WASHINGTON – Skeptical senators Tuesday challenged Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on how her department plans to provide a “meaningful” border-security figure, which is the key to a route to citizenship for immigrants here illegally.

Republican U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake says he wants to pass legislation expanding background checks for firearm buyers despite his recent vote against the Senate's bipartisan gun control plan.

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.

A group of business, religious and law enforcement leaders on April 17 endorsed the broad outlines of a comprehensive and nuanced proposal by eight U.S. senators, including Arizona’s John McCain and Jeff Flake, to fix the nation’s woeful immigration system.

A suspicious letter containing an oily substance that was sent to the Phoenix office of Sen. Jeff Flake caused a brief scare Wednesday before the mail was tested and found to be harmless.

TUCSON ai??i?? U.S. Rep. Ron Barber and former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords are scheduled to be among the speakers at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., to honor Gabriel "Gabe" Zimmerman.

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.

WASHINGTON ai??i?? Even with one of the largest hurdles to an immigration overhaul overcome, optimistic lawmakers on Sunday cautioned they had not finished work on a bill that would provide a path to citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants.

A group of influential U.S. senators shaping and negotiating details of an immigration reform package vowed Wednesday to make the legislation public when Congress reconvenes next month as negotiations reopened between union workers and business groups over visas for low-skilled workers.