The REAL ID Act - 2018

 

The REAL ID Act establishes minimum security standards for license issuance and production and prohibits Federal agencies from accepting for certain purposes driver’s licenses and identification cards from states not meeting the Act’s minimum standards. The purposes covered by the Act are: accessing Federal facilities, entering nuclear power plants, and, boarding federally regulated commercial aircraft. About half of the states are compliant with the REAL ID Act, while the remaining states have an extension until October 10, 2018 or are currently under review.



 



According to the Department of Homeland Security "Starting January 22, 2018, [now October 10, 2018 for most states with an extension] passengers who have driver’s licenses issued by a state that is not yet compliant with REAL ID and that has not received an extension will need to show an alternative form of acceptable identification for domestic air travel."



https://www.dhs.gov/real-id

 



Are those states with a current extension until October 10, 2018 going to be in compliance with the REAL ID Act by that time? It seems unlikely. Will there be another extension granted to those states? Probably - but sooner or later there will be no more extensions granted to non-compliant states, and then residents of those states will need an alternate and Federally approved ID on to access Federal facilities or fly on a commercial aircraft.

If you are unsure whether your state will be in compliance with the REAL ID Act, and you are concerned with being able to enter Federal facilities or fly domestically, you might consider getting a U.S. Passport Card to use as your standard form of ID.

 

The Passport Card is Real ID compliant and can be used for domestic air travel. It also lets you enter the United States at land border crossings and sea ports-of-entry from: Canada, Mexico, The Caribbean, and Bermuda.

 

Another option is to obtain an "Enhanced Driver's License" if you reside in one of the five states that issue them (Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Vermont, and Washington).

 

Like the US Passport Card, an Enhanced Driver's License from one of these states meets REAL ID Act requirements and can be used to fly domestically and enter the United States at land crossings and sea ports from Canada, Mexico, The Caribbean, and Bermuda.

It should be noted that neither the US Passport Card nor an Enhanced Driver's License is accepted for international air travel. For that you will need a regular passport.

REAL ID and Privacy

Some states and organizations oppose the implementation of the Real ID Act (which may be why so many states are not currently in compliance with the Act). The ACLU has said "If fully implemented, the law would facilitate the tracking of data on individuals and bring government into the very center of every citizen’s life. By definitively turning driver’s licenses into a form of national identity documents, Real ID would have a tremendously destructive impact on privacy. It would also impose significant administrative burdens and expenses on state governments, and it would mean higher fees, longer lines, repeat visits to the DMV, and bureaucratic nightmares for individuals. Because of these problems, many states oppose the use of Real ID, and it has not gone into full effect. The ACLU has joined with these states to support the repeal of the law."

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has said "The federal government is trying to force states to turn your drivers license into a national ID... the Real ID Act will create grave dangers to privacy and impose massive financial burdens without improving national security in the least. Signed into law in May 2005 without meaningful debate the Real ID Act states that drivers licenses will only be accepted for "federal purposes" - like accessing planes trains national parks and court houses - if they conform to certain uniform standards. The law also requires a vast national database linking all of the ID records together. Once the IDs and database are in place their uses will inevitably expand to facilitate a wide range of surveillance activities. Remember the Social Security number started innocuously enough but it has become a prerequisite for a host of government services and been coopted by private companies to create massive databases of personal information. A national ID poses similar dangers; for example because "common machine-readable technology" will be required on every ID the government and businesses will be able to easily read your private information off the cards in myriad contexts."

The REAL ID Act was attached to an emergency supplemental, with no hearings, no votes, but what it is, the Federal Government will be dictating how the States go about the business of licensing residents to operate motor vehicles. State motor vehicle officials will be required to verify the legal status of applicants, adding to the responsibilities of already heavily burdened State offices... the Federal Government dictates responsibilities for what has traditionally been a State function--and adds layers of bureaucracy and regulation to effectively create a national ID card, and that is what it is--there is no help in footing these hefty bills. It is an unfunded mandate passed by the last Congress to add to the taxpayers of the States $23 billion in costs. [Senate Hearing 110-113]