You'all want to stop Illegal Immigrants taking jobs, getting social security etc... basically sponging off of your taxes? You want to put a crimp on terrorists moving freely across your borders? You NEED a way of identifying who someone is and their status.
Hurdles: Foundation Documents... Right now, that'd be your Birth Certificate...but as the 'birthers' keep bringing up, those are fakeable and do not reflect the adult. Simply having one in hand does not prove that you are the person referenced in that document. Another would be your SS Card....also easily fakeable, especially because neither have a picture. Lose your wallet and happen to have your SS Card inside and you're fucked.
Access: Who can demand the card and where can the card be used/recognized otherwise? Who can access the different levels of the card and how?
The Who would be also touched by circumstance. Border crossings-guards is a good start and ID is already required for crossing into your country and others. Voting? How do you identify yourself now and how can the counters trust that you are who you say you are? Police/jail? What identifies you when you come into contact with the law?
Seeking work-do you use your SS# when applying for work or signing your work contract?
A non-rfid card with secured access so that most cannot access the info on the chip.
What about lower security or zero-security areas? How do you identify yourself as being over 18 (21) when you buy booze or ask to get into a bar?
3 lvl secured ID card
1st level chip-biometrics - Law/GVT/Borders
2nd level ID# and a phone number you can call to make sure it's legal - jobs, Unemplyment insurance, welfare, voting
3rd level Photo, name, birthday - get you into a bar, identify you in case of accident or death, low level security.
None of it traceable or readable from a distance.