Gang Of 8’s Euphemism For National ID System: “Identity Authentication Mechanism”

by David Bier on April 29, 2013 · 0 comments

in Features, Immigration, Nanny State, Personal Liberty

Our new euphemism for a national identification system is “identity authentication mechanism.” The Gang of 8, the leaders of which are biometric national ID card proponents, included a provision in the electronic employment verification portion of the immigration bill that calls for such a “mechanism” to identify every American at the click of a mouse.

E-Verify, the verification system used voluntarily by about 7.5 percent of employers, is currently national ID-lite. Right now, E-Verify only compares identifiers, such as your name and Social Security number, to the Department of Homeland Security database. This means the system cannot know whether the person submitting the identifiers (SSN, name, etc.) is the individual those identifiers refer to, which would be true identification.

True identification, as the Cato Institute’s Jim Harper explains in his book, “Identity Crisis,” must compare biometric identifying information — pictures, fingerprints, retina scans, DNA, etc. — to the actual individual. The Gang of 8 bill does this. It allocates $250 million to DHS to include all passport, DMV, and state ID photos and ID numbers into the system. Employers would then compare the database picture to the new hire….To Read More….