Civil liberties groups fight biometric IDs

Civil liberties organizations oppose a proposal by two senators to require biometric Social Security cards for U.S. workers in an effort to curb illegal immigration.

Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) published an article March 19 that outlined several principles they intend to include in immigration reform legislation, and described a requirement for biometric Social Security cards “to ensure that illegal workers cannot get jobs.”

In response, the American Civil Liberties Union, American Libraries Association and about 40 other groups and individuals wrote to the White House officials and members of Congress on April 13 to urge them to reject a biometric national ID card because the groups claim it would invade privacy, allow for troubling government controls and be risky and expensive.

“A National ID would not only violate privacy by helping to consolidate data and facilitate tracking of individuals, it would bring government into the very center of our lives by serving as a government permission slip needed by everyone in order to work,” states the letter from the ACLU and the other groups.

The organizations also contend it would cost approximately $285 billion to issue a biometric ID card to each American. That estimate is based on an extrapolation of the Homeland Security Department’s estimated $1.9 billion cost of issuing identity credentials to a million transportation workers under the Transportation Workers Identity Credential program, the groups wrote. The cost would likely be covered by fees to obtain the cards, they added.

The letter writers also contend that a biometric Social Security card system would not be effective without establishing a central electronic repository of Americans’ personal information, which would risk of identity theft.

“Without recordkeeping, the same Social Security number and birth certificate could be used again and again to issue new cards to different people – defeating the entire purpose of the system,” the organizations wrote.

Currently, unauthorized workers often circumvent laws by using stolen or borrowed Social Security numbers, and current U.S. systems to verify workers' Social Security numbers, such as E-Verify, have very imited ability to detect identity theft.

Schumer and Graham did not immediately respond to requests for comment.