National Identification Card a Social Article Review

When the Employer Sanctions provision of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1985 was passed by Congress, there followed widespread discrimination against foreign-looking American workers, especially Asians and Hispanics. Failure to carry a national I.D. card would likely come to be viewed as cause for search, detention or arrest of minorities. The stigma and humiliation of constantly having to prove that they are Americans or legal immigrants would weigh heavily on such groups.

On the other hand Bolton (2010) reports Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.), calculates Americans have become more comfortable with the idea of a national identification card. "The biometric identification card is a critical element here," Durbin said. "For a long time it was resisted by many groups, but now we live in a world where we take off our shoes at the airport and pull out our identification. People understand that in this vulnerable world, we have to be able to present identification. We want it to be reliable, and I think that's going to help us in this debate on immigration."

According to Christopher Calabrese, ACLU legislative counsel, creating a biometric national ID will not only be astronomically expensive and usher government into the very center of our lives, it will also create a new federal bureaucracy. Every worker in America will need a government permission slip in order to work. Bibliography

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).2003. 5 problems with national ID cards. ACLU, 8, September, http://www.aclu.org/technology-and-liberty-/5-problems-national-id-cards (accessed August 4, 2010)

Bolton, Alexander. 2010. Dems spark alarm with call for national ID card. The Hill. 30, April, http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/95235-democrats-spark-alarm-with-call-for-national-id-card (accessed August 4, 2010)

Klein, Ezra. 2010. Is a biometric, national ID card an immigration game changer? The Washington Post, 30, April, http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/04/is_a_biometric_national_id_car.html (accessed August 4, 2010)

Alexander Bolton. 2010. Dems spark alarm with call for national ID card. The Hill, 30, April, http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/95235-democrats-spark-alarm-with-call-for-national-id-card (accessed August 4, 2010)

Ezra Klein. 2010. Is a biometric, national ID card an immigration game changer? The Washington Post, 30, April, http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/04/is_a_biometric_national_id_car.html (accessed August 4, 2010)

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). 2003. 5 problems with national id cards. ACLU, 8, September, http://www.aclu.org/technology-and-liberty-/5-problems-national-id-cards (accessed August 4, 2010)

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). 2003. 5 problems with national id cards. ACLU, 8, September, http://www.aclu.org/technology-and-liberty-/5-problems-national-id-cards (accessed August 4, 2010)

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). 2003. 5 problems with national id cards. ACLU, 8, September, http://www.aclu.org/technology-and-liberty-/5-problems-national-id-cards (accessed August 4, 2010)

Alexander Bolton. 2010. Dems spark alarm with call for national ID card. The Hill, 30, April, http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/95235-democrats-spark-alarm-with-call-for-national-id-card (accessed August 4, 2010)

Alexander Bolton. 2010. Dems spark alarm with call for national ID card. The Hill, 30, April, http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/95235-democrats-spark-alarm-with-call-for-national-id-card (accessed August 4, 2010).....