Border & Immigration News

The Daily Signal provides border and immigration news, including reporting, analysis, and commentary on policy, enforcement, and political debates.
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    • News

    No Border Wall, but This Will Have to Do for 1 Texas City

    LAREDO, Texas—Pulling up in an SUV outside the 10-foot-tall fence at Laredo College, Narcizo Ramos recalls the problems the school used to have with unwanted visitors. “I actually came to this college as a student,” Ramos, a special operations supervisor for the U.S. Border Patrol, told The Daily Signal. “I can tell you, this little…
    Fred Lucas
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    • News

    Cruz Fires Back After Omar Suggests Latinos Would Struggle in ‘Merit-Based’ Immigration System

    Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar suggested on Tuesday that individuals from Latin America would not be competitive if the U.S. immigration system was based on merit. “A ‘merit based’ immigration policy is fueled toward the Latinx community,” Omar said in a now-deleted tweet. “Our immigration policies shouldn’t be based on discrimination, fear, or bigotry.” “We…
    Molly Prince
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    • News

    ICE Rips Washington for Passing Sweeping ‘Sanctuary’ Policies Protecting Illegal Immigrants

    Immigration and Customs Enforcement ripped Washington for becoming the latest state to enact policies that protect illegal immigrants from local law enforcement and federal authorities. “ICE maintains that cooperation by local law enforcement is an indispensable component of promoting public safety. It’s unfortunate that current local and state laws and policies tie the hands of…
    Jason Hopkins
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    • Opinion

    The Real Inclusive Approach to Immigrants

    Is President Donald Trump’s call for patriotic assimilation, which is a part of his immigration package, a step toward totalitarianism and fascism? These are the hyperbolic claims made in a contentious op-ed by Fabiola Santiago, a columnist at the Miami Herald. Santiago highlighted my own work in this field, citing a 2016 paper. While ordinarily…
    Mike Gonzalez
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    • Opinion

    House Appropriators Vote to Handcuff Pentagon for Reprogramming Funds to Border Wall

    The House Appropriations defense subcommittee has slashed the Pentagon’s reprogramming authority by 75% in the approved defense appropriations bill reported out on May 15. The subcommittee, led by Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., reduced the ability of the Defense Department to shift unused resources from lower to higher priorities within the department from $4 billion or…
    Frederico Bartels
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    • News

    California Considers Spending Billions on Health Care for Illegal Immigrants

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan for government-funded health care for illegal immigrants is frugal compared to proposals by other Democratic leaders in his state. Newsom, the progressive first-term governor of California and ardent opponent of the Trump administration, wants to offer free health care services to low-income illegal migrants between the ages of 19 and…
    Jason Hopkins
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    • News

    Trump Rolls Out Merit-Based Plan to Transform Immigration System

    President Donald Trump introduced what he called a “big, beautiful, bold” plan to “transform America’s immigration system” from one of random entry to a meritocracy. “Instead of admitting people through random chance, we will establish simple, universal criteria for admission to the United States,” Trump said Thursday in the Rose Garden. “No matter where in…
    Fred Lucas
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    • News

    Trump Seeks to Unify GOP Around Immigration Goals

    President Donald Trump hopes to unite Republicans behind new immigration goals that focus on border security and a merit-based system that keeps legal immigration at current levels. The president is set to deliver a Rose Garden address on the plan at 2:30 p.m. Thursday. Trump wants more people coming to the country to fill new…
    Fred Lucas
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    • News

    Lindsey Graham Proposes to Tighten Asylum, Immigration Procedures to Relieve Border

    The flow of migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. would be cut off before they cross the southern border illegally, under changes to immigration law proposed Wednesday by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. “There has been a 64% increase in people apprehended at the border, family units,” Graham, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said during…
    Rachel del Guidice
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    • News

    An Illegal Immigrant Killed Her Son, a Police Officer. Here’s How This Mom Fights to Save Others.

    A mother whose son died after a car wreck caused by an illegal immigrant with a criminal record who was drunk and high on drugs says his death left a permanent scar on her life. “When he was taken from me, there was a huge part of my life that was taken,” Mary Ann Mendoza…
    Rachel del Guidice
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    • Opinion

    Keeping Fake Illegal Immigrant Families Together

    Who remembers the hysterical sound and fury of open borders leftists last summer over President Donald Trump’s detention and enforcement policies at our besieged southern border? Remember the #FamiliesBelongTogether, #WhereAreTheChildren, #AbolishICE, and #MeltICE hashtags? Remember the “Trump Child Abuse,” “Free the Children,” “Save the Children,” and “AMERICANS DON’T USE CHILDREN AS PAWNS” posters wielded at…
    Michelle Malkin
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    • Opinion

    Judges Can’t Ignore Immigration Laws They Don’t Like

    Remember when judges used to uphold the law? Unfortunately, that’s not always the case today. Consider the Massachusetts trial judge who is accused of helping a twice-deported illegal immigrant slip out the back door rather than hand him over to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent waiting to arrest him. According to authorities, Massachusetts District Court Judge Shelley Joseph…
    Hans von Spakovsky
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    • News

    Would-Be Builder of Border Wall Ready to Do ‘Impossible’

    COOLIDGE, Arizona—The vice president of a family-owned construction company says his firm is competing for one of the nation’s most talked-about contracts because its leaders believe they can do what many say can’t be done. “Two years ago, when the president said he wanted to build a wall [from] sea to sea … many people…
    Rachel del Guidice
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    • Opinion

    Former Border Patrol Chief Explains Why Border Crisis Is Worst It’s Been in US History

    In an exclusive interview, former Border Patrol chief Mark Morgan shares with The Daily Signal’s Rob Bluey why it’s urgent we take action on the border crisis, and the importance of building a wall. Read the interview, posted below, or listen to it on the podcast: Or watch the interview: We also cover these stories:…
    Rob Bluey
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    • Opinion

    4 Keys to the Immigration Reform We Need

    Immigration is one of the fundamental building blocks that help make America the unique nation that it is. But the debate over border security and immigration has become toxic because politicians have put politics before principles. And reasonable Americans find themselves trapped between zealots on both sides. For over two centuries, the United States has…
    Genevieve Wood
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    • Opinion

    How Trump Can Solve Our Illegal Immigration Crisis

    The unprecedented numbers of illegal immigrants pouring across our southern border have led some to upgrade the situation there from “crisis” to “existential threat.” The magnitude of the problem, they say, threatens to undermine America’s success as an immigration nation. And they want solutions. Until now, America has been an undisputed immigration success story. More people immigrate…
    James Carafano
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    • Opinion

    A Mom’s Fight Against Illegal Immigrant Criminals

    Life hasn’t been the same for Mary Ann Mendoza since she lost her son Brandon in 2014 due to a car accident caused by an illegal immigrant. She shares her experience, and how she’d like our country’s border security polices to change. Read the transcript, posted below, or listen to the interview on the podcast:…
    Rachel del Guidice
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    • Opinion

    Those Who Advocate Sanctuary Cities Should Experience the Consequences

    In the category of Mad Magazine’s “scenes we’d like to see” comes President Donald Trump’s threat to transport migrants to cities and states that have declared themselves sanctuaries. Apparently he thinks such a move would force Democrats in Congress who represent these places to vote to fund the wall along our southern border. Speaker Nancy…
    Cal Thomas
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    • News

    Answers to 4 Big Questions About Sending Illegal Immigrants to Sanctuary Cities

    The Trump administration is exploring the legality of transporting illegal immigrants who the government can’t detain to sanctuary cities, which by definition welcome illegal immigrants.   Prominent Democrats say they oppose the idea, and even supporters say President Donald Trump could be trolling Democrats in a public relations move. If Trump moves forward with the…
    Fred Lucas
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    • News

    Illegal Alien Sentenced to Prison for Running Elaborate Prostitution Operation

    Luis Bonilla-Hernandez, an illegal migrant from El Salvador, was sentenced to two years of prison on Friday for running a criminal sex operation right in the heart of the Washington, D.C., area. “Bonilla-Hernandez profited from the sexual exploitation of women who found themselves in difficult and vulnerable places,” G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. attorney for the…
    Jason Hopkins
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