Immigration law, politics see wave of change in 2 years

Two years ago today, Gov. Jan Brewer signed Senate Bill 1070, considered at the time to be the toughest immigration-enforcement law in the nation.

But much has changed on the immigration front since then: The state’s sizable illegal-immigrant population, one of the driving factors behind passage of the law, has shrunk dramatically. The state hasn’t passed a single immigration bill since SB 1070, ending the passage of a string of enforcement measures leading up to the law. And the state’s large but politically anemic Latino population is showing signs of gaining political muscle.