Next time a politician starts to talk about securing our nation's borders, ask them this question put forward by the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Vin Suprynowicz.

I haven't talked with Mr. Obama about this personally -- he hasn't dropped by. But I have talked with my own liberal Democratic Nevada congresswoman, Shelley Berkley, on the topic.

Last year, at a meeting here in the offices of the Review-Journal, I heard her use virtually the same formulation, saying, "Everyone agrees we need to secure our borders."

I asked: "Are we going to use land mines and machine guns?"

The first, spontaneous expression on Rep. Berkley's face -- a mixture of horror and disbelief -- was priceless. Then, laughing a bit nervously and glancing from side to side, as though checking to see whether men in white coats were about to remove me, she replied, "Oh, no one is considering that."

The obvious follow-up question, then, is "What, exactly, do you propose we do to secure our borders?" Not vague platitudes about enforcing our nation's immigration laws, but serious proposals that the candidate or officeholder is prepared to work to get enacted and implemented.

Are landmines and machine guns the solution? Probably not. But if the current benign neglect on immigration issues that has been de facto policy during my entire adult life is going to continue, it is time for our politicians to admit that they need to budget for signs that read "Bienvenidos, Amigos!" at our southern border, as well as shuttle bus service to the nearest immigration office for instant green card service.

Having done that, the American people can either ratify said policy at the next election, or vote in others who with a serious plan to deal with our nation's immigration and border problems and the will to enact the policies to implement it.