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A new immigration enforcement program from the federal government effectively could eliminate Prince William County’s crackdown on illegal immigrants, experts say.

The Arizona Senate's approved a bill to enable state and local police officers to help enforce immigration laws and to make it a crime for illegal immigrants to be in the state.

The bill would prohibit state, county or local public officials from adopting policies that limit full enforcement of federal immigration law.

Republican Sen. Russell Pearce of Mesa says his bill would erase so-called "sanctuary policies" that restrain police involvement in some jurisdictions.

Remittances sent home by Mexicans in the United States are the second-largest source of legal foreign revenue in the country, after gasoline exported by the national oil company. These electronic cash payments are vital not only to families that receive them but also to the regional and national economies. Last year, according to the Bank of Mexico, migrants sent home $25 billion.

In the debate over illegal immigration, San Francisco has proudly played the role of liberal enclave, a so-called sanctuary city where local officials have refused to cooperate with enforcement of federal immigration law and undocumented residents have mostly lived without fear of consequence.