PHOENIX (Reuters) – Arizona Republicans introduced legislation on Thursday seeking to challenge the right to U.S. citizenship for children born in the state whose parents are illegal immigrants or other non-citizens.

The move by state legislators came the same day the sheriff for Phoenix and surrounding areas sent a force of 200 deputies and citizen volunteers on an immigration sweep, an action the controversial lawman has undertaken periodically since 2008.

Republicans introduced bills in the Arizona legislature that aim to provoke a legal review of the 14th amendment to the Constitution, which anchors citizenship rights for the children of immigrants.

The 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof."

It was adopted in 1868 after the U.S. Civil War to ensure citizenship for former African-American slaves.

The aim is "to trigger ... a Supreme Court review of the phrase 'subject to the jurisdiction thereof' in the 14th amendment," said Rep. John Kavanagh, one on the backers of the legislation.

It ultimately seeks "to deny citizenship to any child born of parents who are not citizens of the United States, be they illegal aliens, or foreigners on business or for tourist purposes," he added.

A total of four proposals were introduced, two in the state House of Representatives and two in the Senate, where Republicans have a majority.

Kavanagh said the legislation would likely come to a vote in several weeks, after legislators vote on the cash-strapped border state's budget.

SHERIFF'S SWEEP

In Phoenix, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Thursday kicked off a sweep to crack down on illegal immigration.

Aside from his deputies, Arpaio also relied on volunteer members of a newly formed Illegal Immigration Enforcement Posse, who took to the streets in a two-day countywide operation targeting drop houses, drug activity and human smuggling, said sheriff's spokesman Sergeant Jesse Spurgin.

Action flick star Steven Seagal is a member of the sheriff's posse, and he took part in the operation, Spurgin said. Twenty-two suspected illegal immigrants had been arrested by late Thursday, he said.

The legislation Arizona lawmakers introduced on Thursday is part of a coordinated drive by Republican legislators in several U.S. states that seeks to deny birthright citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants.

The National Conference of State Legislatures said Arizona is the sixth state this year to introduce legislation relating to birth records or birth certificates and the foreign born.

The current drive follows the desert state's tough immigration crackdown last year that required police to quiz those they suspected were in the country illegally about their immigration status. Key parts of the state law were blocked by a federal judge before they came into effect.

Arizona has appealed the ruling.

Also on Thursday, a citizens' group took out petitions to recall Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce, a high-profile Republican behind bills aimed at illegal immigrants.

Halina Reed, treasurer for Arizonans for Better Government, said the group opposes those bills. The petition needs to collect 7,756 signatures by May 27 to qualify for the ballot.

State Democrats slammed their Republican colleagues' latest proposal as a waste of "taxpayers' time and money" that would tie the state up in further costly litigation.

"Instead of focusing on jobs, the economy and a strong future for Arizona, (the backers of the law) want to get Arizona involved in another losing lawsuit," state Sen. Kyrsten Sinema said in a statement.

(Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and Jerry Norton)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Northeast dug out of yet another winter storm on Thursday that pummeled the region with unexpectedly heavy snowfall, making January the snowiest month in New York in more than 85 years.

In Central Park, 19 inches of snow fell overnight in the storm that forced airports and schools to close. The wet snow fell at dizzying speeds during the height of the storm, as much as three inches per hour, said Weather Channel meteorologists.

New York officials vowed to keep the city running after Mayor Michael Bloomberg, agency heads and municipal workers came under heavy criticism for the slow response to the Christmas weekend blizzard that brought services to a halt.

"We learn," said Bloomberg at a City Hall news conference on Thursday. "We asked the questions of what didn't work last time and whether there's anything we could do differently."

The city suspended bus service shortly after midnight, he noted. In the Christmas blizzard, 600 city buses became stranded but with this suspension, almost no buses were stranded on Thursday, the mayor said.

Bus service was gradually restored through the day, and about 1,500 laborers were shoveling out bus stops, he said.

"Our expectation is that by tomorrow morning's rush hour all of the city streets and roadways will have been plowed," Bloomberg said.

The storm, which dropped twice as much snow as had been predicted, brought the city's January total accumulation to 36 inches, breaking a record from 1925, the mayor said.

"This is so much worse than I think we all expected," said Julia Scharf, 27, a dental technician who commuted to New York from Bethpage, Long Island.

"I had to clean about 15 or so inches off my car before I could drive to the train station."

Commuter train and bus service from some suburbs, including Long Island, was limited or suspended throughout the day.

Metro-North Railroad lines between New York and some towns in Connecticut, including New Canaan, Danbury and Waterbury, were out of service. The day's ridership throughout the region was down by about half, a spokeswoman said.

New York City schools were closed, only the ninth time since 1978 that schools closed due to snow, the mayor said.

The National Weather Service said that in addition to the 19 inches of new snow in Central Park, nearly 19 inches fell at Newark Airport and 18 inches in suburban New Canaan, Connecticut.

The snowfall was just shy of the Christmas blizzard that dropped 20 inches on New York City.

Flight delays averaging more than four hours were reported at John F. Kennedy International Airport, which had been closed due to the storm but reopened on Thursday morning.

Delays averaging about two hours were reported at Newark International Airport, LaGuardia Airport in New York and Philadelphia International Airport.

Snowfall ranged from 12 to 17 inches in Philadelphia, where nine people spent nine hours on a bus stuck in the snow, said Jerri Williams, a spokeswoman for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.

Along with the driver, those nine chose to remain on the heated bus rather than brave the elements, she said.

About 15,000 households south and west of Philadelphia lost power, according to the utility Peco. By late afternoon, some 10,000 had power restored, and the rest were expected to have power restored by midnight, the utility said.

In the Washington, D.C., area, where some commuters were caught in hours-long traffic jams during the storm, tens of thousands were without power, mostly due to snow-laden trees downing utility lines.

About 163,000 Pepco customers in the Washington area remained without power by late afternoon on Thursday and may not have power until late Friday, a Pepco spokesman said.

In Boston, a second runway at Logan International Airport was closed until mid-afternoon, an airport spokesman said.

Snow accumulation contributed to a handful of large, industrial properties and smaller buildings across Massachusetts and Connecticut that reported roof collapses.

"If you have a roof, particularly a flat roof on any part of your house, now is the time to get up there and remove as much of that snow as you can," Connecticut Gov. Dannell Malloy said at a news conference in Hartford.

Given the winter weather pattern, he said: "We might as well count on receiving additional snow, so acting on this stuff before it becomes rock solid is a good idea."

In weather-related deaths, a woman was struck and killed by a snowplow on Wednesday in Center Moriches, New York. In Wilmington, a 51-year-old woman died early Thursday after being hit by a snow plow owned by the Delaware Department of Transportation.

(Additional reporting by Lauren Keiper in Boston, Jon Hurdle in Philadelphia, Ted Lorson in Norwich, Connecticut, Jerry Norton in Washington, and Bernd Debusmann Jr. and Daniel Trotta in New York; Editing by Greg McCune)

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel can run for mayor of Chicago, the Illinois high court ruled unanimously on Thursday, overturning a lower court ruling earlier this week to exclude him.

Some residents of Chicago challenged Emanuel's residency, saying his stay in Washington, D.C. as President Obama's chief of staff disqualified him from running for mayor under residency rules. Emanuel had argued he always intended to return to Chicago after his U.S. service was over.

"This is a situation in which, not only did the candidate testify that his intent was not to abandon his Chicago residence, his acts fully support and confirm that intent," the court found, in a 7-0 opinion.

Emanuel had rented out his Chicago house while he was serving in the Obama administration. He also had left personal belongings in a storage space in the house.

Speaking at the start of a televised debate Thursday night, Emanuel said: "What I've always said is the voters should make the decision about who should be the next mayor." He said the court ruling allows voters to do that.

Emanuel had the support of 44 percent of Chicago voters in a recent Chicago Tribune poll, compared with 21 percent for his closest opponent, former U.S. Senator Carol Moseley Braun.

Braun said after the decision that with the legal battle over, she looked forward "to actually debating the issues" with Emanuel and the other candidates.

Emanuel has raised $11.8 million for his mayoral run, with donations from luminaries like film director Steven Spielberg.

The February 22 election is to replace long-time Mayor Richard M. Daley, who is stepping down after 22 years in office.

(Writing by Mary Wisniewski, Editing by Greg McCune and Jerry Norton)