April 16, 2007 9:07AM 

# If It’s Not a National ID, Then What is It? 

By [Jim Harper](https://www.cato.org/people/jim-harper) 

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Former IRS Commissioners Doris Meissner and James Zigler [editorialize](http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/16/opinion/16meissner.html?_r=1&oref=slogin) in today’s *New York Times* about their support for “secure, biometric Social Security cards” as an essential part of immigration law reform.

The give-away line?: “To insist on secure documents with biometric identifiers is not a call for a national ID.” They provide no logical support for this naked assertion. Because it’s false.

Strengthened “internal enforcement” of immigration law means federal surveillance and tracking of all workers. All of them. Including you.

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