Biometric ID's - No Longer Science Fiction

Posted by The VISANOW Legal Team on Thu, May 13, 2010

B.E.L.I.E.V.E. - Biometric Enrollment, Locally-stored Information, and Electronic Verification of Employment.  No longer is such an idea a thing of science fiction, rather, it is a proposal found in the Conceptual Proposal for Immigration Reform authored by Reid, Schumer, and Menendez.  In this proposed system, prospective employees will present a machine readable, fraud proof, biometric Social Security card to their employers, who will swipe the cards through a card-reader to confirm the cardholder's identity and work authorization.  If such a proposal is signed into law, nationwide deployment is estimated to occur in as little as six years after the date of enactment.  Furthermore, the fraud-proof social security card will serve as the sole acceptable document to be produced by an employee to an employer for employment verification purposes.

Such a proposal is not a wholly new conception.  Rather, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has already implemented a similar system known as the US-VISIT Exit program.  In this system, Non-U.S. citizens' biometric identification is recorded at airport and seaport exit procedures to determine whether a person is eligible to receive a visa or enter the United States. Of course, if B.E.L.I.E.V.E. were to pass, the US-VISIT Exit program may be overwritten.

The use of biometrics and a federally required biometric card raises red flags and privacy concerns from rights groups and critics. Sen. Schumer and Sen. Graham addressed these concerns in a recent Washington Post editorial, stating that such biometric information would be stored only on the card and not warehoused in any government database, though critics argue that biometric information would have to be stored somewhere to prevent identity fraud or confirm a person's identity in the event of a lost Social Security card. The cards would not contain tracking devices, the legislators asserted.

So what does this mean for employers and Human Resource department across the U.S.?  Be ready for possible change.  With heightened attention on the immigration policies of Arizona, the federal government is being asked to step up their game.  Currently, the E-Verify system for employment verification is law (depending on your specific state legislation), and until Biometric IDs are required by Federal law, we recommend continuing to make sure your company's I-9 E-verification system is up to date and compliant.

Learn more about VISANOW's U.S. Employment Eligibility services.

By: Adam R. 
Photo attribution: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thorinside/