Ron, good points. But isn't a Minimum Wage requirement based on employers complying with law? And if they are hiring illegal aliens, they are unlikely to break one law and comply with another, are they?

And I am not saying "the poor" should not be using emergency rooms. They must have recourse. But hospitals are not equipped to handle the numbers of poor citizens PLUS millions of another nation's poor. Also, E-room treatment is NOT a taxpayer issue. This is a cost primarily absorbed by private industry, then passed on to Insurance companies, and then to employers and their employees, employees who, should they need emergency care, may not even have reasonable access to it. This is fair how?

And McGrath, come off the "The American colonies, and their successor, the United Sates, were and are only there in the first place as a consequence of illegal immigration from Europe" stuff. Ireland has experienced many waves of "illegal immigrants" from the Norse, to the British, to the Celts, to whoever pre-dated them. Somehow I think the Irish Republic also has borders, visas, and checkpoints that demand passports before entry. Maybe if Ireland shared a border with Nigeria, Vietnam, or Romania, the problem would be a bit less philosophical.