While we can’t admit to being avid fans of the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page, we were thrilled to find ourselves there this morning.

In response to the Journal’s story two weeks ago on Senator Schumer’s plan for a national identity card system as part of comprehensive immigration reform, NYCLU Advocacy Director Udi Ofer shot off a letter to the paper that found its way into today’s edition:

Check it out at WSJ online:

To the Editor:

The move by Sens. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), to forge a comprehensive immigration-reform compromise is laudable, but their push for a national biometric worker-identification card is misguided, impractical and conflicts with core American values of privacy and liberty ("ID Card for Workers Is at Center of Immigration Plan," U.S. News, March 9).

Their plan would force everyone seeking a job to obtain an ID card containing a photo and biometric data, such as fingerprints or scans of veins in their hands.

Both Republicans and Democrats have opposed a national ID system. President Reagan likened a 1981 proposal to the biblical "mark of the beast," and President Clinton dismissed a similar plan for smacking of Big Brotherism.

Comprehensive immigration reform is critical to protecting all of our rights and liberties. It must not be a Trojan horse that allows the government to electronically track our daily activities.

Udi Ofer
Advocacy Director, New York Civil Liberties Union

And, as always, feel free to let Schumer and your reps know how you feel about his ID card.