The "Green Card" or Permanent Resident Card

• Summary |
• Resources |
• News Items |
• Related EPIC Policy Pages |

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Summary

On May 11, 2010 the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a new Permanent Resident Card, commonly known as the “Green Card.” The new card includes advanced optical security media that will be used to store biometric information of the cardholder, including a digital photograph and fingerprint. Biometrics are measurable biological (anatomical and physiological) and behavioral human characteristics such as fingerprints, eye retinas, faces, voice patterns and hand geometry that can be used to identify individuals.

Starting in January 2008, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) began collecting the digital fingerprints and photographs of Green Card holders every time they entered the United States as part of the United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program. Prior to 2008, the DHS only collected biometric identifiers from foreign citizens with an immigrant visa or those traveling as part of the so-called Visa Waiver program. These biometric identifiers are stored in the DHS's Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT) database. Customs and Border Protection officers can check the biometrics stored in the Green Cards against the IDENT database.

The card also includes a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag. This tag will potentially allow Customs and Border Protection officers at ports of entry to read the Green Card from a distance and compare the personal information on the card with the data on file for that individual. Green Card holders are supposed to carry their cards with them at all times. This raises a privacy concern that individuals, other than Customs and Border Protection officers, might be able to use RFID readers to obtain the cardholders personal information from a distance. New Green Cards allegedly come with an envelope to store the card in that will supposedly protect the card from unintentionally being read.

Additional security features of the new Green Card include holographic images, laser engraved fingerprints, and high resolution mirco-images. The new card will be colored green in accordance with its nickname.

Green Cards are issued to lawful permanent residents as evidence of their authorization to live and work in the United States. Beginning May 11, 2010 the USCIS will issue the new Green Cards to all new applicants. Pre-existing Green Cards will continue to be valid until they reach their expiration date, if applicable, however the USCIS recommends that holders of the older cards apply to replace their cards with the new redesigned version.

Resources

• Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Oversight of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, May 11, 2010.
• Testimony of the Honorable Alejandro Mayorkas, Director of USCIS, at the Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing, May, 11, 2010.
• USCIS To Issue Redesigned Green Card, News Release, Fact Sheet, and Questions and Answers, May 11, 2010 (PDF).

News Items

• New Green Card, RFID, and Security Concerns, Immigration Road Blog, June 5, 2010.
• New Green Card to Suggest Greener Pastures for Immigrants?, Suzanne Labarre, Fast Company, May 12, 2010.
• Press Release, LaserCard Supplies Next Generation 'Green Cards' Introduced by US Department of Homeland Security, May 12, 2010.
• Green Cards to Be Green, Nina Bernstein, New York Times City Room Blog, May 11, 2010.
• DHS wants green card holders' fingerprints, Stephanie Condon, CNET News December 18, 2008.

Related EPIC Policy Pages

• EPIC: Biometrics
• EPIC: Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Systems
• EPIC: US-VISIT
• EPIC: Worker ID Card
• EPIC: National ID and the REAL ID Card
• EPIC: Spotlight on Surveillance: Oct 2005, Registered Traveler Card
• EPIC: Spotlight on Surveillance: Sept 2007, Proposed 'Enhanced' Licenses Are Costly to Security and Privacy