PHOENIX -- Gov. Janet Napolitano has vetoed a bill partly intended to help combat illegal immigration by going after day laborers and those who hire them.

The bill would have made it a misdemeanor trespassing offense for day laborers to seek work on public streets and sidewalks and for people who offer or solicit day labor work on private property after the owner asks them to leave.

Day laborers gather on street corners, near home improvement stores and other places to seek short-term construction and landscaping work.

Legislative opponents of the bill say communities -- and not the state -- should decide whether they want to impose such rules on day labor.

Bill supporters say many people who use day labor break the law by hiring illegal immigrants.

The bill's sponsor says it would have protected public safety by reducing traffic disruptions from laborers seeking work.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)