Papers Please—and Your Biometric Data

The immigration bill currently wending its way through Congress “would require employers to re-verify the identity of every single person currently employed in the United States. Not only would it place a considerable burden on both government and business, but the verification system currently being tested has shown a significant rate of error.” Congress critter David Bonner, however, has proposed that the Social Security Administration require SS cards “contain an electronic signature strip that contains an encrypted electronic identification strip, unique to that individual,” according to Bonner’s web page. Neither Bonner’s scheme or the one included in the “immigration proposal with traction in Congress” specifies “what the biometric would be, but it could range from a simple digital photo to a fingerprint or even an iris scan.” As to be expected, the American Civil Liberties Union is clueless. “Do we really think the migrant workers are going to show up at the pickle farm and the farmer is going to demand ID and have a laptop in the field to check their ID?” said ACLU legislative counsel Tim Sparapani. It has nothing to do with pickle farmers or illegals streaming across the border in search of jobs that pay such dismal wages precious few Americans will take them. Rather, it has to do with eventually making sure every American—indeed, every person on the planet—has his or her papers in order. Of course, papers are so yesterday, so the idea is to capture biometric data on every person, beginning with workers. It will begin with an SS card and eventually a subdermal microchip, as cards are easily lost or stolen.