The Constitutionality of Radio Frequency Identification Tags

This is one of the hottest issues to ever hit the media -- radio frequency identification tags for aliens crossing the U.S. border. Actually, the debate about this idea extends to their use on everyone crossing the border.
While the idea may have its virtues, to say that this would raise some questions of violation of constitutional rights would be a major understatement. This is not George Orwell's 1984, but ideas like this certainly raise echoes of the "kind" of a state-controlled way of living.
The whole idea isn't just to center around the use of these suggested tags. It may include something referred to as a permanent (to be carried at all times) "biometric card" that everyone crossing the border would present, along with their radio frequency identification tag. Scary thought isn't it; all that personal information floating about on the Internet in the government's files. Sure they may say it's secure, however computer hackers love that kind of a challenge.
You have to get a good grasp of the scale for this kind of program to realize how invasive it is. For instance, there are over 23 MILLION people who pay a visit to the U.S. every year. This number is not declining. There are also figures that show at least 15 million people who come to the U.S. hail from Canada and Mexico. Uncle Sam wants to know why they are in the country, that they don't over stay their welcome, and that they follow the rules about extending their stays.
This radio frequency identification tag evidently may have other uses that deal with putting a stop to human and drug trafficking. While perhaps a laudable idea, the logistics of its implementation seem to defy whoever came up with the idea in the first place, other than a scanner of some sort.
This sort of out-of-the-box thinking may have its place in the greater scheme of things; but first and foremost, these ideas have to address the rights and freedoms accorded to us under the Constitution. Any government who would willingly promote this kind of idea without some sensitivity to the constitutionality of it is in for serious problems.

Sally Odell - Rifkin & Fox-Isicoff, PA is an immigration lawyer in Miami with immigration law offices in Orlando and Miami Florida. To learn more, visit http://www.rifkinandfoxisicoff.com.