[jyl]

Illegal immigration is a more important issue than gay marriage.

However, it is a complicated and difficult issue, and the way it is being addressed will make a workable solution harder to find.

The Republican primary voters are forcing the candidates to out-do each other in taking hardline positions. A hardline solution (impenetrable wall on border, wholesale deportation, no legal migrant worker program) will hurt a lot of US businesses, and probably wouldn't get through the legislative process. Meanwhile, the hardliners block middle-of-the-road solutions, such as the Bush proposal of earlier this year. And the wackiest hardliners are even saying we should block all immigration, including legal.