New rules forces millions to get new driver's licenses The Associated Press Jan. 11, 2008 12:57 PM WASHINGTON - Residents of at least 17 states are suddenly stuck in the middle of a fight between the Bush administration and state governments over post-Sept. 11 security rules for driver's licenses - a dispute that, by May, could leave millions of people unable to use their licenses to board planes or enter federal buildings. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who was unveiling final details of the REAL ID Act's rules on Friday, said that if states want their licenses to remain valid for air travel after May 2008, those states must seek a waiver indicating they want more time to comply with the legislation. Chertoff, as he revealed final details of the REAL ID Act, said that in instances where a particular state doesn't seek a waiver, its residents will have to use a passport or a newly created federal passport card if they want to avoid a vigorous secondary screening at airport security. : "The last thing I want to do is punish citizens of a state who would love to have a REAL ID license but can't get one," Chertoff said. "But in the end, the rule is the rule as passed by Congress." Chertoff spoke as he discussed the details of the administration's plan to improve security for driver's licenses in all 50 states - an effort delayed due to opposition from states worried about the cost and civil libertarians upset about what they believe are invasions of privacy. Under the rules announced Friday, Americans born after Dec. 1, 1964, will have to get more secure driver's licenses in the next six years. The Homeland Security Department has spent years crafting the final regulations for the REAL ID Act, a law designed to make it harder for terrorists, illegal immigrants and con artists to get government-issued identification. The effort once envisioned to take effect in 2008 has been pushed back in the hopes of winning over skeptical state officials. To address some of those concerns, the government now plans to phase in a secure ID initiative that Congress approved in 2005. Now, DHS plans a key deadline in 2011 - when federal authorities hope all states will be in compliance - and then further measures to be enacted three years later. To make the plan more appealing to cost-conscious states, federal authorities drastically reduced the expected cost from $14.6 billion to $3.9 billion, a 73 percent decline, said Homeland Security officials familiar with the plan. The American Civil Liberties Union has fiercely objected to the effort, particularly the sharing of personal data among government agencies. The DHS and other officials say the only way to ensure an ID is safe is to check it against secure government data; critics such as the ACLU say that creates a system that is more likely to be infiltrated and have its personal data pilfered. In its written objection to the law, the ACLU claims REAL ID amounts to the "first-ever national identity card system," which "would irreparably damage the fabric of American life." The Sept. 11 attacks were the main motivation for the changes. The hijacker-pilot who flew into the Pentagon, Hani Hanjour, had four driver's licenses and ID cards from three states. The DHS, created in response to the attacks, has created a slogan for REAL ID: "One driver, one license." By 2014, anyone seeking to board an airplane or enter a federal building would have to present a REAL ID-compliant driver's license, with the notable exception of those more than 50 years old, Homeland Security officials said. The over-50 exemption was created to give states more time to get everyone new licenses, and officials say the risk of someone in that age group being a terrorist, illegal immigrant or con artist is much less. By 2017, even those over 50 must have a REAL ID-compliant card to board a plane. So far, 17 states have passed legislation or resolutions objecting to the REAL ID Act's provisions, many due to concerns it will cost them too much to comply. The 17, according to the ACLU, are: Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Washington state. Among other details of the REAL ID plan: -The traditional driver's license photograph would be taken at the beginning of the application instead of the end so that if someone is rejected for failure to prove identity and citizenship, the applicant's photo would be kept on file and checked if that person tried to con the system again. -The cards will have three layers of security measures but will not contain microchips as some had expected. States will be able to choose from a menu which security measures they will put in their cards. Over the next year, the government expects all states to begin checking both the Social Security numbers and immigration status of license applicants. Most states already check Social Security numbers and about half check immigration status. Some, like New York, Virginia, North Carolina and California, have already implemented many of the security measures envisioned in REAL ID. In California, for example, officials expect the only major change to adopt the first phase would be to take the photograph at the beginning of the application process instead of the end. After the Social Security and immigration status checks become nationwide practice, officials plan to move on to more expansive security checks, including state DMV offices checking with the State Department to verify those applicants who use passports to get a driver's license, verifying birth certificates and checking with other states to ensure an applicant doesn't have more than one license. A few states have already signed written agreements indicating they plan to comply with REAL ID. Seventeen others, though, have passed legislation or resolutions objecting to it, often because of concerns about the cost of the extra security.
I fly under the radar most of the time. I want people to know as little about me as humanly possible, only letting them know what they absolutely need to know, and I often give false information to non-governmental organizations where I know I'm breaking no law*. However, I have a feeling that I'll starting using my Commission Card for everything and if that doesn't buy me trust, I quit. * - I, of course, give my real information to lending and banking establishments, etc. What I'm talking about is when you go into a retail store and they badger you for a phone number or address. I give them 1060 W. Addison, Chicago, IL. 60613 (Wrigley Field) as my address and 773-404-2827 (2827 is CUBS, it's the Chicago Cubs ticket line) as my phone number.
Note that these are the same people harassing 5 year-old kids because they have a name like "Sam Adams" and that name is on some useless watch list.
Good luck to the Feds on that one. I can see it now, citizens from those 17 states won't be able to board airplanes or enter federal buildings, and the government can watch as the economy takes a nose dive for a few days, the airlines take a huge hit, and the federal buildings sit unmanned by the citizens of their respective states. Real ID will disappear the next day.
Retail monkeys don't care what you tell them. They just want an answer so their adolescent boss won't bitch at them.
Elwood is creative. I am teH Suck!!! I jsut tell em 555-555-1212; 123 Main St, NY NY. If they dont like that one I tell em to make up their own damned information and plug it in.
This new law fucking sucks for you guys. Worst part is, if someone REALLY put their mind to it, they can get a fake ID. It really isn't that hard. Even with the new licenses in Canada, with the silver laser crest on the side, you can still fake it. You just need one of those chroming machines. (about $500). It's not an exact copy, and unless someone holds it up to the sunlight and checks to see if the laser image is there, most people will never know.
Mine has a several holograms on the front of it and a magnetic information strip on the back of it. When I first got it, I ran a heavy magnet over it about a dozen times to make sure it killed any information on it. Hell, a cell phone's magnet will scramble a credit card or motel room key. I figure this one will kill my DL.
Wow, you Americans really freak out over nothing. Many countries have national ID cards for their people. It's no worse than having a credit card - if you have someone's credit card, you have enough information to find out everything about them! There's no such thing as privacy any more, and this ID card is going to tie into a system like the ones that a few other countries already have. Hell, every Honduran aged 18 or older has a national ID card. I really don't see the problem with this. My greencard has those holograms and the magnetic band on it. The damn thing has every bit of information about me you could ask for - probably my whole medical record. It was either that, or no greencard and bye-bye USA. You people get over it. The government is not gonna look up your name every day to see what you had for lunch! They're just gonna have your names on file - for the millionth time - and that's it.
I've on occasion have refused to provide with that type of information when I've made purchases. Especially when I have made cash purchases. Most of the time the employees don't say anything. A lot of times I think they enter their address and zip code information.
Why do you need a driver's license to board an airplane anyways? So, people who get caught drag racing or something and lose their license can't travel on planes? This all seems like bullshit. I mean they scan you for weapons and take your shoes from what I have heard, why do they then care who you are as long as you can pose no threat?
We're nice like that. You can trust us. [action=Asyncritus]practices his winning smile, and keeps a copy of this official U.S. government position in his wallet, in order to reassure any security people who might accidentally discover that he has three different passports.[/action]
That's exactly it, and it's more plausible than most people think. They did this kind of thing in Germany in the late 1920's and 30s... when Germany was a fully functional democracy. Obviously not as high-tech, but the same kind of methodology was used.
Why should I get over it? The right to privacy, while not specifically mentioned in the constitution, has been upheld several times by the Supreme Court. Therefore, to deny my privacy simply because they do it in Honduras or anywhere else is asinine. And you wanna know the worst part of this Real ID shit? It doesn't apply to people over 50 as of 2014. Why? Because people over 50 are less likely to engage in terrorist activities. Except of course, for Osama Bin Laden, who is 50 right now and will be 57 after 2014, but lets ignore that fact for the sake of security. If your security comes at the expense of my liberty, then you don't deserve it.
Don't trust kids like him! It's the people who are over 50 who are safe! You can trust me! I promise! Come on, leave your wallet with Uncle Asyncritus, nothing will happen to it!
1 in 4 Americans are eligible for rendition if they don't show their IDs. after all if you don't show your ID then you're a possible terrorist!
Just remember..."if you aren't doing anything wrong, then you have nothing to worry about" *cough* bullshit! *cough*
"When a place gets crowded enough to require ID's, social collapse is not far away. It is time to go elsewhere. The best thing about space travel is that it made it possible to go elsewhere." - Robert A. Heinein, The Notebooks of Lazarus Long
