Security heavy at courthouse for immigration case

Security is extremely heavy at the federal courthouse in Phoenix where the first hearing on challenges to Arizona’s new immigration law will be held.

Police officers and at least five police dogs were deployed around the courthouse on Thursday morning. They were checking those lined up to get into court, and some carried mirrors to check the undersides of vehicles for suspicious devices.

Only a pair of protesters were at the court before it opened. One carried a sign saying “illegal is illegal.”

Seven challenges to the law have been filed, including one by the federal government.

Thursday’s midmorning hearing will only consider a challenge filed by Phoenix police Officer David Salgado and the statewide nonprofit group Chicanos Por La Causa.