Court to Hear Arguments over Ariz. Immigration Law

PHOENIX (AP) — The impassioned debate over the nation's immigration policy takes center stage at the Supreme Court Wednesday in a dispute over an Arizona law.

Arizona's employer sanctions law punishes businesses that knowingly hire workers illegally in the U.S.

It has been used just three times in three years, but business interests and civil rights groups have banded together to argue that only the federal government may enforce immigration laws.

The outcome in this case also could signal how the court would handle the controversial and more expansive Arizona immigration enforcement law that a federal judge blocked key components this summer.

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Sherman reported from Washington, D.C.