US immigration fight puts both parties at risk

Senate bill could enrage conservatives

WASHINGTON - From the Arizona border to the halls of Congress, the sudden re-emergence of the divisive issue of US immigration reform poses significant risks for both parties heading into November's congressional elections.

GOP efforts to regain lost ground with Hispanics, the country's biggest and fastest-growing minority, could suffer fatal blows from a possible Senate debate and a harsh immigration crackdown in Arizona, passed by Republican legislators and signed by a Republican governor.