BY ERICA WERNER AND JULIE PACE

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

--Unlikely allies, business and labor leaders joined in support of the White House's immigration overhaul efforts Tuesday while also launching high-stakes negotiations to overcome an issue that has split them before--creating a guest-worker program to ensure that future immigrants come to the U.S. legally.

The broad agreement on a need for immigration changes and a pathway to citizenship for an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants already here is driven largely by self-interest. Both business and labor see an overhaul of the nation's broken immigration system as a way to boost economic competitiveness with other nations while increasing the ranks of workers and union members.

For President Barack Obama, a partnership between factions that have often been at odds--both with each other and with the White House--allows him to turn up pressure on Congress and try to isolate congressional Republicans who oppose parts of an immigration overhaul. Obama held separate private meetings at the White House on Tuesday with labor leaders and top business executives.

Underscoring the risk for Republicans, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a Republican whose seventh congressional district includes a portion of the Fredericksburg area, on Tuesday embraced "an opportunity for legal residence and citizenship for those who were brought to this country as children and who know no other home." It appeared to be a change for Cantor, who voted against DREAM Act legislation to allow a path to citizenship for certain immigrants brought here as youths.

"This is all very encouraging to have labor and business come together to explore what could be some common ground," said Janet Murguia, president of the National Council of La Raza, a leading immigration rights groups. Murguia and other immigration activists joined Obama's meeting with labor groups.

Despite such optimistic public statements, the fragile business-labor alliance is still in question as the Chamber of Commerce meets with the AFL-CIO and other labor groups privately to hammer out details of how to deal with future immigrants who come to the U.S. to work. The labor and business groups have been tasked by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., with reaching a deal within weeks that can be included in legislation being crafted by a bipartisan Senate group, officials say.