A national biometric identification card all American workers would eventually b

[JSCCajun]

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.

Read full article Here http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703954904575110124037066854.html

[Schlup]

I'm fine with this as long as they integrate it into my drivers license and keep it the same size.

[Malhovic]

I am all for this though I would disagree that we should carry it on us at all times. That just asks for them to be stolen and purchased via methods that are not legal.

[NavyChief]

I am alright with this. They should go ahead and issue a U.S. national drivers license and incorporate this into the card. Each state does not require their own drivers license. One national version would alleviate people having to obtain new cards whenever they move.

[Schlup]

I am all for this though I would disagree that we should carry it on us at all times. That just asks for them to be stolen and purchased via methods that are not legal.

Oh, they're going to get stolen and sold illegally however you do it.  This is why there are finger prints on it and all that good stuff to verify the identity.   Might as well make it easy to carry and use.

As for the US National drivers license I'm not sure that will work, when people lose their license in their state they still have the ability to drive in other states, so how would that work for a National Drivers License.

[JSCCajun]

Ok.. so everyone is cool with this.. it only has the fingerprint... for now..  so then the next step is they a microchip that has GPS capabilities.
Then later on they decide you need to have a chip in your body.  You would object to the later, but not if they upgraded a system over time.
I don't think this is something I would want.  I have mixed feelings over this.  They can't document illegals properly, but they want to document us?
I don't think this is wise.

[Schlup]

Who said they would increase the capabilities over time?  That would never pass...

I actually have a little more faith in the government now that they are going to shut down this stupid Obama Health Care Plan.

[NavyChief]

As for the US National drivers license I'm not sure that will work, when people lose their license in their state they still have the ability to drive in other states, so how would that work for a National Drivers License.

If someone's driving priviledges get revoked for some reason (DUI, etc) in one state then the driver should not be allowed to drive in any other state. Some drivers are circumventing the system by moving to another state if their current state driving priviledges are suspended/revoked. Your driving record should be a national record so dangerous drivers are removed until they prove they can follow the rules.

[Schlup]

While I agree with this you're talking about a lot of extra legislation needed for that.

[NavyChief]

Yeah, that is the problem with our system.

Will this happen in our lifetime? Slim chance.

I think some version of a national drivers license will occur but the timeframe is uncertain. Many states will not give this up unless absolutely forced.

Once this does happen, look for a form of national vehicle registration (license plates) to occur afterward. The two just seem to go together.

The lost revenues from drivers licenses and vehicle registration will keep many states from adopting, recommending, or even contemplating this for many years to come.

[Schlup]

Oh they'll fight it tooth and nail.  If we start going that direction there's no real reason for state government at all at that point.  It would be a short time after that took effect they would abolish state and local government.  Is that what we really want?

[Destro]

If someone's driving priviledges get revoked for some reason (DUI, etc) in one state then the driver should not be allowed to drive in any other state. Some drivers are circumventing the system by moving to another state if their current state driving priviledges are suspended/revoked. Your driving record should be a national record so dangerous drivers are removed until they prove they can follow the rules.

I don't know that this is the case.  I know someone who had this exact thing happen to him and he couldn't get privileges in any state.  If it IS the case, then all we would need is a better system to report things like this from one state to another.  We don't need to re-invent the wheel.

Federal government is already too big and is trying to snuff out state government.  I know I don't want the federal government to get any bigger, and I don't want these clowns in congress deciding that they need to increase the price of vehicle registrations in order to back fill the money they spent out of social security or some such nonsense, or threatening to take away my driving "privileges" (though I would call them "rights") if I don't comply with some totally unrelated order they handed down. 

Anything like this card is a slippery slope.  I'm sure in my grandparent's day, they thought that there'd never be a snowball's chance in hell that we would try to adopt government sponsored health care, bail out inferior companies like we have, or sign these 700 billion "stimulus" bills.  The "Yeah, but that would NEVER get implemented" argument is what got us where we are now.

Just like Navy said, the next thing would be national vehicle registrations.  From there what else?  You would start paying federal tax on your vehicles when you buy them.  Next would be federal sales tax.  They've got to pay for roads with that money.  You've got this big pool of money to pay for roads, and with party X in office, they will do things like make sure that roads get repaired or built in battleground states to benefit themselves politically while ignoring states that are die hard for party Y.  We have seen what the federal government does with huge sums of money like this.

It's all bad.  Making me bring in some identity card to prove I am legal to work is doing nothing but hiding the real problem at best.  This post wouldn't even exist if they would stop allowing people to come into this country whenever they please.  THAT is the problem. 

I'm with Cajun.  This card is the exact opposite of what we need.

[Schlup]

How can we stop allowing people to come into this country whenever they please?  They have tunnels and stuff.

[Destro]

You're not going to stop them all, but at least try.  A good first step would be to a deterrent.  Actually punish them when you catch them here illegally.

[Schlup]

Isn't that what I.C.E. does (Immigration and Customs Enforcement)?

[NavyChief]

Isn't that what I.C.E. does (Immigration and Customs Enforcement)?

The only thing they will normally do is deport them back to their original country. In most cases, they will simply try again a few days later and be right back where they were before. The only lesson learned was that the illegal immigrant knows what not to do and will try harder to remain undetected. Does it stop or deter the person - no, not really.

[Schlup]

So what would you do differently?  You would punish them by sending them to prison?  Further draining our tax dollars?

[Destro]

I sure would.  If they weren't here, more Americans would be working.  That means less of a drain on unemployment and welfare.  It also means that the money earned here would stay here, which means more tax revenue. 

[NavyChief]

It would only take a few cases of illegals going to prison before the word spread and the flow would decrease. If some real consequences were feared then it would at least cause some to pause and think before doing.

If someone was harboring an illegal and that person was carrying a green card (not natural citizen) or visa then the card/visa should be revoked. That would also cause the people that have permission to be here to stop and think.

As it stands now, there is no fear of punishment - only a temporary setback.

[Schlup]

Do you realize how many illegals are in the US?  Do you know how many new prisons we'd have to build to house them if we only put the ones we caught in those prisons.  The cost would definitely exceed that of more money earned.  You forget, we then have to feed them in the prison system, pay for healthcare, clothing, etc.  There's no way that simply more tax revenue and less drain on unemployment and welfare would out weigh the added expenses.  There would be millions of them in the prison system in no time.  What would they care, they wouldn't have to work at all for the meager things they would be given.  As for unemployment and welfare, it would help a little but I believe that there are a decent amount of Americans that would not do the jobs the illegals are doing right now.  Overall mentality is that they would be too good for that work, thus remaining on unemployment and welfare.