Free Republic

Lots of groups were there. LA Answer, the peace group, was aggressive and loud. The Obama supporters were subdued. AARP was there, as was a large group of Ron Paul Supporters. There was a large anti abortion group. Every one of the Pro - McCain supporters agreed that the border needs to be secured. Law Enforcement was great, horse patrol was there. A Few of the LA Answer Peace advocates had to be detained for pushing and shoving. Mc Cain was much more on point than Obama, who seemed to be vague and rambling.

From opponents of illegal immigration to anti-war activists, demonstrators are gearing up for the presidential candidates' first and only confirmed joint appearance before the party conventions this Saturday at Saddleback Church. ... Authorities expect anywhere between 800 to 1,500 demonstrators to line up along sidewalks surrounding the church, said Lt. Don Barnes, chief of police services for Lake Forest. Ian Thompson with A.N.S.W.E.R Coalition (Act Now To Stop War & End Racism), said his group is expecting many hundreds to protest the war in Iraq, among other issues. ... At least 15 different protests are expected outside the church, including...

An admitted drug smuggler whom two U.S. Border Patrol agents shot in the buttocks as he fled back to Mexico was sentenced Wednesday to 9 1/2 years in federal prison on drug-related charges. Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila, who pleaded guilty in April on charges of drug smuggling and conspiracy, was at the center of a firestorm of criticism in 2005 after Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean were sentenced to 11 and 12 years in prison, respectively, for the shooting incident. The sentencing came a little more than a week after a federal appeals court upheld the agents' lengthy...

On the 4th of July, the Campo Minutemen will join other Border Watch Groups for a Bar-B-Que at Camp Vigilance in Boulevard, CA.

If President Bush would simply pardon the unjustly imprisoned former Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, we could all rest much easier knowing that in the United States, a foreign drug smuggler's word does not prevail over the word of federal agents in the line of duty. This week, the Kentucky-based group, Christians Reviving America's Values, filed an ethics complaint with the Texas Bar Association to investigate U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, whom the group argues willfully misled a jury to convict the agents. Here is a refresher on the case for those who need it: Messrs. Ramos and...

A wonderful evening, with our gracious hosts. Congressman Ed Royce was there and discussed the Ramos and Compean Situation. The Mayor of Orange was there, and discussed the success of their Day Labor Ordinance. John Paul Ledesma, Mission Viejo City Councilman was there as was Neil Blais, the Mayor of Rancho Cucamonga who will be running for Todd Switzer's assembly seat.

No Pardon Promise for Ex-Border Patrol Agents By Fred Lucas CNSNews.com Staff Writer July 19, 2007 (1st Add: Adds background.) (CNSNews.com) - President George W. Bush Thursday praised the federal prosecutor who was grilled two days earlier by a Senate panel for his role in the conviction of two U.S. Border Patrol agents for the shooting a drug dealer. Taking questions from members of the Nashville, Tenn., Chamber of Commerce after a speech, Bush declined to promise to pardon the two agents, as a growing number of lawmakers are urging. "I'm not going to make that kind of promise in...

Daily Bulletin reporter Sara Carter was named the winner of the 2006 Eugene Katz Award for Excellence in Coverage of Immigration the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Immigration Studies. This award "is intended to promote informed and fair reporting on this most contentious and complicated issue," according to the center. In announcing the award, the center cited stories, which Carter broke, about U.S. officials alerting the Mexican government to the activities of civilian border patrols and stories about drug cartels placing bounties on Texas law enforcement officers. "The body of her reporting over the past year is an important example of...

Members of a violent international gang working for drug cartels in Central and South America are planning coordinated attacks along the U.S. border with Mexico, according to a Department of Homeland Security document obtained by the Daily Bulletin. Detailed inside a Jan. 20 officer safety alert, the plot's ultimate goal is to "begin gaining control of areas, cities and regions within the U.S." The information comes from the interrogation of a captured member of Mara Savatrucha, or MS-13, a transnational criminal syndicate born from displaced El Salvadoran death squads from the 1980s. The MS-13 member, who claimed to have smuggled...

Chertoff plays down border incursion reports By Mason Stockstill, Staff Writer Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on Wednesday played down reports outlining hundreds of border incursions by the Mexican military over the last 10 years. Chertoff, speaking to reporters in Washington, D.C., acknowledged that the Border Patrol has long known of crossings by uniformed troops, which some agents in border states say shows a level of collusion between Mexican military officers and drug-smuggling cartels. But he suggested that many of the incursions could have been innocent mistakes -- such as authorities in Mexico crossing into the United States in desert...

With lawn chairs, binoculars and water bottles in tow, civilian volunteers will begin patrolling California's southern border today with hopes of drawing further attention to illegal immigration. But their arrival is being met by serious opposition. Chris Simcox, co-founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a civilian border watch group that began patrolling the Arizona/Mexico border in April, announced Friday the expansion of the controversial project to California and New Mexico as well as three states along the northern U.S. border with Canada. "In the name of public safety and national security something needs to be done," Simcox said, speaking...

Border Patrol fears run-ins with Mexican military In the Sonoran desert along the Texas border, Border Patrol agents say they're often confronted by corrupt Mexican military units in the employ of violent drug smugglers. These run-ins have become so regular that the Department of Homeland Security eventually issued written directives a "what to do" list, of sorts" that agents carry with them while patrolling the area.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Sara Carter of the Daily Bulletin was honored Friday for her work covering immigration in the past year. At a panel luncheon ceremony near Capitol Hill, Carter was presented with the Eugene Katz Award for Excellence in the Coverage of Immigration, presented annually by the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington think tank. CIS Executive Director Mark Krikorian praised Carter for her willingness to pursue stories in border regions few reporters have visited, and noted her reporting had attracted the attention of readers all over the country, including members of Congress. Krikorian noted that Carter's reporting affected...

SAN DIEGO - Narcotics syndicates operating along the southern border are a threat to the security of the United States, and not enough is being done to close the nation's borders to would-be terrorists, government witnesses told U.S. congressional leaders Wednesday. The House Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Non-proliferation held the first of several field hearings on border security and terrorism at the Imperial Beach Border Patrol Station in San Diego. During testimony, law enforcement agents, researchers and federal officials said they lack the funding, manpower and technology to fully secure the nation's northern and southern borders. "Drug cartels, smuggling...

EL PASO, Texas - Border Patrol Agent Ignacio Ramos could hear his heart racing. He could feel the dry, hot dust burning against his skin as he chased a drug trafficker trying to flee back into Mexico. Ramos' fellow agent, Jose Alonso Compean, was lying on the ground behind him, banged up and bloody from a scuffle with the much-bigger smuggler moments earlier. Suddenly the smuggler turned toward the pursuing Ramos, gun in hand. Ramos, his own weapon already drawn, shot at him, though the man was able to flee into the brush and escape the agents. Now, nearly 18...

US Border Patrol Agent Ignacio Ramos attorney is Mary Stillinger (article at the end of this email) http://www.marystillingerlaw.com/index.jsp (915) 544-0415 I just spoke with Attorney Mary Stillinger's legal assistant, Ruth. She said that the U.S. Border Patrol Agents are scheduled for their sentencing on August 22nd. Ruth said IF WE SEND LETTERS stating the border patrol agents have been wrongly accused THAT ATTORNEY MARY STILLINGER CAN USE OUR LETTERS WHEN SHE GOES BEFORE THE JUDGE on August 22nd. Letters could be helpful for both the sentencing and the appeal in this case, she said. I have been researching this issue...

A conservative grass-roots organization has gathered nearly 40,000 signatures since Wednesday on a petition to be sent to President Bush on behalf of two Border Patrol agents convicted of violating a drug smuggler's civil rights. Two of the jurors who convicted the agents also are expressing misgivings about the verdict, saying they were pressured by other jury members and the prosecution to reach a quick decision in the case. Grassfire, a nonprofit organization that uses online petitions to affect legislation, has created a special Web link and letter to President Bush for Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, who were...

Mexican Neighbor Shows Rope Tricks Buddy and Kingfish Roofer 1 and a roofer 2, Chicago, Chechstan, Howard and Max San Diego Union Tribune: Interviews Kingfish Showing the photographer over the fence figuring out the cell phone Max, JJ Kingfish, Chicago Felix Cartel Drug House

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein is asking the Senate Judiciary Committee to fully review the case of two Border Patrol agents facing 20 years in prison for violating a drug smuggler's civil rights. Rep. Walter B. Jones, R-N.C., went even further, sending a letter to President Bush asking him to personally review the case. Border Patrol agent Ignacio Ramos broke his 18-month silence on his altercation with the drug smuggler, Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila, in an exclusive interview with the Daily Bulletin. His co-worker, Jose Alonso Compean, has been asked by his attorney to not speak to the media while his sentencing hearing...

In an ongoing effort to fully examine the circumstances behind two Border Patrol agents' convictions for shooting a fleeing drug smuggler, congressional leaders called on the Department of Justice on Thursday to suspend sentencing the agents pending a full congressional investigation and hearing into their case. At a news conference in Washington, D.C., Rep. Walter B. Jones, R-N.C., and five other congressional representatives asked U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to reopen the case of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean and delay the agents' Oct. 18 sentencing hearing. Ramos and Compean are facing up to 20 years in prison for...