All Americans required 2carry biometric ID cards 2work in US under new plan

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All Americans required to carry

biometric ID cards to work in US under new plan

March 10, 2010 · Leave

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Customs and Border Protection agent Jesus

Gomez checks a passport at the vehicle crossing at the San Ysidro Port

of Entry in California. Getty Images

 

The biggest objections to the

biometric cards may come from privacy advocates, who fear they would

become de facto national ID cards that enable the government to track

citizens.

 

ID Card for Workers Is at Center of

Immigration Plan

 

Wall Street Journal |

Mar 9, 2010

 

By LAURA MECKLER

 

Lawmakers working to craft a new

comprehensive immigration bill have settled on a way to prevent

employers from hiring illegal immigrants: a national biometric

identification card all American workers would eventually be required

to obtain.

 

Under the potentially controversial plan

still taking shape in the Senate, all legal U.S. workers, including

citizens and immigrants, would be issued an ID card with embedded

information, such as fingerprints, to tie the card to the worker.

 

The ID card plan is one of several steps

advocates of an immigration overhaul are taking to address concerns

that have defeated similar bills in the past.

 

The uphill effort to pass a bill is being led

by Sens. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), who

plan to meet with President Barack Obama as soon as this week to update

him on their work. An administration official said the White House had

no position on the biometric card.

 

“It’s the nub of solving the immigration

dilemma politically speaking,†Mr. Schumer said in an interview. The

card, he said, would directly answer concerns that after legislation is

signed, another wave of illegal immigrants would arrive. “If you say

they can’t get a job when they come here, you’ll stop it.â€

 

 

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The biggest objections to the biometric cards

may come from privacy advocates, who fear they would become de facto

national ID cards that enable the government to track citizens.

 

“It is fundamentally a massive invasion of

people’s privacy,†said Chris Calabrese, legislative counsel for the

American Civil Liberties Union. “We’re not only talking about

fingerprinting every American, treating ordinary Americans like

criminals in order to work. We’re also talking about a card that would

quickly spread from work to voting to travel to pretty much every

aspect of American life that requires identification.â€

 

Mr. Graham says he respects those concerns

but disagrees. “We’ve all got Social Security cards,†he said. “They’re

just easily tampered with. Make them tamper-proof. That’s all I’m

saying.â€

 

U.S. employers now have the option of using

an online system called E-Verify to check whether potential employees

are in the U.S. legally. Many Republicans have pressed to make the

system mandatory. But others, including Mr. Schumer, complain that the

existing system is ineffective.

 

Last year, White House aides said they

expected to push immigration legislation in 2010.

But with health care and unemployment dominating his attention, the

president has given little indication the issue is a priority.

 

Rather, Mr. Obama has said he wanted to see

bipartisan support in Congress first. So far, Mr. Graham is the only

Republican to voice interest publicly, and he wants at least one other

GOP co-sponsor to launch the effort.

 

An immigration overhaul has long proven a

complicated political task. The Latino community is pressing for action

and will be angry if it is put off again. But many Americans oppose any

measure that resembles amnesty for people who came here illegally.

 

Under the legislation envisioned by Messrs.

Graham and Schumer, the estimated 10.8 million people living illegally

in the U.S. would be offered a path to citizenship, though they would

have to register, pay taxes, pay a fine and wait in line. A

guest-worker program would let a set number of new foreigners come to

the U.S. legally to work.

 

Most European countries require citizens and

foreigners to carry ID cards. The U.K. had been a holdout, but in the

early 2000s it considered national cards as a way to stop identify

fraud, protect against terrorism and help stop illegal foreign workers.

Amid worries about the cost and complaints that the cards infringe on

personal privacy, the government said it would make them voluntary for

British citizens. They are required for foreign workers and students,

and so far about 130,000 cards have been issued.

 

Mr. Schumer first suggested a biometric-based

employer-verification system last summer. Since then, the idea has

gained currency and is now a centerpiece of the legislation being

developed, aides said.

 

A person familiar with the legislative

planning said the biometric data would likely be either fingerprints or

a scan of the veins in the top of the hand. It would be required of all

workers, including teenagers, but would be phased in, with current

workers needing to obtain the card only when they next changed jobs,

the person said.

 

The card requirement also would be phased in

among employers, beginning with industries that typically rely on

illegal-immigrant labor.

 

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce doesn’t have a

position on the proposal, but it is concerned that employers would find

it expensive and complicated to properly check the biometrics.

 

Mr. Schumer said employers would be able to

buy a scanner to check the IDs for as much as $800. Small employers, he

said, could take their applicants to a government office to like the

Department of Motor Vehicles and have their hands scanned there.

 

 

 

 

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