U.S. National ID card.....will it become a reality?

U.S. National ID card...will it become a reality?
by Norio Hayakawa
April 27, 2010

As everyone knows, the United States has been facing a serious illegal immigration problem, especially in states such as Arizona, which has a long, virtually unprotected border with Mexico.
If nothing is done now, I am afraid that the United States will begin to lose its identity in the near future, on top of everything else relevant to this problem and its adverse consequences.

I fully support the new Arizona law on illegal immigration because it protects the rights of U.S. citizens as well as the rights of those who are in the U.S. legally.
This law is not about racial profiling.
In fact, it specifically condemns racial profiling.
It makes it illegal for any law enforcement official to even question the legal status of a person unless that person is clearly committing a crime or has committed a crime.
I think this is quite fair.

I believe that enforcing the border is essential. Many nations of the world have stringent border policies and enforcement.
Tall walls such as the ones separating Israeli settlements and the Palestinian areas in Israel may not be realistic and may not be the answer, at least for now, but something must be done to defend our borders besides just increasing the number of border patrols.

What about those estimated 12 million illegals who are here already?
Indeed this is a big problem. It may be logistically impossible to deport them en masse.
What should be done to these people?

Here is my suggestion:

Those who can prove that they have been here for 20 years or more and can prove it with documentation, should be made eligible for citizenship (only upon earnest request) or for Permanent Residency status provided that they pass a thorough background check, pay back taxes, pay a stiff penalty (for example, let's make it $1,776 each) and get a certificate of completion from an E.S.L. (English as a foreign language) school.

Those who can prove that they have been here for 5 years or more (but less than 20 years) with documentation, should not initially be made eligible for U.S. citizenship but should initially be made eligible only for a Permanent Residency status, provided that they also pass a thorough background check, pay back taxes, pay a stiff penalty (for example, let's make it $1,776 each) and get a certification from an E.S.L. school.

For those who have been here less than 5 years, the only recourse will be to voluntarily return to their point of origin.
Will they leave?
They will eventually leave if they cannot find jobs here.

In order to do this, the U.S. must thoroughly enforce the law that penalizes the hiring of illegals, i.e., those who do not possess the U.S. citizenship or Permanent Residency status or Work Visas.

Getting back to the topic of "racial profiling", the biggest problem is the simple fact that nobody can prove that a person is a U.S. citizen or is in the U.S. legally simply by looking at the color of his or her skin.
A driver's license does not indicate U.S. citizenship or that the person is in the U.S. legally.
Unfortunately, most U.S. citizens do not carry with them any document to prove that they are U.S. citizens, i.e., birth certificate, U.S. passport or certificate of naturalization.

This is why I believe that ultimately the U.S. will probably have no other alternative but to consider giving each U.S. citizen a U.S. National Identity card. Many nations of the world already require their citizens to carry national ID cards with them at all times.

This may sound very Orwellian, and personally I detest such measures (especially since, for many years, I have been fiercely fighting against and will continue to fiercely fight against any form of a forced New World Order or any form of a forced Global Government) but I believe that a U.S. ID card will be inevitable.

A growing number of U.S. citizens may begin to feel that a Federally issued U.S. National ID card, just like a U.S. passport, may be inevitable in the near future, and may begin to feel that another ID card, besides driver's license, may not become such a burden to carry at all times.

So, if such U.S. ID card becomes a reality, then what information should be on it?

Probably, for those who were born in the U.S.:
Photo, Date of Birth, City and State of Birth, Social Security Number and Current Address.

And probably, for those who were naturalized:
Photo, Date of Birth, City and Country of Birth, Social Security Number, Current Address, Date of Naturalization, City and State where naturalized, and Naturalization Number as indicated on Certificate of Naturalization.

In the far future, even some type of Biometric ID system may come into the picture, like it or not.
We must face this fact now, i.e., that we are already living in a world without much privacy.
This kind of measures may not prevent all crimes or stop terrorism, but it may become a first step to curtail them.

Norio Hayakawa
http://noriohayakawa2012.blogspot.com

http://www.facebook.com/norio.hayakawa