Immigration Reform

I think it's pretty safe to say that everyone would agree this country's immigration enforcement system is broken. What they can't seem to agree on is how to fix it. Now that the health care reform bill is no longer the primary focus of Congress many in the ag industry are hopeful Congress will turn their full attention onto immigration reform. The federal electronic employee verification system which was intended to sift illegal immigrants out of the nation's work force has instead been more a hindrance than a help for employers and the legal citizens they employ; legal employees who must continually verify they're right to work in the U.S. due to confusion over foreign sounding names or name changes due to marriage. Such problems have led to proposals for immigration enforcement in the work force of sci-fi proportions, such as biometric Social Security cards which would contain an employee's fingerprint or retinal scan in order to help employers identify legal workers. While it seems a likely proposal for fixing the immigration problem it could also be a jump onto a slippery slope leading to major privacy issues and identity fraud.