A federal immigration overhaul unveiled Thursday would trump state law but wouldn’t necessarily nullify Arizona’s first-in-the nation crackdown on illegal immigration, said U.S. Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republic leading the effort to change the nation’s immigration policies.

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is hosting a forum on the economic implications of extending U.S. citizenship to immigrants living illegally in the country.

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of senators is almost ready to share with colleagues and voters an immigration overhaul crafted over several months.

A person familiar with proposed bipartisan immigration legislation being written in the Senate says the bill would require greatly expanded surveillance of the U.S. border with Mexico and greatly increased apprehensions of border crossers in high risk areas.

There was a time when Karina Galicia would change the subject when her friends brought up immigration. She constantly worried that she would be arrested if anyone found out she was living in the U.S. illegally.

But after years of hiding it, she decided last year that telling her story would do more good than harm.

WASHINGTON — Senators writing a comprehensive immigration bill hope to finish their work this week, opening what’s sure to be a raucous public debate over measures to secure the border, allow tens of thousands of foreign workers into the country and grant eventual citizenship to the estimated 11 million people living here illegally.

U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said Tuesday that a comprehensive immigration reform bill he is working on with a bipartisan group of senators will include a temporary worker program covering more than agriculture.

The Episcopal bishop for Arizona joined several religious and union leaders Wednesday urging that family-unification policies be included in any comprehensive immigration reform legislation.

On the political map of the Southwest, Arizona stands out.



Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico are independent-minded states that once leaned Republican but are trending Democratic, partly because of increasing numbers of Hispanic voters alienated from the GOP by its tough stance on illegal immigration.

SAN FRANCISCO — The federal government argued Tuesday that a section of Arizona’s 2010 immigration law that prohibits “harboring” people living in the country illegally should be blocked.