Congress passed the REAL ID Act in 2005, a few years after the 9/11 attacks. The subsequent 9/11 Commission Report revealed many weaknesses in our national security, including the fact that hijackers Khalid Al-Mihdhar and Nawaf Al-Hazmi got California drivers’ licenses through a facilitator in San Diego. They probably used those to board the American Airlines plane they crashed into the Pentagon, killing 189 people.
International and domestic criminals and terrorists love “breeder documents” (papers issued based on low evidence), which they can use to get better identification documents (IDs) like a passport, birth certificate, and Social Security card. That’s why for air travel and other serious business, all passengers should have identification based on information that has been verified, so we know who they really are.
After two decades of the government kicking the can down the road with one excuse after another, the deadline for needing a REAL ID to catch a domestic flight is up on May 7. This time, we need to keep it.
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Over the past four years, former president Joe Biden and his Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas released at the border, paroled, or let sneak in over 10 million essentially unidentified aliens. Many had thrown away their ID or didn’t have any, so DHS took their word for who they were.
There was no way to do proper background checks in their home countries. Some of them turned out to be terrorists, rapists, and murderers here—and for all we know, they may have been before at home, if we had only known their real identities and records.
Many Americans were outraged over the last few years to see aliens at our interior airports checking in for domestic flights with only their Notice to Appear (NTA – the document they got at the border that tells them to show up in court for a deportation hearing). Some were flying on the taxpayer dime. Others were flown in the middle of the night to avoid public attention. Meanwhile, all of us had to carry proper documents that take time and money to get.
Most states will issue you a non-REAL ID license with less proof than the REAL ID version. For the real deal, you need some combination of documents such as a birth certificate, passport, Social Security card, and proof of residence. It’s not easy, but once you’ve done it in your home state, you don’t have to repeat the exercise when you renew.
Some of those holding non-REAL ID compliant drivers’ licenses are living in the U.S. illegally. Nineteen states plus Washington, D.C. have allowed people who claim residence there to get some version of a license even if they are illegal, arguing that it improves road safety.
For another two weeks, foreign nationals have a choice of showing a driver’s license, foreign passport, military ID, federal Employment Authorization Card, or even their Notice to Appear to get on a domestic flight. After May 7, they will need a passport or a state-issued drivers’ license that complies with federal REAL ID standards. Or there’s always the Greyhound.
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Just as Leftists want men to self-ID into women’s spaces, they seem fine with unidentified foreigners self-declaring who they are before getting on a plane. I’m not. If we’re going to keep handing over our nail clippers thanks to the 9/11 hijackers, and taking off our footwear thanks to shoe-bomber Richard Reid, we can at least ask our fellow travelers to have a secure ID that is based on verified facts and not just their say-so.
The one exception that the Department of Homeland Security will make to the new REAL ID requirement is for foreigners booking a flight out of the country. With the border more secure than ever, that would mean they’d be self-deporting, unless they can qualify for a visa in the future.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News that “81% of air travelers hold REAL ID-compliant or acceptable IDs.” The other 19% can get with the program.
Some on the American right, and Libertarians, don’t like the REAL ID requirement. But the rest of us will pay that small price to ensure safer skies and so we know that someone has verified the identity of the guy sitting next to us. Basic Economy is already rough enough without having to play human lotto every time you fly.
