Not only did some get jobs with fake Social Security numbers and few questions about their immigration status, in some cases they actually told managers point-blank their papers were no good. And they often stayed on for years. Marta, an undocumented worker from Mexico, twice used false Social Security numbers to secure positions at the chain now being audited by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

A federal appellate court Monday upheld a judge\'s ban on the most controversial parts of a tough new Arizona immigration law, setting the stage for a showdown before the Supreme Court on how far a state can go in trying to expel illegal immigrants.

The Ninth Circuit on Monday backed a preliminary injunction blocking key portions of Arizona’s controversial immigration law from taking effect while the courts grapple with the U.S. government’s challenge to the legality of the statute.

PHOENIX — A federal appeals court on Monday refused to lift a stay blocking major parts of Arizona’s immigration law from taking effect and said the federal government is likely to be able to prove the controversial law is unconstitutional.

A federal appeals court, siding with the Obama Justice Department, has upheld a ruling that blocked parts of Arizona’s tough new illegal immigration law because they conflict with federal law — and have adversely affected U.S. foreign relations. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which issued its decision Monday, denied Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer’s appeal of an injunction last July that stopped parts of the law known as SB 1070 from taking effect — including a requirement for police officers to check the immigration status of individuals stopped for traffic violations or questioned in a crime investigation.

A controversial Arizona law that sought to provide local authorities with vast new powers to control illegal immigration won’t kick in anytime soon. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that key provisions of Arizona\'s law, known as SB 1070, would likely be found unconstitutional. The Obama administration sued the state last year arguing that only the federal government can create immigration laws.

Immigration reform has produced political gridlock in Congress and is becoming an obstacle to long-term economic resurgence. Instead of realizing the benefits of an imperfect but best achievable solution, the issue has become increasingly divisive as both sides dig in deeper.

SALT LAKE CITY — Liberal immigration activists are looking to Utah as a compassionate and logical model for shaping the nation’s future policies toward illegal immigrants. Utah leaders — including government, education, business and religious groups — came together last fall to draft a set of principles to guide the immigration debate in the state. Those guidelines, known as the Utah Compact, state in part that illegal immigrants are essential to the economy and deserving of respect.

In mid-February, officers from more than a dozen police agencies swarmed the drug-trafficking corridor in western Pinal County\'s notorious Vekol Valley. They got into wild vehicle chases, arrested 102 suspected smugglers, illegal immigrants and drug traffickers, and seized 3,200 pounds of marijuana. When it was over, Sheriff Paul Babeu issued a news release declaring that Pinal County is \"the No. 1 pass-through county in all of America for drug and human trafficking.\"

ANNAPOLIS — A group of state legislators from across the country are getting fed up with federal inaction on illegal immigration, so they’re taking it upon themselves to reform immigration law. Led by members of a group called State Legislators for Legal Immigration, their coordinated strategy, called “attrition through enforcement,” is designed to impose legislation that makes life so difficult for illegal immigrants that even if they aren’t caught and deported, they may just leave on their own.

Here are some facts about illegal immigration to the United States:

THE Republican Party in California is “already dead. We’re talking about whether it can be revived,” says Allan Hoffenblum, who was a Republican official and consultant for four decades and now produces non-partisan electoral analysis. He is among a growing number of mainly old-fashioned Republicans who think that their party has got on the wrong side of a huge demographic trend, the growth of Latinos and Asians.

With Texas populous enough for four new seats in Congress, the four Hispanic lawmakers on the state House committee charged with drawing a new map took every opportunity Thursday to remind witnesses and their colleagues that the growth came courtesy of Hispanic Texans. A new congressional map must reflect that demographic fact, they insisted. Almost two-thirds of the state\'s 4.3 million population increase over the last 10 years was Hispanic, and Hispanics now account for 38 percent of the Texas population. Without that surge, Texas would be getting no new seats.

Over the last decade, Florida’s Hispanic population has exploded, especially in central Florida, where the number of Hispanic residents in Orange County jumped 84 percent. They are now 308,244 of 1.2 million residents, about one in four.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) is on the move again with a 20-city tour aimed at at maintaining pressure on President Obama and Congress to resolve the problems associated with the mounting number of deportations and congress’ and more specifically Obama for his dismal failure in carrying out promises enact immigration reform. Gutierrez said in Boston Obama \"may\" have trouble with the Hispanic vote in 2012 if he does not deliver on promises for an immigration overhaul

More and more Latinos are wising up to President Obama\'s phony immigration two-step. They include Univision anchor Jorge Ramos, who was until recently the administration\'s favorite Latino journalist. Ramos earned the honor by gushing over Obama during the 2008 election.