Air passnegers now must show an ID to be allowed on board

Published 23 June 2008

Until this past weekend, a passenger who agreed to secondary search of his or her body and baggage at airport check-points was allowed to board even if they did not have — or refused to show — an ID; this policy was changed on Saturday

Until this past weekend — contrary to popular belief, and contrary to some airport signs — travelers were not required to present identification at airport checkpoints. Under the policy which existed until Saturday, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) policy allowed passengers to refuse to show identification and still fly, as long as they agree to secondary screening, meaning a search of their carry-on bags and a pat down. This changed Saturday, 21 June. CNN reports that now, passengers who “willfully refuse” to show IDs will not be allowed through checkpoints or onto planes. Only passengers who show IDs, and “cooperative” passengers,” who explain why their IDs are missing and help police confirm their identities, will get through. TSA says it changed the policy “to facilitate travel for legitimate passengers” while helping its security work force focus on “people, not things.” “It’s a prudent security measure to know who it is who’s flying in the planes,” said Kip Hawley, head of the TSA. “It’s not too much to ask, to say, just tell us who you are.”

The change in policy, announced this month on the TSA Web site, has raised the ire of privacy advocates who believe the TSA is setting a dangerous precedent, in essence requiring U.S. citizens to carry documentation when traveling in the United States, even if only by air. The right to free travel — unencumbered by government officials demanding identity documents — is “something that distinguishes ourselves from others not living in the free world,” said Jim Harrison, an attorney who has fought document requirements. “History will judge,” Harrison said. “What’s going on here is the TSA is incrementally chipping away at the freedoms that Americans have. And the freedoms that we’re talking about are the fundamental right to travel, the freedom to be free of search without reasonable suspicion and your First Amendment freedoms to assemble and associate freely without government interference.” This is not the way TSA chief Hawley sees it. “To us, it’s not a philosophical argument,” he said. “There are people trying to do harm, take down planes, and we can’t let them [exploit] a vulnerability.”

By all accounts, the number of people who show up at airports without government-issued photo IDs is small. Of the 2 million people who fly every day, only about 300 do not show IDs, according to TSA spokesman Christopher White. The TSA does not keep statistics on