Immigration is a tricky issue. The influx of immigrants into the United States, legal and otherwise, excites many people, but politicians who try to exploit the issue often find their efforts unrewarded. The Republican candidate most closely identified with the restrictionist position on immigration, Tom Tancredo, is going nowhere. So is Duncan "I Built the Border Fence" Hunter. And the two candidates who have been liberal advocates of immigration in the past only to tack right during the primary find that the issue has tripped them up. Mitt Romney's "sanctuary mansion" will continue to generate headlines during a week when the Romney campaign was hoping for a lot of free media covering its candidate's "religion speech". Giuliani's tough talk on immigration now only reminds voters of his advocacy for immigrants back when he was mayor of New York City. Meanwhile, the candidate who hasn't shied away from his liberal immigration record leads in the latest Rasmussen national tracking robopoll and most recent Iowa polling. The possible Senate "comprehensive" immigration bill may have seriously damaged John McCain earlier this year, but now he is more or less tied for second place in New Hampshire. Clearly Republican voters are concerned about immigration - as are Democratic and independent voters. But rushing toward restrictionism may not turn out to be the best campaign strategy. Romney and Giuliani could have fallen into the immigration trap.