Ways of Thinking About a National ID Card

Re “Show Me Your Papers” (column, July 2): Finally, common sense is beginning to shine. Bill Keller advocates a national ID card, and Senators Charles E. Schumer and Lindsey Graham have called for an “enhanced Social Security card.” This card already exists: the United States passport card.

According to the State Department, “the U.S. Passport Card can be used to enter the United States from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda at land border crossings or sea ports-of-entry and is more convenient and less expensive than a passport book.”

The challenge is to mandate it for all American citizens.

IRA SOHN
New York, July 2, 2012

To the Editor:

Bill Keller suggests that every American be issued an “enhanced Social Security card” with a chip including biometric information. In fact, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is well on its way to creating such a system.

Through the Next Generation Identification initiative, the bureau is amassing a huge database of biometric information about Americans. Starting with those who have had contact with the criminal justice system — about one-third of adults, according to recent reports — the initiative will also dramatically expand civil record collections.

Once the F.B.I. has our prints, eye scans and digital photos on file, the need for a plastic ID card will be obsolete: our bodies themselves are the IDs. This is happening without efforts to “distinguish the reasonable and constructive from the invasive and excessive,” in Mr. Keller’s words. Oversight is urgently needed. Without it, Big Brother fears become legitimate, and abuse is inevitable.

JESSICA KARP
Los Angeles, July 2, 2012

The writer is a Soros justice fellow, National Day Laborer Organizing Network.

To the Editor:

The federal I-9 Form, Employment Eligibility Identification, imposes national ID requirements on employers. Presumably, all people who work legally in the United States already possess such identification. How can requiring a national ID card be any more intrusive than what is required by the I-9 Form?

Curiously, a voter registration card by itself is not enough to satisfy the I-9 requirements. Apparently, it’s more important to us as a country to confirm the identities of people working here than to know who’s voting in our elections.

NY Times