Ron,

"However if you were in favor of these illegals getting livable wages, you'd be in favor of their becoming US citizens--then they could not be exploited as easily."

    I don't see how paying decent wages has anything to do with citizenship. What I think is, if American bussineses had to pay illegals the same wages they would have to pay anybody else, there would be no reason to hire them.

    Making them citizens simply increases the likelyhood of population increases. Furthermore, if all American industry had to pay living wages with benefits, they'd be motivated to find better means of production. With slave labor, they don't need to do that.

    Also, I would agree, building a wall is a stupid idea. It would cost a lot of money, wouldn't work, and would be an environmental disaster.

    But runaway population growth is an even bigger disaster. And streamlining the immigration system would contribute hugely to that.