Half of Gang of Eight senators at border

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NOGALES, Ariz., March 27 (UPI) -- Half of the Gang of Eight U.S. senators working on immigration reform visited Arizona for a first-hand look Wednesday at the U.S. border with Mexico.

Arizona's two Republican senators, Jeff Flake and John McCain, hosted Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Michael Bennet, D-Colo., KNXV-TV, Phoenix, reported. The four visited Nogales, in the Tucson sector, one of the border's major recent hot spots.

U.S. Border Patrol has reported more arrests and drug seizures in the Tucson sector than in any of the nine others. Experts say that is partly because of higher security elsewhere on the border.

A bipartisan group of eight senators working on immigration may unveil a plan next month that would provide the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants a means to become documented and, eventually, U.S. citizens. McCain told a town hall meeting Monday the senators haven't achieved consensus on all issues.

"I don't know if we can achieve agreement or not," he said. "We have been working, literally, night and day. We may not succeed."