The Wall Street Journal reported on February 21 that a bi-partisan group of Senators and even Obama were considering a requirement that every worker, US citizen or illegal, carry a photo/fingerprint or other biometric high-tech identity card.
I suggested on January 31 that we issue such a card, and make multiple use of it. It would:
(a) identify the person;
(b) track a Student, Visitor, Business H-B or H-1B visa holder’s arrival and whether they have overstayed; and
(c) track when any student, visitor or illegal received any tax-payer funded benefit, such as Obamaphones with 200 min/month, land lines, food stamps, health care, education, day care, Head Start, EBT cards, free attorneys, Section 8 housing, and telephone, heating oil or electric bill subsidies.
Loss of privacy is not an issue. We have none. Liberals should stop complaining. Google publishes photos of our homes and backyards. Others provide our addresses and names of relatives. If we have insurance, doctors and hospitals demand copies of Driver’s Licenses and details of spouses. If we want credit or write a check, Creditors demand our Driver’s license. Obamacare will provide the government with details of our entire physical and mental health history. Obama’s Federal gun background checks will provide his government with whatever other personal information we had kept private. Obama’s sweeping new Patriot Act powers provide him with the right to inspect all our Internet and social media activities. His domestic drone programs entitles him to fly over our homes and inspect us from above and the FBI to investigate whatever else is private. And, Obama’s TSA will even inspect our private parts when they do their full body searches!
The cost to businesses will be minimal. Senator Schumer thinks card scanners would cost businesses $800 each. In fact, Pay Anywhere, Square and other credit card readers are free and charge only a small fee for each use. Biometric cards are already in use in Armenia. Qatar and even India are considering issuing them to their citizens. Microsoft already makes them. MasterCard already successfully tracks, and prevents fraud on, billions of transactions for millions of users worldwide. And it can readily keep track of how much a recipient receives and prevent duplication and fraud. There is no need to spend billions.
My proposal has many advantages.
(a) Over 40% of illegals arrived on student or visitor visas and never went back. Some of them, like Piers Morgan, hang around and spout hatred for our Constitution and sneer at our Country. The card would indicate that the right to stay has expired.
(b) We could track Health Care costs for illegals and visitors. We know that there is a lucrative “baby tourism” where pregnant women from rich countries such as Saudi Arabia and China arrive here to have an US Citizen baby who will provide them access to the safe haven of America. When something goes wrong and they have to go to hospital, we pay the freight. 2/3 of babies born in LA Country hospitals are to illegals, so we pay 100% of those costs.
In fact, there is also a “medical tourism” of foreigners who arrive here, complete with their medical records, claim an “emergency,” go to our hospitals and obtain major surgery. A 1985 law requires emergency rooms to provide care to anyone and everyone. In other countries, the patient is stabilized and sent home. In America, we actually provide heart bypass and other complicated surgeries, post-op care and rehabilitative care; all on the taxpayer’s dime. Don’t believe me? Ask your immigrant friends and/or any emergency room workers you know.
(c) We wouldn’t go broke providing benefits to illegals. When we loan money to our own students, they get a Student Loan which they cannot cancel in bankruptcy and which they must pay back. Why should illegals be treated any differently? If someone is illegal, all the public assistance s/he receives should be treated like a student loan and recorded on the card. When s/he starts earning, fixed amounts should be deducted until s/he pays it all back. This way, our Welfare funds will be replenished and cease to be a drain on our economy.
(d) Another great benefit is to prevent “family reunification” being used as an excuse to bring in and give benefits to illiterate, unskilled people. We would simply re-instate the rules that applied in 70’s. My spouse couldn’t come here unless he was skilled. And he was required to sign a legal document certifying neither his wife nor kids would become public charges. So, with our new Biometric Card, if someone has taken benefits, s/he won’t be allowed to bring in any relatives until s/he has repaid all s/he “borrowed” from the taxpayer and demonstrate s/he can support the father/mother/grandparent s/he is sponsoring.
Once an illegal knows s/he has to pay it back; s/he wont borrow wastefully by producing babies, using the health system or getting housing assistance. And instead of becoming a drag on society, s/he will learn our capitalist ways and start climbing the ladder to achieve the American Dream.
Don’t you think this is a fair and reasonable solution?