Real ID Delayed Again – Is That Making Us Safer?

Real ID has been delayed again as more states work furiously to make it as easy as possible for illegal aliens to obtain driver’s licenses.

Whether one sees a direct correlation between these two things or not, the fact remains that it has been 17 years since the Real ID Act was passed in 2005 and a federal government that tells its citizens they must take off their shoes and belts to make it through airport security still hasn’t been able to ensure reliable identification of air travelers in America.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Dec. 5 that the program was being pushed back yet again, this time to May 2025. This marks the latest in a long line of delays in rolling out Real ID requirements at the airport. Assuming 2025 is a go – and why should anyone believe that will be so at this point? – the federal government would have taken a full 20 years to come up with what it described as one of its most basic steps in heightening security following the Sept. 11 attacks.

‘Hijackers Acquired Some Form of US Identification Document’

The actual merits of Real ID may be up for debate, but the exhaustive foot-dragging in implementing what Americans were repeatedly told was a vital measure in the Age of Terror should give citizens reason to wonder just how much the grand Security State that has been erected since 2001 is really about protecting them. And if it’s not, then what is it for?

"All but one of the 9/11 hijackers acquired some form of U.S. identification document, some by fraud. Acquisition of these forms of identification would have assisted them in boarding commercial flights, renting cars, and other necessary activities." So reads the final report of the 9/11 Commission.

The DHS statement announcing the latest delay noted:

“Passed by Congress in 2005 following a 9/11 Commission recommendation, the Real ID Act establishes minimum security standards for state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards. Security standards include incorporating anti-counterfeiting technology, preventing insider fraud, and using documentary evidence and record checks to ensure a person is who they claim to be.”

So, after nearly two decades, these “minimum security standards” continue to go unmet in the eyes of federal officials. And while regular Americans cannot pack large liquids in their luggage before flying, 18 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico allow illegal aliens to get driver’s licenses. Minnesota, where Democrats run both houses of the state legislature and the governor’s office, is poised to soon join the list.

It doesn’t make any sense. The Patriot Act and other laws infringe on the civil rights of US citizens in the urgent name of national security at the same time that it has become easier than ever for non-Americans illegally residing in the country to obtain important state-issued identification documents.

Not Real About Real ID

To understand how insane all this is, look to Massachusetts. Democrats who dominate the state legislature in 2022 were finally able to ram through a bill granting driver’s licenses to illegals after years of effort. The legislation survived a veto by Republican Gov. Charlie Baker and a citizen petition that placed the measure on the November referendum ballot.

The commonwealth’s Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) is now trying to figure out how to administer the change. Democrats are outraged that the RMV is attempting to come up with ways to properly identify just who these illegals are.

WBUR-Radio in Boston reported Dec. 5, the same day Real ID was delayed by DHS:

“The RMV is proposing that those unable to prove their legal status would have to show ‘at least two documents’ establishing their identity, such as a foreign passport, driver’s license, marriage licenses, etc. The problem, according to the law’s authors, is the words ‘at least.’ State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier said those two words technically give RMV employees a ‘blank check’ for even more documents. And in the 16 other states with similar laws, all require a set number of documents so nothing is left up for interpretation. (Farley-Bouvier also said foreign birth certificates should be added to the list of allowed documents.)”

Again, if this country was truly serious about its post-9/11 national security regimen, how could it have elected officials arguing that people illegally residing here should not have to be bothered too much in proving who they are before being granted state-issued ID?

How hard do you think it would have been for the terrorists of 2001 to falsify a birth certificate from any of 100 less-developed nations around the globe?

Line up. Shoes off. Go through the body scanner, legal citizen. Oh, no, it’s beeping. Do you have any artificial limbs or implants? We’ll have to feel you up to find out what’s happening. Don’t fret, it’s all being done because we care about your safety.

Is it believable? That’s up to Americans to decide for themselves. But when the federal government can’t come up with verifiable ID for the airport in 17 years, that TSA molestation becomes a lot tougher to swallow.