The Reagan Administration had just announced an ambitious new program for curbing illegal immigration, and Mr. Smith was point man in this effort. He makes the case calmly and effectively for employer sanctions and explains the difficulties in attempting to produce an uncounterfeitable identity card: (a) such a thing probably can't be made ("We can't even prevent our twenty-dollar bills from being counterfeited"); (b) even if it did, what would it be based on? Birth certificate, Social Security card, Selective Service card-all of which, as Mr. Buckley points out, are readily available on the black market in Mexico City.