Rep. Giffords a Leading Voice in Immigration Debate

Reuters: Representative Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, who was shot point blank in the head while meeting with constituents on Saturday, was expected to be a leading voice on immigration in the new Congress. Sworn in to a third term in Congress just this week, Giffords, 40, was one of the few Democrats in swing districts to survive a Republican sweep in the November elections, narrowly defeating a conservative Republican opponent. She represents a district in southeast Arizona stretching from Tucson to the Mexican border that is at the center of the debate on U.S. immigration. She has described the U.S. immigration system as "broken" and advocated a comprehensive reform compromise combining tough border security with a long-term path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Giffords criticized Arizona's tough anti-immigration law passed last year, saying it would do nothing to secure the border or stop drug smuggling and gun running spilling over into her district. "Arizona is now known around the world for enacting an extreme immigration law in response to the federal government's failure to act," she said in a statement after its passage.