Immigration Law
Schumer Details Fingerprint Plan to Verify US Workers’ Identity
Posted Jul 21, 2009 5:53 PM CST
By Martha Neil
As part of broader legislation he plans to introduce later this year that would provide a pathway to legal status for some 10 to 12 million immigrants, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is proposing a plan to require that the identity of United States workers be verified through fingerprints or digital photographs.
The fingerprint plan, which the Senate Judiciary Committee immigration subcommittee chair detailed during a Congressional hearing, drew fire from immigration analysts based on technical and privacy concerns, reports the Washington Post.
The senator didn't say whether the government would maintain a fingerprint or biometric database, or if identifying data could be maintained in a portable card held by workers, the newspaper notes. However, he emphasized that the fingerprint plan would be used only for employment purposes and would include strict privacy controls.
"The only way to stop illegal immigration is to stop employers from hiring illegal immigrants," Schumer said, adding: "We must ... adopt a system that relies upon objective, rather than subjective, criteria to prove identity and legal status. The system must be nonforgeable and airtight."
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Comments
B. McLeod
Jul 22, 2009 7:41 AM CST
Of course, if Schumer rewards 10 to 12 million (was that “million”?) illegal immigrants with legal status, that is really going to deter the next 10 to 12 million, and the next, and the next.
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J.D.
Jul 22, 2009 7:47 AM CST
E-Verify is already up and running with a 99.6% accuracy rate. If Schumer really cared about illegal employment and exploitation, he’d do everything he could to mandate it nationwide.
Instead, he proposes a much more controversial idea that needs to be created from scratch, requires potentially billions in initial start-up costs, and ultimately may fail.
How about sticking with what works? Or is the problem that E-Verify actually DOES work, Senator?
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T.R.
Jul 22, 2009 10:04 AM CST
I am always suspect of the “pathway to” argument. Pathway to what, exactly? Citizenship? That notion presumes that the 10 to 12 million illegals actually want to become citizens. Unfortunately achieving U.S. citizenship really isn’t the prevailing goal of most illegal laborers. They largely identify themselves as citizens of their home countries, and they have only come to the U.S. to work for in-cash, off-book, tax-free pay.
Or, does Shumer mean a pathway to Legal Permanent Resident (green card) status? The illegals would probably love that sort of amnesty, but unless the LPR mechanism is redesigned to include an English language requirement, a stronger sunset provision, and other requirements, the American public will never go for it.
Or, does Schumer mean a path to some lesser visa-type status? Currently work-based visas are a difficult proposition for even the best-intentioned legal immigrants (as well as their employers), and it’s doubtful that most employers who routinely hire illegals would bother to play ball anyway unless massive controls and reforms came about.
Short answer: I see no problem with using fingerprints or other biometrics to identify immigrants who are working in the U.S. We have already begun doing that at points-of-entry, and many nations are already much more strict in dealing with foreign labor than we will likely ever be.
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sqanto
Jul 22, 2009 10:31 AM CST
Perhaps Sen Schumer wants to help out his party in the old-fashioned Democratic style, by giving the current illegals 3/5 of a vote - without citizenship.
More seriously, his proposal is almost certainly based on the assumption that some or most of those 10-12 million current illegals will turn into loyal constituents and a trusted voting block.
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J.D.
Jul 22, 2009 11:55 AM CST
Schumer supports mass legalization meaning straight up citizenship to anyone who applies.
All the little hoops illegal aliens must jump through aren’t going to amount to anything. The “learn English” requirement was also part of the 1986 amnesty—all that was required was attendance at a few classes. It’s a joke, and Americans already know it.
Do you really think that people will be deported for bad pronunciation or for failing to conjugate a verb? Never gonna happen.
And the “pay a fine” requirement? They will be given decades to pay it, and if they don’t, they won’t be deported.
The amnesty the slave-traders seek will never happen.
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B. McLeod
Jul 25, 2009 1:40 AM CST
What has happened before may happen again. If (as in the last campaign) the two “parties” continue to hold hands and ignore all popular outcry, the voters have no choice, and no say. The friendly farmers and industrialists will continue to get their cheap labor.
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