Once, the barren mesas and shrub-covered canyons that extend east of the Pacific Ocean held the most popular routes for illegal immigrants heading into the U.S. Dozens at a time sprinted to waiting cars or a trolley stop in San Diego, passing border agents who were too busy herding others to give pause.

WASHINGTON – Up to 1.76 million illegal immigrants could be eligible for a two-year reprieve from deportation under an Obama administration program that begins accepting applications Wednesday.

WASHINGTON – Up to 1.76 million illegal immigrants could be eligible for a two-year reprieve from deportation under an Obama administration program that begins accepting applications Wednesday.

TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — Four drug smuggling tunnels equipped with lighting and ventilation — including one with a railcar system — have been discovered along the U.S.-Mexico border in less than a week, the latest signs that cartels are building sophisticated passages to escape heightened detection above ground.

Valley rock maven Stephanie Muscat pounds away on her drums in an Ahwatukee Foothills nightspot then cuts into the soaring vocals of “Sweet Child o’ Mine” as the dance floor fills.

Sure, we have a glut of commercial space all over the Valley as noted by your 4/1 front page story. Chandler’s blue-ribbon panel of experts recommends as a solution that Chandler’s city council shoot itself in the foot. They recommend easing parking, landscaping, and sign restrictions to attract new tenants. Don’t they realize that shoppers tend to go to beautiful, inviting areas? The restrictions are to improve Chandler’s environment. We have so many ugly signs now that much of the East Valley is taking on a worst-of-Tijuana look. Save our beautiful cites. We need more sign restrictions and strict enforcement of them, not less. Same with parking and landscaping.

It is often said that, regardless of time or situation, simply smiling will improve one’s mood.

MEXICO CITY — Mexico's National Human Rights Commission is sending inspectors to U.S. border crossings to monitor deportations that might result if Arizona's new immigration law goes into effect as planned Thursday.

ALTAR, Mexico — Very few residents dare to drive on one of the roads out of this watering-hole for migrants, fearing they will be stopped at gunpoint. They worry they will be told to turn around after their gas tanks are drained or, worse, be kidnapped or killed.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — President Felipe Calderon said Monday that the death of a Mexican migrant after being shot with a stun gun by a U.S. immigration officer was an unacceptable human rights violation.

Paulo Sergio Alfaro-Sanchez, an illegal immigrant being held at a detention center in Washington state, had no idea that the federal government would count him in the census.

TIJUANA, Mexico -- A powerful earthquake swayed buildings from Los Angeles to Tijuana, killing two people in Mexico, blacking out cities and forcing the evacuation of hospitals and nursing homes. One California city closed off its downtown due to unstable buildings.

Spring training baseball

PUERTO PEÑASCO, Mexico — Stepping through tide pools and gathering seashells with his wife and two young daughters, Jamison Haponenko said a State Department travel alert and media reports of drug violence along the border didn’t concern him as he planned a vacation here.

TIJUANA, Mexico — Mexico has captured a kingpin accused of terrorizing his way to the top of a gang fighting for control of key U.S. drug routes - even ordering rivals dissolved in caustic soda. Tuesday's arrest, announced by U.S. and Mexican officials, capped a series of victories in Mexico's U.S.-backed war on narcotics.

SAN DIEGO — A group of California artists wants Mexicans and Central Americans to have more than just a few cans of tuna and a jug of water for their illegal trek through the harsh desert into the U.S.

TIJUANA, Mexico - The slayings of four young Americans in Tijuana sowed fear in Southern California on Friday as Mexican prosecutors tried to determine whether the youths were involved in the country's violent drug trade or innocent victims of a brutal crime.

MEXICO CITY — Ominous developments Monday in the swine flu epidemic — a jump to 149 deaths and more signs that the virus can jump repeatedly from human to human — prompted the World Health Organization to raise its pandemic alert level, and governments around the world were taking tougher measures.

COLUMBIANA, Ala. - Five men dead in an apartment. In a county that might see five homicides in an entire year, the call over the sheriff's radio revealed little about what awaited law enforcement at a sprawling apartment complex.