[mmercier]

There are merits for a guest worker program if properly administered.

Beats the chit out of amnesty for illegals.

I shall now don my armor plated flame resistant suit and go to the bunker.

[taxed2death]

"There are merits for a guest worker program if properly administered.
Beats the chit out of amnesty for illegals.
I shall now don my armor plated flame resistant suit and go to the bunker"

I agree, but these guest workers should fill spots that are offered to US citizens first.

Guest workers will have to work "on the books".

Any "guest worker" now in -country should never be granted amnesty. They came here with full knowledge they were breaking the law. We can not reward this behavior.

Guest workers in the future should be eligible for US citizenship after 10 years of working here legally. They should Not be pushed ahead of the line of legal US residents applying for citizenship.

[Jorge]

There are merits for a guest worker program if properly administered.
Beats the chit out of amnesty for illegals.

I agree. Get these people on the books so we can keep tabs on them.

[judgeandjury]

There are merits for a guest worker program if properly administered.

I would have no problem with a guest worker program as long as illegal aliens are NOT eligible to apply for it.

[GarySpFc]

There are merits for a guest worker program if properly administered.
Beats the chit out of amnesty for illegals.
I shall now don my armor plated flame resistant suit and go to the bunker.

What a crock. What we have is a bunch of businessmen wanting coolie labor. My stepdaughter in Russia isn't even allowed to visit and her mother is a citizen. We applied for the stepdaughter to come here in August 2002, and by August 2011 she might be allowed to immigrate. In the interim Mexicans sneaking across the border, and then escorted to the bus station for points north. NOT ONE ILLEGAL ALIEN SHOULD BE ALLOWED IN THE US UNTIL ALL THOSE WHO APPLIED TO COME HERE LEGALLY ARE ALLOWED IN.

[CindyDawg]

We need to clean up the mess here 1st. Send them all home and then look at guest workers. They shouldn't receive SS benefits though.

[TexasKamaAina]

There are merits for a guest worker program if properly administered.

Immigration is a problem because of its volume, not because of its legality or illegality. The impact of immigrants on the economy and the culture is not related to their legal status. It is related to their volume. One of the biggest problems with the volume is that it reduces the need to assimilate. Making these folks legal guest workers, without decreasing their numbers, will actually exacerbate that problem because it puts it explicitly on the table that they must eventaully leave the US.

Also, anyone who has read the justifications put forth during the 1800s for African slavery cannot help but see the similarities between some of those arguments and the claim that Mexicans simply "do the work that Americans won't do." This dependence upon cheap labor stifles innovation and drags down wages for everyone else.

[freedumb2003]

There are merits for a guest worker program if properly administered.

I don't think you are wrong. But the steps have to be very clear, starting with requiring that the guest worker apply in his/her native country and that there be regular "breaks" where they have to return to their country for 3 or 4 contiguous weeks per year. No family allowed, except for brief visits here. They can go back to their native country all they want, within the normal limits of employment agreements.

After a certain number of years of following the rules, they could apply for temporary permanent residency and them follow the standard path to permanent residency and citizenship now in place.

Of course, this would only be when the person is matched to a true opening at prevailing wages (we could borrow from the Cal State system to determine "prevailing wages") to ensure we don't push down the local economy.

The employer would be required to offer health insurance, again at somewhat reasonable rates and it would be mandatory for the guest worker to enroll and pay for it.

Keep it all above eye level and it could work. One last note: No particular country would be "preferred" and participant lots would be reflective of the respective native country's overall population, with caps established by a commission.

But I think all this makes too much sense to ever be done.