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The maker of the controversial radio-frequency tracking chip suggests implanting the device in immigrants and guest workers.
Scott Silverman, chairman of the board of VeriChip Corp., was responding to the Bush administration’s call to know “who is in our country and why they are here.”
In an interview with “Fox & Friends” on the Fox News Channel, Silverman suggested the RFID – radio frequency identification device – implants could be used to register workers at the border and then verify their identities in the workplace.
“We have talked to many people in Washington about using it,” he told Fox News, according to LiveScience.com.
The VeriChip tag, about the size of a large grain of rice, can be injected directly into the body. Its special coating allows it to bond with living tissue.
The device receives a signal from an RFID reader, which translates the data.
The tags have been used for decades to identify animals, including livestock, laboratory animals and pets.
Privacy advocates have objected to its use in human beings.
LiveScience.com pointed out Colombian President Alvaro Uribe allegedly told visiting U.S. senators Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., and Arlen Specter R-Pa., that microchips could be used to track seasonal workers.
“President Uribe said he would consider having Colombian workers have microchips implanted in their bodies before they are permitted to enter the U.S. for seasonal work,” Specter told Congress April 25.
As WorldNetDaily reported in February, a Cincinnati company is requiring any employee who works in its secure data center to be implanted with an RFID tag.
When former Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson joined the VeriChip Corp. board of directors, he pledged to get chipped and encouraged Americans to do the same so their electronic medical records would be available in emergencies.
But VeriChip spokesman John Procter said Thompson had been “too busy” to undergo the procedure, adding that he had no clear plans to do so.
Related offer:
“Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID”
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Paying for drinks with wave of the hand
Bio-chip featured at government health showcase
Wal-Mart used microchip to track customers
Miami journalist gets ‘chipped’
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Post-9/11 security fears usher in subdermal chips
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Big Brother gets under your skin
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