Free Republic

City and law enforcement leaders are calling on Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to reject a U.S. Department of Homeland Security initiative they say would encourage racial profiling and undermine the city and state's power to police themselves. At a news conference today at City Hall, Mayor John DeStefano -- flanked by community leaders and the chief of police -- called the new federal initiative “dangerous and unconstitutional.” The Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) plans to roll out its Secure Communities program in Connecticut this week. Local police departments already share arrest and fingerprint information with...

SANTA FE — The Santa Fe County jail continues to release many illegal immigrants — some of them dangerous criminals — to the streets before immigration officials can detain them. That’s according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials who this week ramped up their criticism of the lockup in Santa Fe, known for its “safe haven” attitude toward immigrants. After the agency’s statements to KOAT-TV, repeating earlier claims that jail officials don’t do enough to help them enforce federal immigration law, the county and ICE sat down to try to reach an understanding. ICE assistant Albuquerque field office director...

The nation's capital has officially become the latest safe haven for illegal immigrants. District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Gray on Wednesday signed an executive order instructing police officers not to question people about their immigration status -- even people who are arrested on other matters -- unless immigration status is directly related to a criminal investigation. "This executive order ensures public safety by ensuring that our police resources are deployed wisely and our immigrant communities feel safe cooperating with those who are sworn to protect them," Gray said in a statement. "The district is home to thousands of immigrants," he...

From the Executive Summary: During the past two years the state of Texas has become increasingly threatened by the spread of Mexican cartel organized crime. The threat reflects a change in the strategic intent of the cartels to move their operations into the United States. In effect, the cartels seek to create a “sanitary zone” inside the Texas border -- one county deep -- that will provide sanctuary from Mexican law enforcement and, at the same time, enable the cartels to transform Texas’ border counties into narcotics transshipment points for continued transport and distribution into the continental United States. To...

Immigration advocates in Texas were heartened last year when the Republican governor, Rick Perry, flatly stated that Arizona's crackdown on illegal immigrants "would not be the right direction for Texas."

Seven members and associates of the Mara Salvatrucha street gang are charged with three murders as part of a squad that allegedly killed, robbed and dealt drugs on the streets of Houston, officials said Thursday. The defendants are tied to the gang, which is known as MS-13 and has roots in Central America, federal authorities said as they announced the unsealing of a federal indictment. "Gang activities reach out from far beyond the neighborhoods in which they are ongoing and into the communities in which we live," said Jose Angel Moreno, the top federal prosecutor for a region that stretches...

Video explores the players in Texas that work to thwart the will of the people in enforcing immigration law for the interests of cheap labor. Please view and rate. Thanks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q9FCr9KGlc

A Judicial Watch investigation has discovered that the drunk illegal immigrant who recently killed a Houston police officer had six arrest warrants, multiple encounters with law enforcement and had been caught driving without a license four times. He also had been cited by police on eight occasions, was ticketed twice in 2009 and had two convictions for unlawful entry into the U.S., according to public records obtained by JW from the Houston Municipal Court. Incredibly, the illegal alien (Johoan Rodriguez) remained free and in late May struck and killed Houston Police Officer Kevin Will. It marks the fourth time in...

Gov. Rick Perry may or may not try to become the leader of what was once called the free world. In the meantime, he has cemented his reputation as one of the most powerful governors ever to walk the corridors of the Texas Capitol. As the longest serving governor in state history, Perry has named more people to boards and commissions than any predecessor — 5,495 at last count, Legislative Reference Library figures show — allowing him to put his conservative stamp on every corner of state government. The reach of his power, and his willingness to use it, have...

AN OPEN LETTER TO TEXAS GOVERNOR RICK PERRY June 30, 2011 The Honourable James Richard 'Rick' Perry Governor of the State of Texas State Insurance Building 1100 San Jacinto Austin, Texas 78701 Governor Perry: We write to express, in the strongest possible terms, our disappointment over the outcome of the regular and special sessions of the 82nd Legislature, in which every single one of the dozens of common-sense immigration reform bills died. As you are most likely aware, the overwhelming body of polling data shows that Texans are extremely concerned about the effects of unchecked illegal immigration on our state......

Good morning my fellow Americans! Hope you all are ready for an action packed event. Are you guys fired up? Are you ready to take back OUR country? Let me have a round of applause if you are SICK of illegal immigration like I am. Is your heart racing? You ready to get this show on the road and help get Carl Pittman elected Sheriff of Harris County and restore OUR American values and law? Let’s give Sheriff Arpaio a warm welcome to Texas, the friendly state! First things first, if you are a veteran, an active member or a...

Time Saturday, June 11 · 3:30pm - 6:30pm Location South steps of the Austin Capitol. Created By Charles Paschal More Info A Sanctuary City Legislation rally has been planned for Saturday, June 11th - 3:30pm - 6:30pm on the south steps of the Capitol in Austin. We are on the verge of getting the sanctuary city legislation our state needs to save lives. Several of our state reps and senators have filed sanctuary city bills and e-verify bills during the special session. It is up to Governor Perry to put them on the agenda and we need to show support...

I'm damned mad today. Can't sleep angry. What's it going to take for the so-called leaders of this city to do the right thing? On March 2nd of 2008, while Sgt. Anita Shaw served her country in Iraq, her son, a Los Angeles High School football star, Jamiel Shaw II - Jas to his friends and family- was murdered three doors from home. Jas fell dead still clutching the phone he had just used to tell his Dad he'd be home in 30 seconds. Jamiel Shaw Sr. heard the shots that killed his son. He bolted out the door and...

Areli Carbajal Escobar, a violent 32-year-old illegal immigrant from Mexico, had a long rap sheet. Over the years in the sanctuary city of Austin, Texas, police and prosecutors had many contacts with him. Yet Escobar was never deported. Now, immigration problems are the least of Escobar's worries. Last week, a Travis County jury sentenced him to death for the brutal rape and murder of a high school honor student. Texas may lead the nation for executions, but most condemned murderers aren't from Austin, the capital, and surrounding Travis County -- for both are enclaves of liberal Democrats in an otherwise...

A new report ranks New Haven as one of the most dangerous cities in the U.S. The Elm City ranks 4th Most Dangerous City, behind Flint, Michigan, Detroit, Michigan, and St. Louis, Missouri, according to Business Insider. The daily newsletter used FBI crime statistics from 2010, and listed the cities based on the numbers of violent crimes including murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault, per 100,000 people. New Haven had 1,584 violent crimes per 100,000 people and 628 robberies for every 100,000 people in the city, triple the national average, according to Business Insider. In the past two days alone,...

He was just a skinny kid with a thick head of hair who stole cars and sold pot around his East End neighborhood. But Daniel Zamora climbed the crime ranks to reach one of the world's most ruthless employers: a Mexican drug cartel capable of providing power and money even if the path meant prison or death. Which for "Danny Boy," it did. He was dead by the age of 32, but not before bringing his family and friends along for a wildly perilous ride. Their collective story is one of a modern-day mafia, every bit as merciless as the...

Under criticism that it was unfairly targeting undocumented immigrants, the Los Angeles Police Department on Friday announced changes to its rules for impounding cars of unlicensed drivers at sobriety checkpoints. Previously, LAPD officers at such checkpoints followed stringent protocols that called for them to impound a car whenever the driver was found not to have a valid license, regardless of whether the driver had been drinking. Those rules have drawn the ire of immigration advocacy groups that said they disproportionately targeted undocumented immigrants, who are not able to obtain licenses legally in nearly all U.S. states. Once a vehicle is...

On Thursday, Norma Paola Vera-Nolasco, 31, was arrested at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, as she attempted to flee to Mexico. In fact, her U.S. Airways flight had already pulled away from the gate when police ordered it to return. According to the Denver's District Attorney's office, Vera-Nolasko was driving the truck that hit and killed valet, Jose Medina outside a Denver nightclub on Saturday night. She faces two counts of vehicular homicide, criminal impersonation, and leaving the scene of a fatal accident. Prosecutors say that the illegal alien was drunk at the time of the accident. In 2008, Vera-Nolasco...

Welfare benefits for the children of illegal immigrants cost America's largest county more than $600 million last year, according to a local official keeping tabs on the cost. Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich released new statistics this week showing social spending for those families in his county rose to $53 million in November, putting the county government on track to spend more than $600 million on related costs for the year -- up from $570 million in 2009. Antonovich arrived at the estimate by factoring in the cost of food stamps and welfare-style benefits through a state program known...

Bobby and Amanda Herring spent more than a year providing food to homeless people in downtown Houston every day. They fed them, left behind no trash and doled out warm meals peacefully without a single crime being committed, Bobby Herring said. That ended two weeks ago when the city shut down their "Feed a Friend" effort for lack of a permit. And city officials say the couple most likely will not be able to obtain one. "We don't really know what they want, we just think that they don't want us down there feeding people," said Bobby Herring, a Christian...

Paul Mckinley from the south side of Chicago inspires the crowd at a Tea Party in Bloomington, Illinois. He says he no longer has any use for the democrats and gives great reasons as why. A good video to spread around. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwMAJeA284s&feature=autofb

The Los Angeles Police Department evacuated its Rampart Area station Tuesday after an envelope containing an unknown powder was found at the station. The envelope contained a threat directed at one of the officers involved in the fatal shooting of a Guatemalan immigrant earlier this month in the Westlake District, according to sources familiar with the incident who asked not to be identified because the investigation is ongoing. The nature of the threat was not specified. [Updated at 2:34 p.m.: Officials said they determined the white powder was not hazardous.] Manuel Jamines was shot and killed Sept. 5 at the...

I don't understand why San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris wants to be California's next attorney general. Then again, it's hard to understand why she even ran for DA -- other than because she has a yen for elective office. She hasn't been an aggressive prosecutor. She hasn't been a competent administrator. She seems more interested in advancing liberal causes than putting bad guys behind bars. It is a sad testament to the Democratic Party that Harris is its chosen nominee to run against Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, a consummate lawman whose tenure could serve as a...

Manuel Jamines went after the responding police with his blade, but the mob wants the cops on trial for murder because he was "unarmed." Everyone knows there are few certainties in life. Yes, you always hear about death and taxes, but recent events here in Los Angeles have revealed other certainties which are, perhaps not coincidentally, related to the first two. The first is this: If it is your custom to spend your afternoons getting drunk, wielding knives, and menacing passers-by on busy street corners, and if, after the police have arrived as they must when this behavior has been...

Los Angeles police who confronted and fatally shot an apparently drunk man with a knife who was threatening a pregnant woman and her child is a hero, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa asserted Wednesday. The mayor also defended police Chief Charlie Beck, who was shouted down at a community meeting meant to calm residents in the neighborhood where the officer-involved shooting occurred Sunday afternoon near MacArthur Park. Protesters have taken to the streets in anger three nights in a row — setting fires, dumping garbage and throwing rocks and bottles at police — since an LAPD bicycle patrol officer shot and killed...

Chandra Ann Levy (April 14, 1977–ca. May 1, 2001) was an intern at the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Washington, D.C., who disappeared in May 2001 and is presumed murdered after her skeletal remains were found in Rock Creek Park in May 2002. The investigation led to media allegations of an extramarital affair with then-U.S. Representative Gary Condit,[1] a Democrat representing California's 18th congressional district and a senior member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Condit was never named a suspect by police and was ultimately cleared of involvement, however the cloud of suspicion raised by the...

Harper recently issued new guidelines to his officers to no longer check the immigration status of a person and to leave enforcement of immigration laws to federal officers. Harper says police need good relations with the immigrant community and should not be feared.

MEDFORD ORE. – Sal Esquivel, supporter of Arizona's immigration bill, is now proposing his own bill to cut down on the number of illegal immigrants in Oregon. “It's about a $7 million problem for taxpayers,” said Sal Esquivel. Esquivel ‘s bill would require businesses to use e-verification, a system that uses an applicant' social security number, passport or green cards to verify that he or she is a legal citizen of the Untied States. Employers who hire illegal workers would be disciplined. Esquivel proposed the bill last legislative session but it got turned down. Democratic Representative Peter Buckley says the...

Exactly one year after it became an issue in his Senate campaign, Bill White — now the Democratic candidate for governor — is still explaining his past membership in a controversial group called Mayors Against Illegal Guns. The issue was not raised by his Republican opponent, Gov. Rick Perry, but by another Democrat who stands by his statements. White said he has a good record on guns. "I have a 'B-plus' rating from the NRA," he said. The Texas State Rifle Association confirms it gave White a "B" prior to the primary. But opponents claim White doesn't make the grade...

Welcome to Maywood, Mexico. Boasting a population that is 97% Hispanic, more than half foreign born, and 40% illegal, the Los Angeles County, Calif., incorporated city of Maywood has achieved the Reconquista goal. It is now as lawless and chaotic as any place in Mexico. Maywood is a warning to every city and town in America. The Maywood City Council announced this week that after years of radical policies, corruption and scandal, the city was broke and all city employees would be laid off and essential city services contracted out to neighboring cities or to L.A. County government. How did...

PPD Reportedly 'not asking about anybody's legal status unless it is a matter of national security' WASHINGTON, July 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has filed an open records lawsuit against the Pasadena Police Department (PPD), and PPD Police Chief Christopher Vicino, to obtain documents related to the department's alleged illegal alien sanctuary policy. Chief Vicino reportedly indicated that the department prevents his officers from "asking about anybody's legal status unless it is a matter of national security," which may be a violation of federal immigration law....

Standing before "Phoenix Rising," a statue made from hundreds of melted-down guns, law-enforcement leaders set out an initiative to battle the violence that has taken 29 lives in Minneapolis this year -- far eclipsing the total for all of 2009. The plan: to prosecute more cases of illegal gun possession in federal court, where sentences often are longer and often without parole. The message: Commit a serious or repeat gun crime in Minneapolis, and you will face serious prison time. Thursday's news conference was more than just a policy discussion. As officials laid out Project Minneapolis Exile, mothers of slain...

Houston raids reveal drug gangs' savage attacks on illegal immigrants The smuggler, nicknamed "El Pelon," Baldy, forced the 11 illegal immigrants to strip naked shortly after they arrived at the southwest Houston stash house, hoping to complicate any plans for escape. He and the other smugglers led the men up a staircase to a room on the second floor.And there, they lived in what one Honduran immigrant described as a "state of terror" for days while the smugglers attempted to extort more money from their relatives to secure their release. One man said a smuggler stepped on his chest until...

The Obama administration has tapped an outspoken critic of immigration enforcement on the local level to oversee and promote partnerships between federal and local officials. Harold Hurtt, a former police chief in Houston and Phoenix, has been hired as the director for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Office of State and Local Coordination. Starting July 6, Hurtt will supervise outreach and communication between ICE, local law enforcement agencies, tribal leaders and representatives from non-governmental organizations. "Chief Hurtt is a respected member of the law enforcement community and understands the concerns of local law enforcement leaders," said John Morton, the...

Dozens of arrest were made as troublemakers in several locations threw rocks and bottles, set cars on fire, got into fights, and in some cases harassed motorists trying to leave the area, police said. ‘As the crowds left the area, we had some groups that decided to celebrate irresponsibly,’ LAPD spokeswoman Mary Grady said.

While those serving time in the Santa Fe County jail can't wait to get out, federal immigration officials are just trying to get in. But the jail's director contends U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities racially profile inmates, and until that stops the welcome mat outside the facility will continue to read: No pasarán. ICE officials insist they are not racially profiling anyone. And they say Santa Fe's refusal to allow them to interview prisoners is hindering their efforts to determine which ones might be here illegally. ICE spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa says it would make sense for the jail to...

San Antonio City Council will be asked today to create what are called ‘prostitution free corridors’ to crack down on the activity in areas where prostitutes are known to frequent. Southeast side Councilwoman Jennifer Ramos says the proposal, which will be floated before the council’s Governance Committee, would designate areas where police and law enforcement will focus on rooting out prostitution. “I want to see if there is a similar way we could attack prostitution, similar to the way we have attacked gang activity in certain parts of town,” Ramos said. Under the District Attorney’s successful gang injunction program, gang...

Washington (CNSNews.com) – Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told CNSNews.com Thursday that illegal immigration has not contributed to his city’s budget problems, but, on the contrary, that illegal immigration adds to the "economic might" of California. "In California, I think there’s a real sense that these immigrants provide a great deal to the economic might of the state," said Villaraigosa. (Snip).........Daniel Nasaw, BBC News, Washington: The Los Angeles city council has voted to boycott Arizona businesses in one of the strongest moves yet against the state's new immigration law. Council members agreed to bar official travel to Arizona and avoid...

Dennis Prager, syndicated radio talk show host, best selling author and long-time resident of Los Angeles, has called for the rest of the United States to boycott his own city after the Los Angeles City Council voted to cut ties with Arizona business in response the just passed immigration enforcement law, this as the city finances continue to meltdown. Prager was apoplectic about such a dumb move by a City Council whose liberal Democrat policies have devastated the city of Los Angeles by driving businesses away, discouraging further investment, soaking the population with taxes that discourage economic growth and passing...

Illegal Immigration: Los Angeles' city council votes to boycott Arizona for its enforcement of existing federal law. No word yet on how China's human rights violations will be treated. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. The next time the Lakers play Los Suns in Phoenix, traveling fans are advised to bring their own snacks. The L.A. City Council voted 13-1 on Wednesday to economically boycott the state of Arizona for daring to protect its borders against the crime, violence and illegal immigration that recently took the life of an Arizona rancher and has made Phoenix the kidnapping capital of...

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors took a symbolic jab at Arizona Tuesday for passing a controversial law last month that gives law enforcement authorities in the Grand Canyon State broad powers to check a person's immigration status. Critics fear the law will lead to racial profiling. San Francisco supervisors, on a 10-1 vote, approved a nonbinding resolution that calls for a boycott of Arizona-based businesses. It asks for, but does not demand, that city departments refrain from entering into new contracts or extending existing ones with companies headquartered in Arizona, unless severing those ties would result in significant costs...

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak has urged department heads and other city officials to cancel any pending official travel plans to Arizona in the wake of new immigration legislation in that state. Rybak urged city officials to find alternate ways of accomplishing the same business ends without traveling to the state. Arizona law makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally and authorizes police officers to ask people for proof of citizenship and hand illegal immigrants over to federal enforcers. “This is a terrible law, and I do not want any public dollars to be spent there,” Rybak...

A citizens group is seeking the end of a policy that prevents Phoenix police officers from detaining suspected illegal aliens, questioning a person under arrest about immigration status or notifying federal authorities that an illegal alien is in custody. Members of Protect Our City have started a petition drive to change the city's charter to require that police officers, along with all other city agencies and employees, assist federal authorities in enforcing U.S. immigration law. Randy Pullen, a Republican National Committeeman from Arizona and the project's leader, told The Washington Times that he hopes to gather enough signatures to qualify...

Church leaders quickly voiced opposition to Arizona’s new immigration laws on Friday. They complain that not only will the rules be ineffective in solving the problem, but will promote discrimination. “All the religious leaders of Arizona know and understand that this law will not solve the issue of crime along the border or in our state, but it will demonize anyone who looks suspiciously like an undocumented person leading to inevitable racial profiling,” said the Rev. Jan Flaaten, executive director of Arizona Ecumenical Council, in a statement. “Our religious traditions ask us to treat people with dignity and respect, and...

Count our own George Gascon among the nation's police chiefs speaking out against a controversial Arizona immigration bill that would require police officers in that state to arrest anyone they suspect of being in the country illegally. Gascon, who was the top cop in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa before being tapped for the San Francisco job last year, said the Arizona legislation "will have a catastrophic effect on policing and set back community policing efforts for decades." Some cops are warning the law would impede their efforts to fight violent crime because witnesses and victims will be reluctant to...

AN AUSTRALIAN woman is being deported from the US because her son punched a classmate and stole 53 cents. Tracey Washington and her two sons, aged 13 and 5, will be kicked out on Friday under a controversial San Francisco policy that forced the city's juvenile authorities to turn the elder child over to federal US Immigration and Customs officials. Mrs Washington moved to San Francisco from Melbourne in February last year to marry Charles Washington, 42, whom she met on holidays six years ago. However, Mrs Washington and the boys were declared illegal immigrants in May after she missed...

"When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the Lord a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come upon them when you number them." -- Exodus 30:12. No one talked about plagues or ransoms during a news conference today at St. John's United Methodist Church downtown.... These local leaders gathered to promote "Census Sabbath" (PDF) March 5-7. They encouraged pastors, rabbis, priests and other spiritual leaders to dedicate sermons and other messages to the value of returning 2010 Census forms that will arrive in mailboxes...

On Saturday night, Virginia Beach police arrested Jorge Alberto Fuertes Loredo, 31, and Isidor Loredo Amaya, 31, after Florentino Martinez-Melendez, 40, was shot to death in a trailer park. A second victim survived the shooting but remains in critical condition in a local hospital. Apparently, the fatal shooting was the result of a heated argument. Both Loredo and Amaya have been charged with murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Both Mexican nationals are in the country illegally, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have placed a hold on them. Virginia Beach Commonwealth Attorney, Harvey Bryant,...

The TERRY ANDERSON SHOW.. Articulating the Popular Rage! A warrior in the fight against illegal immigration and those who promote it for over a decade! From the streets of Los Angeles to the halls of congress, Terry has been there. No one has the passion and common sense of Terry Anderson...He is A MUST listen! The BEST one hour of radio you'll find anywhere. Sunday Nights- Listen on the radio! 12-1 AM EDT, 11-12 PM CDT, 10-11 PM MDT, 9-10 PM PDT KRLA - 870 AM - Los Angeles -- KDWN - 720 - Las Vegas -- KFNX - 1100...

In one case, an innocent man died in gang’s 3 tries to kill target It was not the first time a rival tried to kill Mexican drug cartel-connected gangster Santiago “Chago” Salinas, but it would be the last. When 28-year-old Salinas was shot in the head at point-blank range three years ago at the Baymont Inn & Suites hotel on the Gulf Freeway, it was the latest round in a deadly feud that has played out here and in Mexico. Just a few weeks before, Salinas' brother-in-law who also had lived in Houston, was found dead, charred in a barrel...