National Guard troops will head to the U.S.-Mexico border Aug. 1 for a yearlong deployment to keep a lookout for illegal border crossers and smugglers and help in criminal investigations, federal officials said Monday.

Arizona Capitol Times Managing Editor Matt Bunk discusses talks about the unfolding immigration lawsuits and what will likely transpire this week in court.

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.