Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), the new chairman of the immigration subcommittee, strongly supports introducing "forgery-proof" worker identification cards, which would be secured with fingerprints or other biometric data. Schumer, who is heading the Senate’s efforts to draft comprehensive immigration reform legislation, has stated that such an ID card would be the best method of confirming that workers are authorized. As reported in The Los Angeles Times, Schumer is likely to present the worker ID card plan at an upcoming hearing on employee verification systems.

In his book Positively American (published in 2007), Schumer wrote: “The ID will make it easy for employers to avoid undocumented workers, which will allow for tough sanctions against employers who break the law, which will lead to no jobs being available for illegal immigrants, which will stop illegal immigration. …. Once Americans are convinced that we will permanently staunch the flow of illegal immigration, they will be more willing to accept constructing a path toward earned citizenship for those who are already here.”

Although some business and community organizations support the concept of a worker ID card, others argue that the cards would violate privacy rights and civil rights.