tourism” scams for pregnant alien women aiming to gain U.S. citizenship for their soon to be born child. According to U.S. immigration officials, the “maternity hotels,” which housed predominantly women from China, cost anywhere from $15,000 to 50,000 depending on negotiated services. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, or ICE, reported that locations for the “maternity hotels” included Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties. No one was arrested in connection with the scheme, reported Reuters. It is not illegal for women coming from foreign...

‘We were never going to win’: House GOP caves on immigration Mar. 3, 2015 9:00am Pete Kasperowicz House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has told Republicans that he would call up and pass a “clean” Department of Homeland Security spending bill this week, and give up the fight to use that bill to defund President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration. The decision marks the end of a standoff that has lasted for several weeks — a standoff Republicans will lose to Democrats when the clean DHS bill passes.

The family of slain Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry unveiled a statue in his honor Saturday at the renamed Brian Terry Patrol Station in Bisbee, Arizona. “That iconic image of Brian carrying his BORTAC team member on his shoulders represents everything good about Brian, his strength, his determination, his attention to detail, his love for the Border Patrol and his love for his fellow agents,” Terry’s cousin, Robert Heyer, told Fox News.

Which Republican presidential candidates support amnesty? I have analyzed all the major Republican presidential candidates (except Ben Carson and Rick Sanctorum, who are long shots, and Donald Trump, who has undocumented hair). I have found that all the major presidential candidates support amnesty for illegal aliens, except for one. Can you guess which one? Jeb Bush: Jeb, as we all know, supports amnesty for illegal aliens, and he's proud of it. If he were running in Honduras, I would vote for him in a minute. Marco Rubio: Marco Rubio co-authored a bill that would have given amnesty to illegal aliens....

Several U.S. colleges are giving financial aid directly to students who are young illegal immigrants, extending the debate about helping people in the United States illegally at the expense of Americans who are in need of similar opportunities. Such opportunities have opened up since resident Obama's 2012 executive action that deferred deportation to millions of young people brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents. However, they still are largely ineligible for state or federal student aid. ... This policy not only encourages new illegal immigration, but comes at the expense of the college dreams of young Americans," Stephen Miller,...

MONTPELIER, Vt. — An investigation into fraudulent applications for Vermont’s driver’s privilege cards has spread to multiple states and Department of Motor Vehicle branches, according to the department’s chief investigator. When the Department of Motor Vehicles first reported receiving a rash of driver’s license applications from out-of-state illegal immigrants, it appeared the problem might be limited to a single license branch and involve one other state.

Original Title:Immigration Officer Union Sounds Alarm Over DHS Order for Millions of Blank Work Permits, Green Cards A union that represents thousands of federal immigration officers is raising alarm after the U.S. government ordered supplies to create millions of blank work permits and green cards, touching off speculation that the Obama administration may be preparing executive action on immigration. The Associated Press reported last week that the new federal contract proposal from the Homeland Security Department would allow the government to buy enough supplies to make as many as 34 million immigrant work permits and residency cards over the next...

While the entire nation focuses on the growing threat of radical Islamic attacks in the West, there’s still an ongoing war on the southern border of the United States and it just got a lot worse. Thanks to Obama’s willingness to allow undocumented illegal immigrants into the U.S. military, a situation bound to happen finally did. A 34-year-old Arizona Army National Guardsman NCO by the name of Raul Portillo was recently busted in an undercover sting and accused of helping Mexican drug cartels safely transport large loads of cocaine and marijuana over the border. Portillo, a man suspected of living...

Border Patrols agents in the RGV Sector report that they rescued a double amputee immigrant who was abandoned by a group of other immigrants. Agents say that on Monday, February 23rd at around 9:30 p.m. someone called the Weslaco Border Patrol Station to report that the man, a double amputee, was stuck on top of the border fence on the south side near the Progreso port of entry. With the assistance of the Weslaco Fired Department the man was safely brought down, but had suffered from hypothermia due to the cold weather and after clinging to the fence for nearly...

Thirty House Republicans are calling on their leadership to continue to stand firm against calls for a so-called “clean” Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill — or one free of House-passed riders blocking President Obama’s executive amnesty. In a letter dispatched Wednesday to House Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) the lawmakers, led by Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC), argued that the House must continue to fight against Obama’s executive actions using the “power of the purse.” “American voters supported our position of opposing executive overreach during the November elections, and are solely...

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott holds a book about Texas school laws as he delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the House and Senate, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015, in Austin, Texas. Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott told ABC News the “rule of law” trumps “compassion” for undocumented immigrants.

U.S. Border Patrol agents are expressing frustration that a multi-million dollar park project in San Diego’s Tijuana River Valley region, including a butterfly garden, will make it harder for them to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border in that area. Among the obstacles of concern are snowflake barriers, rebar-lined irrigation systems, low-posted bollards and iron gates. The project is shaped in accordance with an environmental impact report from 2006. Much has changed since then, according to National Border Patrol Council Local 1613 spokesman Gabe Pacheco. “These obstacles are going to make securing the border more difficult and more dangerous,” Pacheco said. “Agents...

A new study released Tuesday indicates that Latinos will play an ever increasing role in the future of job growth in the United States. Latinos will account for more than 40 percent of growth in the next five years and more than 75 percent between 2020 and 2034 – an increase of 11 million jobs out of an economy-wide gain of 14 million, according to an analysis done by the economic forecasting firm IHS Global Insight. A number of reasons will account for the rise of Latinos in the workplace, but some major factors will be a Hispanic population growth...

<p>As Republican lawmakers suggest that undocumented immigrants crossing the southern border may be responsible for bringing measles and other diseases into the country, Mexican health authorities are warning people traveling to the United States about the risk of infection here following an outbreak of measles at Disneyland last month that has sickened dozens of people in several states.</p>

Days from a Homeland Security Department shutdown, Senate Republicans sought a way out Monday by splitting President Barack Obama’s contested immigration measures from the agency’s funding bill. It was not clear whether the gambit by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would succeed ahead of Friday’s midnight deadline to fund the department or see it shut down. It was far from certain whether it would win any Democratic support, and House conservatives remain firmly opposed to any funding bill for the Homeland Security Department that does not also overturn Obama’s executive actions on immigration. But with Senate Democrats united against a...

Sunday at the the 87th Academy Awards, while accepting the Oscar for best picture, “Birdman” director Alejandro González Iñárritu used his speech to push immigration reform.

The LA Times reported that illegal aliens are unhappy that not enough doctors speak Spanish. The article never used the words "illegal" or "undocumented" or "dreamer" or "super virtuous" or however we are to call illegal aliens nowadays; only referring to "Hispanics" who can't understand English. But since all citizens understand English, or should, I presume that the article is only talking about illegal aliens. Now let the sob story begin: Every day, chronically ill Latino patients stream into Harbor-UCLA Medical Center's family medicine clinic. Some have neglected their health because they're flummoxed or alienated by the medical system, Dr....

members of the Arizona National Guard, including military recruiters were discovered working as “muscle” and “traffickers” for Mexican drug gangs .. About 12 National Guard were identified as suspects in one of the FBI’s biggest government corruption cases ever, which was almost totally ignored by government officials in Washington and major national news outlets On Friday in federal court, a non-commissioned officer (non-com) with the border-state Arizona’s Army National Guard was sentenced to federal prison for his role in protecting drug traffickers by using his military position to provide security for shipments of cocaine being transported from Mexico into the...

While a federal judge’s injunction has halted the implementation of President Obama’s sweeping executive actions from November, it appears U.S. Customs and Border Protection never got the news. According to CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske, the relaxed border enforcement guidelines that accompanied Obama’s executive actions should continue apace, unaffected by the judge’s ruling. In an email sent to CBP agents on Wednesday and later obtained by NRO, Kerlikowske conceded that the federal judge’s action meant agents “should not consider” Obama’s new and expanded deferred action guidelines when processing illegal immigrants. But border protection and enforcement are apparently a different matter. Kerlikowske’s...