Confirmation hearings started Feb. 23 in the U.S. Senate for Deb Haaland, President Joe Biden’s pick for Interior Secretary. If confirmed, she would be the first Native American cabinet secretary.

A recent order by President Biden gives license to reimagine asylum at the southwest border. A union of federal workers who screen those seeking protection wants the U.S. to follow its own laws. A local legal aid group hopes for a remodel on a system built decades ago.
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The furniture company La-Z-Boy has started operations at a plant in neighboring Sonora. The facility is in the border city of San Luis Rio Colorado, a 45-minute drive south of Yuma. Its opening will bring 500 jobs to the city, according to state officials.

One of the signature projects for Mexico’s president since he took office in 2018 was to stop the construction of a new airport in Mexico City, while building a new one. The promise was to cut expenses and clear corruption from the project, but a congressional audit tells a different story.

Mexico’s coronavirus czar has become a well-known controversial character in his country. While he heads the strategy to fight the pandemic, he has been criticized for not following the same health protocols he recommends. And this weekend he revealed that he has contracted COVID-19.

For 2019, the Homeland Security Department counted roughly 190,000 green-card holders living in Arizona as potentially eligible to naturalize. On Saturday the local chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association hopes to reduce that number by helping people get ready to apply for citizenship.

Sonora's governor, who is head of the National Governors Conference, says the effort would have to be coordinated with federal authorities.

The University of Arizona will receive funding to help revive the state’s tribal histories that were recorded decades ago.

The Biden administration is pushing to accelerate the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations, while making them more accessible for everyone. But in Mexico, the government is being criticized for what many consider a slow process that is also raising privacy concerns.