[GovernmentShrinker]

It needs to include every U.S. citizen and every non-citizen given a visa to visit or reside here. Yes it would have to be done from birth and at time of visa application, and for the initial set-up would have to be done for everyone now living in the country. It would probably need to be DNA-based ultimately, to avoid changes in fingerprints, irises, etc. that invariably occur between birth and adulthood/old age.

It wouldnt' be cheap, would need security back-ups, like duplicate records being held at the county level (county of birth and any counties of subsequent legal residence) as well as federal, to protect from nefarious or inept meddling with the database by governement officials at either level. It has all kinds of issues, but we better hurry up and get cracking on how to overcome them all. Not only is our country overrun with illegal aliens, but there is absolutely no way to prevent them from voting (nor to prevent actual citizens from voting multiple times). There is no way to deport people on the spot, because if you don't give them the opportunity to go to court and try to prove they are actually citizens, then you'd risk instant deportations of real citizens who really would be able to provide proof of their citizenship if given the opportunity.

As extensive as the potential problems with a national biometric database are, I really believe that they pale in comparison to the problems posed by not having one. There are no benefits to citizenship whatsoever, if nobody can promptly prove who is or isn't one, and act accordingly.

[gared]

This is classing us as slaves that need to be numbered and noted for Bush to control, NO.

[gared]

This is classing us as slaves that need to be numbered and noted for Bush to control, NO.

[gared]

This is classing us as slaves that need to be numbered and noted for Bush to control, NO.

[gared]

This is classing us as slaves that need to be numbered and noted for Bush to control, NO.