VIA CNN
March 23, 2006

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Anticipating turbulent debate over immigration, President Bush urged Congress on Thursday to grapple with the emotional issue in a way that avoids pitting groups against each other.

The Senate is to take up immigration next week -- and the president and the leader of his party are starting out with different ideas about the best way to address the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants already in the country.

Bush wants Congress to create a program to allow foreigners to gain legal status in the United States for a set amount of time to do specific jobs. When the time is up, they would be required to return home without an automatic path to citizenship.

Bush said Thursday that his message is: "If you are doing a job that Americans won't do, you're welcome here for a period of time to do that job."

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