Napolitano tapped as Obama’s Homeland Security chief

PHOENIX—If Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano becomes the new secretary of homeland security, this centrist Democrat could have the opportunity to institute nationwide reforms to address continuing problems with illegal immigration and border security. These reforms could grow out of the policies and programs that Napolitano has tested in her 15 years of public service in a state that is ground zero in America’s struggle to control its borders.

UPDATE: As expected, Pres.-elect Barack Obama announced his national security team this morning, including Janet Napolitano at DHS and Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State.

McCain courts Latino voters

This dusty agricultural city, home of a Marine Corps air station and Army proving grounds for more than a decade was the center of a big wave of illegal immigration into the United States. Today, immigration registers barely a blip on the local political radar screen as some Border Patrol agents pine for the good old days of mass arrests and too much to do.

McCain ties to indicted Arizona politician ‘deep and complex’

In February, when a 35-count federal indictment was filed against three-term Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) on charges of wire fraud, money laundering, extortion and conspiracy in connection with his misuse of 2002 campaign funds and the sale of a business associate’s land, he was co-chairman of Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign in Arizona. The indictment generated a flurry of negative press nationwide for the Republican presidential nominee because of Renzi’s close ties to the McCain campaign. The congressman’s trial is set to begin in March in Tucson.