Senators Propose National ID Cards to Curb Illegal Immigration

by Amar Toor on March 24, 2010 at 10:40 AM

As the Department of Homeland Security continues to urge states to adopt its national identification card program, Senators Chuck Schumer and Lindsay Graham have proposed a radically new alternative -- another national identification card.

Homeland Security's Real ID initiative, which began in 2005, requires motor vehicle authorities in each state to compile Social Security numbers, birth certificates, and other personal information from all its citizens, in order to construct a national database. According to Wired, though, virtually none of the state governments have complied with the $24 billion program. Schumer and Graham's proposal, on the other hand, calls for the implementation of a "high-tech, fraud-proof Social Security card" without the creation of a national database. Instead, each citizen's unique biometric identifier would be stored directly on his or her card, which, the Senators reassure, "would not contain any private information, medical information or tracking devices." Whereas the Real ID program was instituted as a border-tightening measure in the wake of 9/11, this latest proposal is being branded as a guard against illegal immigration.

Jim Harper of the Cato Institute, however, thinks the idea of having a national ID card without a centralized database is a bit unrealistic, claiming that there is no practical way of making a national identity document fraud-proof. The Electronic Frontier Foundation's Richard Esguerra, meanwhile, predicts that any national ID program would likely become requisite customer documentation for a variety of private sector services, including "airlines, insurance agencies, health care providers, mortgage lenders, credit card companies, and so forth."

So far, the Senators have only discussed their plan with President Obama, and it's still unclear if it'll get much further. We sincerely hope, though, that it doesn't. It seems like the debate over whether or not to create a national database of personal information is somewhat irrelevant to the core issue, which remains firmly grounded in Big Brother concerns. We certainly believe Schumer and Graham when they insist that the government won't use tracking devices, but there's still a police state overtone to any program that involves federally issued digital cards, docile as they may be. We're all for keeping our borders safe, but turning us into electronically branded cattle isn't necessarily the best way to go about it. [From: Wired]

Tags: chuck schumer, ChuckSchumer, department of homeland security, DepartmentOfHomelandSecurity, federal government, FederalGovernment, homeland security, HomelandSecurity, id card, id cards, IdCard, IdCards, lindsay graham, LindsayGraham, national ID card, national security, NationalIdCard, NationalSecurity, politics, real id, RealId, security, top

Comments

numerwanMar 24th 2010 11:13AM

Neutral

"fraud-proof Social Security card" -- dont they hold contests every year where they have the elite try and hack phones, Operating systems, web browsers, and someone always finds a hack??

theres no such thing as "fraud proof"

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EstobanMar 24th 2010 11:58AM

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I'd prefer to see the border secured, as mandated by Congress. In California, where the fence has been built to specs, incursions have dropped 95%. I can live with 95% fewer drug and human smugglers, terrorists, criminals and job thiefs.

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ObviousmanMar 25th 2010 4:18AM

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When Social Security was first debated [in 1935] in the [Franklin D.] Roosevelt Administration, the president himself assured American citizens that a Social Security number would never be used for identification purposes.
--VIN SUPRYNOWICZ

FOR SOCIAL SECURITY PURPOSES ONLY -- NOT FOR IDENTIFICATION.
--THE SOCIAL SECURITY CARD (1936-1967)

Hereafter any Federal department, establishment, or agency shall, whenever the head thereof finds it advisable to establish a new system of permanent account numbers pertaining to individual persons, utilize exclusively the Social Security Act account numbers...
--EXECUTIVE ORDER 9397, FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT (1943)

We have to accept that the Social Security number is the de facto national identifier and its use by government agencies at all levels and the private sector is too embedded to change.
--JAMES G. HUSE JR, INSPECTOR GENERAL, SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION (2001)

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
--GEORGE SANTAYANA

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ObviousmanMar 25th 2010 4:21AM

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Sorry... the above was in response to this claim:

...the Senators reassure, "would not contain any private information, medical information or tracking devices."

Sure. Once they get the card established, they can change it any way they like.

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Delaware BobMar 26th 2010 12:04PM

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If you want to see two two smiling IDIOTS, the picture above is it. I'm all for the ID card, IF, they only give it to Americans so the illegal aliens CAN NOT work or collect any benefits and they will go back home with their families.

Illegal aliens are destroying this Country, and one would have to be almost blind not to see this. How much longer do we have to support these illegal aliens? How much longer do we have to school their illegal alien children? How much longer are we going to let them have our jobs? How much longer are we going to put up with all the crime, stolen identities, forged documents, fake green cards? How much longer are we going to allow these illegal aliens to send money out of this Country and bring our Country down? Oh, amnesty will correct all this. WRONG! Nothing will change except we wouldn't be able to call them illegal aliens any more. Let's get rid of these illegal aliens! Let's get them back to their own Country where they belong!

I'm from Delaware, and we are pressing to get the Oklahoma State Illegal Immigration Law, HB 1804, passed here in Delaware. Three years ago we had about 32,000 illegal aliens here. Today we have about 68,000 illegal aliens here. We have had it! We want our State back!

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rstar38Mar 26th 2010 12:53PM

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Thank you, Delaware Bob, for summing up what a majority of repubs, Independents and dems are feeling, vis-a-vis the problem of countless millions of illegal aliens who have invaded this still great country of ours. Regarding a "National ID Card," we already have a mostly reliable system in place--E-verify--which Chuck -love those illegal aliens -Schumer says is not a good system. [we need to send Mr. Schumer back to school. No, actually, we need to send him & his ilk back to non-governmental life! And this can be started in November, at the polls, when his buddy Gillibrand (who was pro-American but changed when Chuck took her under his wing)] Thanks again for your insightful comments.

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