This is one of the classic strawman arguments. Supposedly, those who want to enforce our immigration laws want to immediately deport all illegal aliens.

In addition to simply attempting to miscast their opponents' position, many use this argument in order to evoke images of poor, huddled masses being herded into cattlecars.

In fact, very few people support such a draconian scheme. Most realize the difficulties inherent in a mass deportation, and they instead support simply enforcing our laws not just at the border but in the interior and at workplaces. Combined with reducing or eliminating non-emergency benefits to illegal aliens, this will greatly reduce future illegal immigration and will cause many of those here now to deport themselves.

However, this canard also reveals a very disturbing truth: we've not only lost control of our borders, but of the interior of our country as well. Every country has a right to expel people who've entered that country illegally. If a country is (almost) physically incapable of expelling those people, then it has in effect been occupied and settled by an invading force.

If for some reason - such as a war or economic downturn - we needed to expel all or even just a few million of our illegal aliens, do we have the forces to do that? Would those illegal aliens - citizens of another country who have no allegiance to this country - resist the deportation? Illegal aliens make up a large percentage of the populations of several major cities, and there are pockets in hundreds of rural areas throughout the U.S. Would some of them hold towns or sections of major cities hostage? How many lives would be lost and how many billions of dollars of property would be lost? And, would Mexico and other countries - as well as our homegrown Fifth Columnists - agitate those illegal aliens?

While non-serious commentators tend to mock such questions, the fact remains that there have been immigrant riots in the U.S. in the past, and there have been many similar situations in other countries throughout history.

The fact remains that it would be extremely difficult to deport even a few million illegal aliens by force if it were necessary to do so, and that should be extremely worrisome to anyone who's concerned with our security.