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Well, in a perfect world, that wouldn't be the case, but I guess it's not a perfect world. I don't argue that any "guest workers" or whatever they're going to be called should receive any kind of government aid. Their ability to stay here should be contingent on their employment and on their ability to meet their financial obligations, and that includes medical bills and all these issues that are being raised here.

But then again, maybe I'm being too ideal here.

You said..."Their ability to stay here should be contingent on their employment and on their ability to meet their financial obligations, and that includes medical bills and all these issues that are being raised here."

I totally agree.

In all fairness, that is one criteria that proponents of a guest worker bill could use as a rationale...and it would be a valid one IF they promised that the language requiring the employers to provide the insurance and health coverage and other social costs such as education, child care, etc. was mandatory in the bill, and IF the enforcement and border security precedent had already been established to vigorously enforce immigration laws.

So, in effect, with an effective guest worker bill..all the existing illegals collecting gov handouts would suddenly be covered by employers health and insurance policies.

But can we realistically expect that to happen?

I doubt it, considering the fact that the rate of illegal immigration has outstripped the rate of new job creation, so one has to assume that a sizable proportion of illegals are currently unemployed. What happens to these people with a guest worker bill?

Of course, then the question becomes, if you require an employer to pay the same costs for a guest worker across the board, maybe higher if you include mandatory health coverage, then where is the incentive to pursue the program in the first place?

Would proponents of a guest worker bill go along with the provision that only the worker himself was allowed in to work...NOT the family? If we need labor...why do we need the attendant social costs of the family as well?

If employers are willing to pay a premium to acquire labor resources they cannot get, and must have to expand or function, then that is one thing.

If they are looking for a cheap, easy way to grow business and increase profits by underbidding the American labor market, using big daddy gov as an enabler, then that is quite another thing.