Before any immigration reform will be viable, there needs to be some fraud-proof way to determine who is eligible to work in this country and receive public benefits. Then employers can be held accountable for their hiring practices.
Congress will soon negotiate terms of a bill to grapple with the nation’s 11 million illegal immigrants and those who want to come here. A secure identifier, or ID card, for all non-citizens should be a top priority.
Workers would need to show the card to employers when they’re hired, or when they receive public benefits.
“Without that, you have nothing,” says former Wyoming Sen. Alan Simpson, the father of the last major immigration overhaul in 1986. That law failed because it relied heavily on cracking down on the businesses that hired illegals. There was little political will to do that, and in any event, it simply provoked rampant document fraud and a lucrative black market for Social Security numbers and many other IDs.
Both the House and the Senate versions of immigration reform call for a stepped-up “employer verification plan” that would make the now-voluntary Basic Pilot Program mandatory. Employers would enter a worker’s name, date of birth, citizenship status, Social Security number and other identifying information into the Web-based program, which would then check the information against Social Security data.
“It’s not full proof, but it’s a step in the right direction,” said Will Adams, spokesman for Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo.
The Senate bill includes a “biometrics card” as part of its guest-worker program. The House version doesn’t include a card, since it doesn’t have a guest-worker provision.
President Bush on Friday called for development of a new identification card for every legal foreign worker. “It ought to use biometric technology, such as digital fingerprints,” he said. “A tamper-proof card is going to be a vital tool to enforce the law. It has got to be a part of a comprehensive immigration reform package.”
But what about non-workers who need services?
Politicians generally steer clear of talk of a national ID card. That bogeyman rears its ugly head whenever Congress debates immigration, and it often derails any meaningful reform. Some worry an ID card for non-citizens will lead to a national ID card for everyone, with government intrusiveness sure to follow.
A national ID isn’t necessary, but some type of fraud-proof card for non-citizens is needed if immigration reform is to work.
