WASHINGTON -- pair years after President Bush called for an overhaul of the nation's spent immigration system.

WASHINGTON -- pair years after President Bush called for an overhaul of the nation's spent immigration system, Congress is inching toward a legislative answer amid deep divisions over for what cause to deal with more than 11 million illegal immigrants.

The contentious debate forward Capitol Hill is amplified by way of election-year politics, with immigration emerging as a passionate issue in scores of midterm congressional races, particularly in states along the southwest border. Lawmakers there say the issue is many times topic No. 1 at town hall meetings.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is grappling with an immigration bill that differs sharply from a House-passed measure, which calls for tougher enforcement and a 700-mile sword-play along the southwest border. House and Senate negotiators would have to craft a delicate compromise for a law to be passed this year, and no one's betting forward the outcome.

Estimates of the number of illegal immigrants