Senate chairman favors national worker ID card

As the immigration reform debate begins to heat up again, some immigrant advocates expect that one of the biggest and most controversial new elements will be a proposed national worker identification card for all Americans.

A “forgery-proof” worker ID card, secured with biometric data such as fingerprints, is a favored idea of the new chairman of the Senate immigration subcommittee, Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.).

Schumer, who will lead the effort to craft the Senate’s comprehensive immigration reform legislation, has publicly espoused the card as the best way to ensure that all workers are authorized.

“The ID will make it easy for employers to avoid undocumented workers, which will allow for tough sanctions against employers who break the law, which will lead to no jobs being available for illegal immigrants, which will stop illegal immigration,” Schumer wrote in his 2007 book, “Positively American.”

“Once Americans are convinced that we will permanently staunch the flow of illegal immigration, they will be more willing to accept constructing a path toward earned citizenship for those who are already here.”

A Schumer aide said last week that the senator would probably present the worker ID card idea when he holds a hearing later this summer on employee verification systems.

To see the full story, visit: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-worker-id16-2009jun16,0,2060518.story

-- Teresa Watanabe

 

Comments

[paul]

A mexican co-worker told me of how his friend at the DMV routinely sells fake ID's to illegals who then purchase a fake
SSN and file fake taxes to receive money back that they never earned. Anything to try and stop the massive fraud and abuse of
our employment verification is a great move.

[guity]

Where are all the posts from all the haters who like to characterize their hatred as being against ILLEGAL immigration? Above is part of a real solution -- go after the people who are paying illegal immigrants. That might not be as fun for many aggressive posters to the Times because they don't have much desire to punish people who look similar to themselves...

[wobbly]

A national ID for all Americans? This is more an idea for Fascist Europe or Communist nations than the land of the free. This is big brother to the nines. We do not need for all Americans to get ID cards that they will then have to show on demand or be thrown into the pokey. For those of you too young to remember the SS # was first to be used only for your work and only on the collection of income taxes. Now it's demanded everywhere.

Additionally, this Senator wants to grant citizenship to all the people who are here illegally, breaking the law to get here. Why should we authorize them for that. If you can't show citizenship to get a job send em back. Here in California we are overrun with illegals, who run down our infrastructure, our quality of life and our culture.

Sorry this is a bad idea going down a slippery slope. No national ID.
No illegals.

[satya]

a national i.d. is a major inconvenience and another infringement on our freedom. what are birth certificates and social security cards for.? if these can be falsified so will a national i.d...

[Patriot]

The Immigration Policy Center (IPC) has released a wide-ranging review of academic and government data that shows what legalizing undocumented immigrants would mean for the U.S. economy today. Legalizing undocumented workers would improve wages and working conditions for all workers, and increase tax revenues for cash-strapped federal, state, and local governments. (April 13, 2009)

Washington, D.C. – The dollars and cents of immigration reform make a lot of sense for the beleaguered U.S. economy. The net economic gain would be $66 billion in new state and federal revenue, according to a new report.

The review, from the nonpartisan Immigration Policy Center, notes that Florida is one of the states with the most to gain if undocumented workers were provided a pathway to legal status. About 500,000 immigrant workers would be affected.

Economist David Kallick with the Fiscal Policy Institute contributed to the study. Right now, he explains, those billions of dollars are lining the pockets of employers - who hire folks in the underground economy and avoid contributing to payroll and other taxes.

"The cost of the underground economy to taxpayers is pretty substantial. The idea is, bringing undocumented immigrants into the 'above-ground' economy and making sure that they pay taxes just like everyone else."

Critics of reform accuse undocumented workers of "stealing" American jobs; some want to deport everyone who is in the U.S. illegally. Kallick argues that immigrants do not steal good-paying jobs, and more legal workers in the labor pool will help grow the entire economy.

That's also the view of Esther Lopez, director of civil rights and community action for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union International. She says labor groups see that legalization is good for all workers, and she considers it an important step in rebuilding the middle class.

"We need an immigration system that is part of our national economic recovery program. We need immigration reform that punishes employers who 'game' the system to drive down wages and working conditions."

[Christina]

Besides the ridiculous amount of money this would cost to implement, has anyone thought how much easier this will make identity theft? Anything can be faked or stolen.

Maybe instead of wasting so much money on elaborate schemes to "completely stop the flow of illegal immigration," they could just donate the money to aid groups in Mexico so people wouldn't need or want to leave...