Rights groups oppose proposed biometric Social Security cards

A coalition of more than 40 privacy and civil liberties groups are asking President Obama and key lawmakers to reject the idea of requiring everyone working in the United States to have a Social Security card bearing biometric information, such as a fingerprint.

The groups, which include the American Library Association and Americans for Tax Reform, oppose a provision that Sens. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., plan to put in legislation overhauling the nation's immigration laws.

Schumer has said a fraud-proof card with a stored "unique biometric identifier" is a necessary part of immigration reform. Employers would be able to swipe the card through a machine to confirm someone's identity and immigration status.

"No one disputes that our broken immigration system harms both immigrants and non-immigrants, but a full scale National ID system is not the solution," the groups said in a letter sent on Tuesday to Obama and the House and Senate Judiciary committees, House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee.

"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," they said.

They said the proposal would require the development of a national database and could cost $285 million.

Also Tuesday, immigration reform advocates called on Schumer and Graham to introduce their bill by May 1.

The bill then could be marked up by the Senate Judiciary Committee in May and brought to the Senate floor in June or July, said the advocates, who represent groups such as the National Council of La Raza and the Reform Immigration FOR America campaign.

Asked if a bill would be introduced by the end of April, Schumer would only say he wants to pass immigration reform this year and is waiting for a second Republican to join him and Graham as sponsors of the bill.