[org.whodat]

I'm also curious as to how the American farming industry would recover from the major wage increases it would face when it had to pay average citizens higher wages plus benefits

A guest farm worker program has been in effect for years. These illegals are not farm workers. Do you really know the issue?

[Tempest]

If you're refering to the H-2A guest worker program, the beauracracy currently involved with it and the qualifications neccessary for a farmer to be approved for it is very rather cost prohibitive and usually yields no benefit for the farmer or service provider in the end.

A broader guest worker program such as the one President Bush proposes would foreseeably cause market fluctuations initially but also at the same time force job markets such as service provision and farm work to be more competative and perhaps more appealing to the average citizen. Whom by default under the President's plan get to take precedent in the hiring process of such labor positions.

So how familiar are you with the H-2A guest worker program???