Protests and rallies are being planned in Phoenix and around the country on July 29, the day police are set to begin enforcing the controversial Arizona immigration law By Daniel B. Wood, Staff writer / July 23, 2010

The furor over tough new Arizona immigration law will take the form of rallies, vigils, marches, and protests beginning next Thursday, the day the law is scheduled to take effect.

The statute, which requires state and local law enforcement agencies to check the immigration status of people they stop for other reasons, and makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally, is the subject of seven lawsuits, the third of which, brought by the Justice Department, was heard Thursday. No injunction has yet been issued to stop the law.

“Events are happening all over the state because the eyes of the nation and the world are on Arizona,â€