A tracking device for immigrants

Not satisfied with building a wall along the Mexican border, politicians in D.C. are discussing the idea of implanting immigrants with radio frequency ID chips.

Scott Silverman is the chairman and CEO of Applied Digital, parent company of VeriChip, an RFID industry leader. Among their specialties is tagging pets. On a May 16 visit to "FOX & Friends First," a New York-based morning show, Silverman tried to make the plan sound innocent enough.

"It's an election at the part of the immigrant or an election on the part of the government," he explained.

"We have talked to many people in Washington about using it."

Silverman then tried to make it sound like he would be doing immigrants a favor by implanting a tracking device in their bodies, saying the chips would be "a benefit to the person that's in the guest worker program because if you leave your card at home or you leave it at your work, you're not going to be able to go back and forth across the border."

Brian Kilmeade, one of the show's hosts, compared the implants to "permanently putting a string on your finger."

A string that stretches all the way to Washington D.C.

Silverman's chips are currently being used to hold people's medical records. Their most notable guinea pig will be Tommy Thompson, President Bush's former Secretary of Health and Human Services. As a member of Applied Digital's board, he stands to profit handsomely if the government were to go forward with immigrant implants.

"We are all well aware of the need to enhance information technology in healthcare," Thompson said in a statement last year. "It is my belief that VeriChip is an important and secure means of accessing medical records and other information."

He has vowed to be tagged as soon as hospitals in D.C. and his home state of Wisconsin adopt the technology.

Americans are already being forced to have their passports implanted with the chips, enabling the government to access your personal information as well as a photograph of you.

RFID tags are also used to allow V.I.P. access to nightclubs, keep track of employees and luggage, and are in countless things you buy regularly.