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PHOENIX (AP) - Groups trying to overturn an Arizona law prohibiting employers from knowingly hiring illegal immigrants are encouraged that the U.S. Supreme Court has expressed an interest in their appeal.

The court normally agrees to hear only a small number of appeals. It hasn't yet decided whether it will take on the appeal of the law filed by business and civil rights groups.

But the justices on Monday asked the U.S. Solicitor General - the lawyer who argues the Obama administration's cases before the court - to submit a brief in the case.

The state's employer sanctions law was passed in 2007 to help lessen the economic incentive for immigrants to sneak into the country. It has been upheld by a federal district court and a federal appeals court.