States Rushing to Comply With REAL ID Act

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The countdown has reached its final hours: As of January 22, 2018, U.S. citizens will need to have REAL ID-compliant identification in order to board domestic commercial flights, unless their home states have been granted an extension. However, as of October 1, 2020, there will be no more extensions and every air traveler in the U.S. will need to have a REAL ID-compliant license or other form of identification for domestic air travel.

Other things people with non-compliant IDs will be unable to do after the January deadline include entering military bases, secure federal buildings, or nuclear power plants.

The REAL ID Act, spawned from the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, is designed to strengthen rules for government-issued IDs. In order to be compliant, the process for getting state IDs such as driver’s licenses needs to include requiring applicants to provide proof of identity and legal U.S. residency (a passport, green card, or birth certificate, for example). States also need to use counterfeit-resistant security features including biometric chips.

Nationwide compliance with the REAL ID Act has taken so long because many states objected to the new rules. Both liberal and conservative states had, and continue to have, worries about discrimination and the fact that U.S. citizens could be tracked using compliant identification documents. Others object to the federal government making rules that apply to issues typically handled by individual states.

As of May 19, 2017, only 25 states and the District of Columbia are in compliance with the law. Most of the other states have been granted extensions, but it appears that the government’s patience is wearing out as the January deadline approaches. However, there are still four states—Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, and Montana—that are non-compliant and don’t have extensions.

The Department of Homeland Security announced last year that Kentucky, Maine, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina would not be granted additional extensions. Minnesota, Missouri, and Washington were not granted extensions for any part of 2017, so those states are currently not in compliance.

Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed a law on May 18, 2017, that would bring that state into compliance with the REAL ID Act. The state currently offers, but does not mandate, enhanced driver’s licenses and IDs that require proof of U.S. citizenship. Under the bill signed into law by Governor Inslee, the two-tiered license system will remain in effect, but the standard licenses will be marked to indicate they are not REAL ID-compliant.

In April 2017, Maine Governor Paul LePage signed a REAL ID compliance bill that passed the Legislature. And the Minnesota Legislature passed a bill on May 17 that was signed by Governor Mark Dayton the next day. Alaska, Montana, and Missouri also passed bills that are awaiting their governors’ signatures.

Among other non-compliant states, Oregon and Pennsylvania, among several other states, are considering bills related to compliance. Governors in Kentucky, Oklahoma, and South Carolina also signed REAL ID compliance bills in 2017.

What do you think of the REAL ID law? Do you think it does anything to enhance national security, or do you think it tramples on individuals’ civil liberties and states’ rights to manage their own ID systems? Please share your thoughts in the comments.