If we are ever to get a handle on immigration -- we are going to have to have a National ID Card. They are quite popular in Europe and I think they are a good idea. I don't see them as a privacy issue -- I lived in Europe ( before the EU) and I really like the National ID cards and the control the countries exercised in determining who was legal and who wasn't. We misinterpret Nationl ID cards as an invasion of privacy -- in reality they are an asset to our National Security.

With a national ID card you can tell who is here legally and who isn't . We have tried by turns to go for REAL ID ( but so many state are opposing it and the Democrats will abolish it if we don't get a veto proof Senate) --
Also many states like Maryland will give a driver's license to an illegal so the driver's license is not a useful indicator -- they are too easily obtained.
The Social Security card is so easily faked that it is a joke -- it is really wothless except as part of identity theft.

When the policy stop someone they have no real way to tell if the person is legal or not -- in France, when the police stop you they ask for your Carte d'Indentite -- no Carte off to the gendarmerie. And this is what we need in this country.

When you go to rent a room/apartment/stay in a hotel -- you have to produce your Carte or your passport. You have to, in short, have valid identification. The Europeans do have a way of knowning who is legally present in their country when you are stopped -- our police have no really valid way of telling. They only get to make educated guesses -- this is why we need a National ID Card.