Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said he’s planning to bolster his image as the “poster-boy” of immigration enforcement by showcasing his strict policies with a crime suppression sweep on July 29, the day Arizona’s new immigration law is scheduled to take effect.

Sen. John McCain has squared off in a sometimes testy debate with a former Arizona congressman hoping to take his job. J.D. Hayworth portrayed McCain Saturday night as a flip-flopper on illegal immigration, while McCain painted his rival as a faux conservative who is lax with tax dollars.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton didn't rule on whether to block the law from taking effect July 29, or whether to dismiss the lawsuit, Thursday in the first major hearing on challenges to a strict new immigration law.

A federal appeals court has revived a lawsuit aimed at stopping the Maricopa County Attorney's Office from prosecuting undocumented immigrants as co-conspirators of the smugglers who bring them into Arizona.

Sheriff Arpaio, known for his tough stance on illegal immigration, defended his state's new immigration-enforcement law Tuesday as he stumped for the Kansas secretary of state candidate who helped write it.

States should not follow Arizona's lead and enact strict new immigration laws because ridding the country of illegal immigrants is the federal government's job, the director of the nation's immigration enforcement agency said Tuesday.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano met privately on Sunday with her successor as Arizona governor as the Obama administration challenges the state's immigration law.

Donations to a special fund that Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer established to help pay for the state's legal defense of its immigration enforcement law now total roughly $500,000.

On paper, Arizona's controversial new immigration law is not that different from the federal version.

Gov. Jan Brewer has called off a September border conference in Phoenix due to Mexican governors' objections to Arizona's tough new immigration enforcement law, though some officials are discussing holding the annual gathering elsewhere.