WASHINGTON – A growing number of governors, along the border and beyond, are sharpening their complaints about the flood of immigrants pouring into their states, pushing the Bush administration and Congress for action.

Republicans and Democrats alike yesterday said they planned to bring the concerns to President Bush and his Cabinet in private meetings this week, bringing a front-line security worry of a different order than the latest Washington obsessions on ports and wiretapping.

“This is a national issue,” said Democrat Janet Napolitano of Arizona, where 500,000 attempts to illegally cross the border were turned back last year – and an untold number got through. Nationally there are an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants draining government resources. “We’re absorbing through taxpayer dollars the incarceration costs, health care costs, education costs,” Ms. Napolitano said.

Immigration was one contentious issue among many as more than 40 top state leaders gathered for the winter meeting of the National Governors Association. Governors also hope to get attention on the National Guard, where they fear cuts, and on Medicaid and welfare.

Mr. Bush was hosting the governors at a formal White House dinner yesterday evening.

In states as far from the southern border as Utah, Missouri, Tennessee, and Vermont, governors said immigrants are costing states dollars and spurring state legislation. All agree the answer lies in Washington and hope to provide a push as Congress weighs several competing bills.

“It’s important to come together as governors with a single voice to give some direction,” said Republican Jon Huntsman Jr. of Utah. “We deal with these issues day in and day out.”

Western governors have put together a multipoint plan that asks for tougher border enforcement that makes better use of technology, improvements in the visa system, adoption of a guest worker program and working with Mexico and other Latin America countries to tackle the root economic causes that send millions north looking for work.