OK. Name one gov't program that got up and running in an expeditious manner. If you can't (and I'm sure you can't), explain why this one would be different.
How about Medicare and Medicaid? It was a huge joint program that fully went into effect the year after it was passed by Congress, and that was a much larger operation than any guest-worker program would be. And guest-worker programs have been held up for two years because of the provisions for illegals that their advocates have been absolutely insisting on. If two years ago we had passed a guest-worker program for non-illegals only, it would definitely have been up and running by now. If then we decided that it wasn't working, it would have been much easier at that point to extend the existing program to illegals, than to have to build it up completely from scracth.
So there's really no excuse to be opposed to a program that's not made available to illegals at first. It can always be extended to them later if we decide it's necessary to do so.