Media: Please Define "Biometric Documents"

Canedog: The biometrically identified Shitzu

Quite by accident I caught interviews of John McCain this weekend. The Minneapolis ABC affiliate had a Q&A blog post, and CNN’s Wolf Blitzer asked McCain about his position on amnesty for illegal aliens. The answer was canned and identical—no surprise there.

MCCAIN: We have to secure our borders and we have to have tamper-proof biometric documents for temporary workers who are truly temporary then there is the issue of 12 million people illegally….

What was surprising—or maybe not— was that there was no follow-up on exactly what McCain means by “biometric documents.” Biometric identification can range from computer-recognition of a signature to an implant. My Shitzu puppy came with a micro-chip implant, but I’m gettin’ a little nervous that my grandchildren might also be tagged.

So, I did a little checking.

On July 9, 2008 the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued revised instructions for the Application for Travel Document (USCIS Form I-131). The instructions require applicants for re-entry permits and refugee travel documents to provide “biometrics”—fingerprints and photographs— at a USCIS Application Support Center for background and security checks.

That sounds reasonable, but with the wide-ranging definitions of biometric identification, it seems prudent that the media try to pin McCain down on his definition and how it relates to Homeland Security measures which are becoming increasingly draconian.

I’m really getting nervous about this election.