Free Republic

SAN DIEGO — A U.S. border inspector fatally shot a knife-wielding Mexican man at a California crossing on Wednesday, and an agency official quickly defended his actions. The Customs and Border Protection officer fired his gun four times around midnight, striking the man in his chest and possibly in his neck at the port of entry in downtown Calexico, about 120 miles east of San Diego and across the border from Mexicali, Mexico, said Pete Flores, the agency's San Diego field office director.

Illegal immigrant students have a right to a quality, taxpayer-funded education that prepares them for college and a career, according to the Department of Education.

By Frosty Wooldridge “Tolerance and apathy are the last virtues of a dying society,” said French historian-philosopher Voltaire. Within the next 24 months, John Kerry and Congress, abetted by Barack Obama, expect to import 200,000 Syrian Muslim refugees into our country. That’s on top of the usual 1,000,000 (million) legal refugee immigrants expected to land on our shores in 2016 and another 1,000,000 (million) more in 2017. That’s on top of the 100,000,000 (million) total legal immigrant refugees projected to land on our shores within 30 years.  (Source: US Population Projections by Fogel/Martin; PEW Research Center) Ironically, you won’t hear a...

As Hispanic Heritage Month draws to a close, it is worth remembering the contributions that Hispanics have made to American independence. “Many Americans of Hispanic origin have received deserved praise,” Alejandro Chafuen of the Atlas Society writes in Forbes. “A major public Washington, D.C. square and statue is dedicated to David G. Farragut (1801-1870), a Hispanic American.” “Farragut was the son of Jordi Farragut (1755-1817), born in Minorca, Spain. David Farragut became the first U.S. admiral. He is remembered for a great many things, including his call of ‘Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead’ at the Battle of Mobile Bay,...

In Roman ruled Judea, Jewish zealots used daggers hidden in cloaks to kill their oppressors and were thus dubbed in Latin…”Sicarious”…or dagger men. Though most of the killing in Denis Villeneuve’s latest master class in vexatious suspense is done with machine guns, there’s a climax building scene where cinematographer god Roger Deakins photographs the character Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro) descending into the purple-hued darkness of a drug tunnel as he unsheathes a dagger that will make your skin scrawl. Alejandro is man of mysterious motives and origins who with the aid of another “DOD consultant” – an eager and smiley...

The long-running feud between Jeb Bush and Donald Trump escalated yet again Saturday, with the former Florida governor releasing a two-minute video on social media mocking the billionaire's fitness to be commander-in-chief. *snip* The clip is the latest salvo in the Bush-Trump rivalry, which has often been marked by bitter and personal exchanges between the two prominent Republican presidential candidates. On Friday, Trump suggested Bush's brother, former President George W. Bush, shared in the blame for the 9/11 terrorist attacks because they occurred during his presidency. Saturday's round centered on a video set to the tune of circus music that...

Four months after his brazen escape from a maximum-security prison in central Mexico, Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán may have been wounded while escaping a manhunt that has intensified in recent days. Mexican security forces, with assistance from US drug officials, tracked cellphone signals that indicated Guzmán was at a ranch near the town of Cosalá, in the mountains of Sinaloa state, according to NBC News. Mexican marines mounted a raid on the property, but they were forced to turn back when their helicopters reportedly came under fire from what are believed to be Guzmán's henchmen. The marines...

Mexico will take part in a technical meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Oct. 21 in Vienna but will not cut oil production, the country's energy minister Pedro Joaquin Coldwell said on Wednesday. Joaquin Coldwell pointed to flagging oil output, which has steadily declined since reaching a peak of some 3.4 million barrels per day in 2004, to explain why Mexico would attend but not consider pumping less crude.... When asked about the proposal, Coldwell declined to comment, saying he was not familiar with it and would make a decision after it was presented at the...

U.S. drug agents intercepted cellphone signals suggesting fugitive drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was hiding at a ranch in the rugged Mexican mountains, three sources told NBC News. However, when Mexican marines raided the ranch in the Sierra Madre range last week, all they found were cellphones and clothing they believed may have belonged to the crime boss, according to sources. Image: Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman The most recent image of drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman before he escaped from the Altiplano maximum security prison on July 12. Mexico's Attorney General's Office via AP A week on from...

Most people think living under a rock is something to avoid. But for one Mexican family, it's a dream come true. Farmer Benito Hernandez knew since the age of eight that he wanted to make a 131-foot rock formation in Coahuila, Mexico, his home. It took him 20 years to buy the land but as soon as he was able, Hernandez and his wife Santa Martha constructed a sun-dried brick house beneath the awe-inspiring formation. Located about 50 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border near the remote community of San Jose de Piedras, the home is small. But it was...

More Cubans are coming to Florida in their golden years to retire, able to tap U.S. government assistance even though they never lived or worked here. The number of Cubans arriving over the age of 60 grew fivefold since 2010, according to state refugee data. At least 185 made the crossing in their 80s or 90s. Unlike most other immigrants, Cubans qualify immediately for food stamps and Medicaid. If they are over 65 with little or no income, they also can collect a monthly check of up to $733 in Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Golden years: Cubans retire to Florida...

Targeting California’s recent record-low voter turnout, Gov. Jerry Brown on Saturday signed a measure that would eventually allow Californians to be automatically registered to vote when they go the the DMV to obtain or renew a driver’s license.The measure, which would also allow Californians to opt out of registering, was introduced in response to the dismal 42% turnout in the November 2014 statewide election.

A Watauga man has been indicted by a federal grand jury, accused of smuggling undocumented immigrants into Texas for financial gain, according to the Department of Justice. On Sept. 18, deputies with the Frio County Sheriff's Department and agents with the U.S. Border Patrol responded to a 911 call from someone who said they saw several people exiting a tractor-trailer parked at a convenience store in Frio County, southwest of San Antonio. When authorities arrived, they found 39 undocumented immigrants, including 28 men, seven women and four children, from Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico, officials said. "We see hands sticking...

Yes, according to TeleSurTV, El Chapo has increased the bounty on Trump's hair hat to a less-than-paltry $100 million. "He was mad," a predictably unnamed source tells the publication. "He wants Donald Trump dead and will pay any amount of money to have Donald Trump’s head." Meanwhile, the entirety of American politics wishes desperately for Donald to quietly exit the 2016 race for the White House, an exit that would essentially be a gift to the nation too precious for a specific valuation.

With the temperature outside slowly but surely dipping into winter levels, that annoying little tradition otherwise known as hindsight starts to rear its unabashedly annoying head. 2015, though we still have a little less than three months to completely upend this assessment, has given us the rise (or, in the case of these two gentlemen, the rebirth) of many a legend of pop culture, though two titans of headlines snatching reign bafflingly supreme: Donald Trump, that guy you kind of recognize from that one reality show you could never really bring yourself to watch, is still running for president. El...

VISALIA, Calif. A man who says he was a cartel enforcer pleaded guilty Tuesday to nine counts of murder in California. Jose Manuel Martinez will be sentenced next month to life in prison without the possibility of parole under the terms of a plea deal. He also pleaded guilty to one count of attempted murder of a 17-year-old. After being arrested in 2013, the 53-year-old Martinez opened up to investigators about his violent career with more than 30 killings.

A few days ago a top law enforcement official finally confirmed that Islamic terrorists have infiltrated the United States through Mexico, a story that Judicial Watch broke last year as part of an ongoing series involving the dangerously porous southern border. Last October JW reported that four members of the militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), who entered the U.S. through the Mexican border, were arrested in McAllen and Pharr Texas. Then, over the summer, JW reported that Mexican drug cartels are smuggling foreigners from countries with terrorist links into a small Texas rural town near...

I never expected to write these words, but I miss Mitt Romney. Last Wednesday, the day the front-runner for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination was in New Hampshire alleging that Syrian refugees fleeing for their lives may actually be clandestine terrorists, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee was in Washington, talking sense. "Donald Trump will not be the nominee," Romney told a group of business-school students at Georgetown University. And why won't Trump, who when he isn't besmirching Syrian refugees as terrorists is maligning Mexican immigrants as rapists, get the nod? Because, Romney said, "when all is said and done, the...

Court documents filed in federal court claim that a suspected drug traffickers linked to Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel used a Middle Eastern honor system to launder drug proceeds. Known as a Hawala, members of the conspiracy would be hired by cartel members in Canada and Mexico to move drug proceeds through the honor system that does not leave a paper trail as couriers move the money between countries. “Drug traffickers in Canada would generate drug proceeds from multi-kilogram and multi-pound sales and distribution of drugs provided by Mexican cartels, including the Sinaloa Cartel,” court records obtained by Breitbart Texas revealed. A...

the mere presence of 11-12 million illegal immigrants and other noncitizens here legally may enable them to swing the election from Republicans to Democrats.