Free Republic

The Pennsylvania progressive's comments follow his staunch support for Israel's war in Gaza, which has also befuddled some of his typical allies on the left. As stalled immigration negotiations imperil U.S. aid to Ukraine and Israel, Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) is blaming not only Republicans but also members of his own party for what he described as a reflexive political resistance to a border security deal. “I hope Democrats can understand that it isn’t xenophobic to be concerned about the border,” Fetterman said in an interview. “It’s a reasonable conversation, and Democrats should engage.” Fetterman, a progressive favorite, urged Democrats...

U.S. Customs and Border Protection last week seized imports from a Chinese company backed by an investment group in which climate czar John Kerry holds a $1 million stake. Kerry and his wife are invested in Hillhouse China Value Fund L.P., part of the Hillhouse investment group that is a top shareholder in a Chinese solar panel company that works with companies known to be using forced labor. It was on that account that CBP seized the imports from LONGi Green Energy, citing a law that prohibits foreign imports produced through labor abuses. The news could raise additional concerns about...

15 giant land snails have been captured at a Houston airport, officials said The snails, 0.25 pounds of dried beef and fresh leaves were seized at George Bush Intercontinental Airport They were seized by US Customs and Border Protection and eventually turned over to the US Department of Agriculture They were first spotted in southern Florida in the 1960s and it took nearly 10 years and $1 million to get rid of them...

BALTIMORE (WBFF) - U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Baltimore field office stopped 157 stolen cars from being shipped overseas during the past fiscal year (Oct. 1, 2019 through Sept. 30, 2020). The Baltimore Field Office ranks second in the number of vehicles intercepted during that time. Only the New York field office recovered more. The total value of the vehicles was $4,876,000. 37 of the vehicles were stolen from Maryland. 16 others were stolen from Virginia. Nationally, the Office of Field Operations recovered 1,082 stolen vehicles, of which 833 were destined overseas. Most of the vehicles were...

Law enforcement officials reportedly informed the Associated Press on Sunday of an arrest related to the ricin poison sent to the White House. An as-yet-unidentified woman was arrested at the Canada border on Sunday, three law enforcement officials told the Associated Press. The woman is suspected to be the sender of a letter intercepted on its way to the White House containing the deadly poison, ricin. The letter was addressed to President Donald Trump. The woman was reportedly arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Peace Bridge border crossing near Buffalo. The letter itself is believed to...

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid could be deposed for ICE whistleblower Taylor Johnson’s new lawsuit because complaints from his office precipitated her ouster. Johnson’s attorney, Morris Fischer, told the Washington Gadfly that, “We will attempt to depose whoever is involved in this corruption up to and including Harry Reid. His fingerprints are all over the place.” The veteran law enforcement agent, who DHS fired in February after she rejected $100,000 in hush money, filed a Merit System Protection Board claim against the agency earlier this month. Johnson, a single mother of four, had a storied career until she ran afoul...

A Colorado woman is facing a $500 fine from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for saving a free apple she received as a snack from Delta Air Lines on her way back to the United States from Paris, France. Crystal Tadlock told Fox 31 Denver, toward the end of her flight from Paris, flight attendants passed out apples in plastic bags as a snack. Tadlock put the fruit in her carry-on to save for when she was hungry during the second leg of her trip. Once Tadlock arrived in the U.S., she went through Customs and her bag was...

In recent years the government has gone to extremes to bully everyday Americans and whistleblowers from speaking out against corruption. From the targeting of Tea Party groups and conservative donors to the lawsuits against poverty nuns over birth control the government has harassed and abused its citizenry. In June investigative journalist James O’Keefe was detained by U.S. customs agents after arriving at the airport in Nassau, Bahamas en route to Miami. The agents told him then he was being detained for crossing back and forth across the US-Mexico border in Texas dressed like Osama bin Laden. Customs agents targeted O’Keffe...

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents who detained conservative filmmaker James O’Keefe at the airport specifically asked him about the work he’s done investigating the “federal government.”O’Keefe was detained by U.S. customs agents Monday after arriving at the airport in Nassau, Bahamas en route to Miami. Agents told O’Keefe that he was being detained for crossing back and forth across the U.S.-Mexico border while dressed as Osama bin Laden in a video that was published by The Daily Caller. Agents marked his passport with an “X” and explained that he would be detained every time he enters U.S. territory henceforth....

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.

What was expected to be a routine stopover at Bangor International Airport for a plane filled with returning U.S. troops and defense contractors Sunday night instead became a frustrating ordeal for many of those aboard. For the 102 U.S. troops returning from Afghanistan and Kuwait on Delta flight 8964, getting off the plane was fairly routine and featured a hero’s welcome from the Maine Troop Greeters in attendance. It was a different story for the 112 Department of Defense contractors — those hired to fly drones, do intelligence analysis, fix computers and other jobs — some of whom were kept...

Nancy Soderberg, a former Ambassador to the United Nations and Foreign Policy Advisor under the Clinton administration, repeated the often-heard myth that President Clinton prevented Millennium attacks on the United States. Soderberg made the debunked claim as a guest on tonight's episode of The O'Reilly Factor (Thursday, February 9, 2006).Soderberg's claim would refer to the arrest of terrorist Ahmed Ressam at the U.S-Canada border on December 14, 1999. It was later learned that Ressam planned to bomb Los Angeles International Airport on or around New Year's Day 2000. Clinton defenders have often falsely cited this incident as evidence that...

Got home from the airport last night just in time to see Channel 8's piece on how Dallas PD and the FBI are prepping for the 10th anniversary of September 11. Would have been home a little sooner, but, ya know, I stopped by a Northwest Highway construction site. Oh -- and I was briefly detained by a man with a badge at Dallas-Fort Worth International. Perhaps I should explain. I was out of town yesterday, in Los Angeles. Left Tuesday night, came back Wednesday night. Very uneventful. Left the hotel room just long enough to do an interview. Arrived...

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has received from Lockheed Martin its first mid-life upgrade P-3 Orion patrol aircraft, the company announced. The upgrade replaced the patrol craft's outer wings, center wing lower surface and horizontal stabilizer with new production components. "We are excited about our partnership with Customs and Border Protection," said Ray Burick, Lockheed Martin P-3 Programs vice president, "and we are committed to providing them with modernization enhancements to sustain the P-3 for decades to come. The MLU integrates well with our 10-year site and depot P-3 Fleet Maintenance Program, now under way with CBP." Lockheed Martin said...

A B.C. sales representative who markets equestrian products in Canada was barred from crossing the U.S. border to attend a trade show last month by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer who accused him of trying to steal American jobs. "He looked at me, and in a yelling voice he said, 'You're friggin' stealing jobs away from American citizens,' and I tried telling him that I wasn't," Joel Borsteinas told CBC News. Borsteinas, a Canadian citizen, said he's been in business for 15 years, acting as a middleman between U.S. and Canadian suppliers of western wear and equestrian products...

Phoenix – A mother and daughter, both wanted in Florida on charges of racketeering, were apprehended by alert U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport Wednesday night. While screening passengers arriving from Mexico City, CBP officers examined documents belonging to 24-year-old Silvana Theurell-Portillo. While asking routine questions of Theurell-Portillo, the officers queried her name in their systems and discovered that she was a fugitive, wanted in St. Lucie County, Fla. on gambling and racketeering charges. During questioning of her mother, 65-year-old Marina Portillo, CBP officers discovered that she also was wanted on similar charges in...

A high-ranking official with the Detroit office of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (“ICE”), formerly known as the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and four other metro-Detroit men were indicted by a federal Grand Jury with multiple counts of bribery, conspiracy and extortion, United States Attorney Stephen J. Murphy announced today. U.S. Attorney Murphy was joined in the announcement by Thomas M. Frost, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago, Illinois office of the Department of Homeland Security - Office of Inspector General, and Andrew G. Arena, Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit, Michigan, office of the Federal...

PORT ANGELES - A car carrying four men reportedly sped through the U.S. Customs port of entry off the ferry from Victoria on Wednesday night. The Port Angeles Police Department received a report through the PenCom dispatch center of the car failing to stop for inspection. The car disembarked off the MV Coho at about 9:20 p.m. after the day's last southbound sailing. It reportedly raced past the checkpoint so quickly that nobody could determine a license plate number or even the plates' jurisdiction. The car turned left - or eastbound - onto Railroad Avenue from the port of entry,...

A former U.S. Customs supervisor, who authorities say helped smuggle tens of thousands of kilos of cocaine through Newark's seaport and airport, was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison yesterday in a drug case the judge called the worst he has ever seen involving a government official. In imposing sentence on Jorge Reyeros, U.S. District Judge William Bassler said anyone who misuses their office "in such a heinous way has to suffer the consequences." Bassler, sitting in Newark, also sentenced Reyeros' older brother, Juan, to nearly 19 years in prison for helping in the crime. While a federal...

MANATEE - Getting shoved around, handcuffed, manhandled and witnessing a police beating - these are the memories two young hurricane relief workers from Manatee County say they took away from Bourbon Street in New Orleans on Saturday night. After about a month of volunteer work in areas hit hard by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Manatee County residents Calvin Briles and Mike Monaghan decided to take it easy in the Big Easy for an evening. The two men, program consultants for the Volunteer Center of Manatee County, had spent the day buying chain saws and delivering them to volunteer reception centers...