Just as you were wrapping your mind
around the idea that under Obamacare and the accompanying changes in the
health-care system, your medical records will be floating around in some online
repository, available to far too many people, you’re being told you’ll soon
have a National Identity Card and a Western Hemisphere-compliant travel
document whether you want it or not, if you plan to drive in the United States.
The federal government says it soon
will be enforcing its demands that state-issued driver’s licenses and ID cards
comply with Department of Homeland Security standards.
DHS announced just
before Christmas a final schedule for the full enforcement of the REAL ID
Act of 2005.
That was set for a phased
implementation beginning in January 2014 and full-scale enforcement planned no
later than May 2017, at which time the federal government will no longer accept
state-issued driver’s licenses and ID cards that do not meet the minimum
security standards set by DHS.
For many Americans, the full
implementation of the REAL ID act is certain to trigger unfortunate memories of
World War II and the modus operandi of fascist, totalitarian states, where
travelers and ordinary citizens on the street are stopped by authorities and
demanded, “Your papers, please!”
In the U.S., the justification for the
REAL ID Act of 2005 was the concern for enhanced travel security after the 9/11
Commission documented several of the 9/11 terrorists had valid state-issued
driver’s licenses and were able to freely board airplanes even though they were
terrorists who had entered the U.S. illegally.
Among the DHS requirements for a
state-issued driver’s license to be DHS-compliant will be the presentation by
the applicant of a valid birth certificate, verification of the applicant’s
Social Security Number or documentation the person is not eligible for Social
Security, and proof the applicant is either a U.S. citizen or lawfully admitted
to the U.S. as a permanent or temporary resident.
Further, driver’s license and IDs
issued by the states will have to meet stringent requirements as set by the
federal government.
They also much have features that
establish the individual’s identity, including but not limited to full facial
digital photographs, plus machine readable coded information in the form of a
bar code that captures the key printed information on the card, such as name of
the applicant, address, gender, unique driver’s license or card-identification
number, state of issuance, date of application, and date of expiration.
Such state-issued enhanced drivers
licenses, or EDLs, must be
issued in state facilities in which all employees undergo background checks,
including federal and state criminal record searches, as well as with
technology that permit the state-issued cards to comply fully with travel rules
issued under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, or WHTI, such that
the EDLs meet valid passport minimums for travel within the United States,
Canada, and Mexico, as well as with Central and South America, the Caribbean,
and Bermuda.
With this announcement, DHS is putting
state governments on notice that by May 2017, states not complying with REAL ID
requirements will find that their state-issued driver’s licenses and ID cards
will not be considered valid by the federal government, such that individuals
with non-compliant identification may be prohibited from passing through
Transportation Security Administration security to travel on airlines on trains
within the United States or internationally.
“States have made considerable
progress in meeting the need identified by the 9/11 Commission to make driver’s
licenses and other identification more secure,” said David Heyman, DHS
assistant secretary for policy. “DHS will continue to support their efforts to
enhance the security in an achievable way that will make all of our communities
safer.”
In the agency’s Dec. 20 announcement,
DHS commended the 21 states that already meet the act’s minimum standards for
their leadership in improving security for state-issued driver’s licenses and
identification cards: Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida,
Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio,
South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
DHS also announced extensions for 20
states and territories that have provided information demonstrating that they
are on the pathway toward achieving full compliance, including Arkansas,
California, District of Columbia, Guam, Idaho, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri,
New Hampshire, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania,
Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, U.S. Virgin Islands, and
Virginia.
DHS made clear 75
percent of all U.S. drivers currently hold licenses from state
jurisdictions deemed to meet the REAL ID standards, or from states that have received
extensions.
As of Dec. 20, 2013, DHS listed the
following states/territories as not yet REAL ID compliant: Alaska, American
Samoa, Arizona, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana,
New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Marianas, Oklahoma, and Washington
State.
DHS said TSA will continue to accept
driver’s licenses and state-issued identification cards from all jurisdictions
until at least 2016, meaning that enforcement for boarding aircraft will not
begin until then.
