From the 10/13 debate, President Bush (link):

...I believe there ought to be a temporary worker card that allows a willing worker and a willing employer to mate up, so long as there's not an American willing to do the job...

I wonder how many nurses, teachers, or high-tech workers would work for $8 an hour. Wait, you didn't know that Bush's "guest worker" plan would be open to those people too?

That's what they have in mind. And, there would be no wage-related restrictions on it other than the minimum wage. So, employers could offer a teaching job for $8 an hour. American teachers would either take that rate or, more likely, they wouldn't. So, the employer could hire that "guest" worker from Bangladesh. The Bangladeshi would consider that a king's ransom. All the requirements of Bush's plan had been met: there wasn't an American willing to do the job.

Bush's plan would force millions of previously higher-wage jobs down near the minimum wage. What phrase would most Americans use to describe such a plan?

See Analysis: Bush temp worker plan open-ended (link) and Bush "guest worker" program to be "open to any type of employee". Also, "Hutchinson's Remarks Indicate Cheap Labor Bias of Administration" and the links here.

...they're able to go back and forth to see their families... See, the card will have a period of time attached to it.

What exactly does he mean by "families"? Will their immediate family come with them or not? If not, are we going to be able to split up families? Not all people coming here would be Mexicans or from the parts of Mexico near the border. Is Bush going to require men to travel hundreds of miles to see their immediate family?

If, however, they're bringing their immediate family with them, there will no doubt be hundreds of thousands of children born, and those children will be U.S. citizens. Who's going to be able to make them go home after they've had a U.S. citizen child? And, won't most "guest" workers intentionally have children here so it will be harder to make them go home?

And, given that, doesn't this plan consist not just of an amnesty, but as a massive incentive for a huge chunk of Mexico's population to come here? Was any thought put into the consequences of this plan at all?

A Bush assistant addresses those questions in Bush "guest worker" program to be "open to any type of employee". No change to the 14th Amendment is expected to accomodate the "guest worker" plan.

If somebody is coming here to work with a card, it means they're not going to have to sneak across the border.

No, it doesn't. People will sneak across the border for many reasons, but primarily for employment. And, if employers are willing to employ people illegally - under any guest worker plan - people will keep coming here illegally. People don't hire illegals primarily because of a lack of legal workers. They hire illegals because of the cost or to avoid paperwork or safety laws. If those who currently employ illegals want to continue to do so, they will under any guest worker program unless they're stopped. If Bush won't enforce the laws against hiring illegal aliens now, what makes anyone think he'd enforce the laws under his plan? And, note that under the last guest worker program (the Bracero program) illegal immigration went up during and after that program.

See "Employer fines plummet for hiring illegals" (link) and "The Mirage of Mexican Guest Workers".

...I don't believe we ought to have amnesty. I don't think we ought to reward illegal behavior...

His plan is perceived as an amnesty, and it's caused an uptick in those coming here expecting to take part in the amnesty. Whether it's truly an amnesty hinges on how exactly we define amnesty. And, when you get down to the level of minute differences in definition, you might as well be Bill Clinton.

See "Border Agents Warn of Influx" and "[Bush] Immigration plan envisions 'incentives' to illegal aliens" (link).

Well, to say that the borders are not as protected as they were prior to September the 11th shows he doesn't know the borders. They're much better protected today than they were when I was the governor of Texas... We have much more manpower and much more equipment there.

Bush was governor of Texas before 9/11. I'd hope the borders are better protected now than they were before that date. But, are they? What of all the chatter about terrorists attempting to infiltrate the U.S. via Mexico? What of the report of 25 Chechen terrorists possibily having succeeded in that effort? (link)

Once again Bush's rhetoric just doesn't match up to reality. If the administration would take the novel approach of fining those companies that employ illegal aliens, all that manpower and equipment would have a much greater impact. As it is, to a certain extent they're just there for show.