Real IDAirports post REAL ID deadline warning signs
Many U.S. airports have posted signs to alert travelers that beginning 22 January 2018, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will begin to enforce the REAL ID requirements at airport security checkpoints. DHS says that a year from now, passengers presenting a driver’s license or identification card from states not in compliance with the REAL ID Act’s security standards — states, that is, which have not received an extension from DHS — may not be allowed to board.
Many U.S. airports have posted signs to alert travelers that beginning 22 January 2018, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will begin to enforce the REAL ID requirements at airport security checkpoints.
DHS says that a year from now, passengers presenting a driver’s license or identification card from states not in compliance with the REAL ID Act’s security standards — states, that is, which have not received an extension from DHS — may not be allowed to board.
TSA said it will continue to accept alternate forms of ID at airports, such as a passport, military ID, or permanent resident card. Next year, however, driver’s licenses and state-issued ID cards from the nine non-compliant states — Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Washington — will not be accepted.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that it is working with states to “encourage compliance” and that TSA will update the signs in airports “if and when states that are currently listed receive extensions.”
The REAL ID security requirements are already being enforced in federal facilities and nuclear power plants.
USA Today notes that REAL ID Act was passed by Congress in 2005 to establish minimum security standards for state-issued IDs. The las requires states to include a person’ full legal names, birth date, gender, address, signature, an ID number, a photo and a security feature such as a bar code or a hologram.
DHS stresses that REAL ID “is a national set of standards, not a national identification card,” but critics charge that the law creates a national identity card and allows the federal government to gather and store too much personal information.
Some states, referring to the costs associated with implementing the act, have objected to the REAL ID Act as well.
DHS had granted extensions to several states since 2008 – the first year in which had to come into compliance — but last January Secretary Johnson set 22 January 2018 as the day driver’s licenses or identification cards issued by states must meet the REAL ID Act, or have an approved extension in place.
