Posted on 01/12/2008 5:42:02 AM PST by kellynla
Millions of air travelers may find going through airport security much more complicated this spring, as the Bush administration heads toward a showdown with state governments over post-Sept. 11 rules for new driver's licenses.
By May, the dispute could leave millions of people unable to use their licenses to board planes, but privacy advocates called that a hollow threat by federal officials.
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 said that for any state which doesn't seek such a waiver by May, residents of that state will have to use a passport or certain types of federal border-crossing cards 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."
The plan's chief critic, the American Civil Liberties Union, called Chertoff's deadline a bluff — and urged state governments to call him on it.
"Are they really prepared to shut those airports down? Which is what effectively would happen if the residents of those states are going to have to go through secondary scrutiny," said Barry Steinhardt, director of the ACLU's technology and liberty program. "This is a scare tactic."
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 Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Washington.
Maine officials said Friday they were unsure if their own state law even allows them to ask for a waiver.
"It certainly seems to be an effort by the federal government to create compliance with REAL ID whether states have an interest in doing so or not," said Don Cookson, spokesman for the Maine secretary of state's office.
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 Homeland Security Department 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.
Congress passed the REAL ID law in 2005, but the effort has been delayed by 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, over which time the new requirements would gradually be phased in.
A key deadline would come in 2011, when federal authorities hope all states will be in compliance, and the regulations would not take full effect for all Americans until 2017.
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.
By 2014, anyone seeking to board an airplane or enter a federal building would have to present a REAL ID-compliant card, with the notable exception of those older than 50, 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.
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.
_After Social Security and immigration status checks become nationwide practice, officials plan to move on to more expansive security checks. State DMV offices would be required to verify birth certificates; check with other states to ensure an applicant doesn't have more than one license; and check with the State Department to verify applicants who use passports to get a driver's license.
Yeppers; it was the same also with the illegals and borders.
Until so many finally became personally inconvenienced, or had loved ones murdered, or the like. Then the “stories” we told became “true.” Up until then, it was as if we each were being “Baghdad Bobs”.
Just remember........"vote the lesser of two evils"....it'll do America reel gud.
Yep. And if they don’t shut us up, they hide the threads in chat or the smoky back room, lol.
They have, indeed. I would really like to hear an honest explanation as to why America has internment camps, railway cars fitted with shackles, and cameras everywhere you turn.
Our so-called conservative politicians behave like they are dying of syphillis.
The MSM only covers “distracting” news, if they cover anything of substance at all.
Because it is the media which is complicit with this.
You might should ask calpernia about the information data stored on the cards, she may know.
You're absolutely right.
“I’m thinking you misunderstand the purpose of the Social Security Card?”
And I’m thinking you didn’t learn much after 24 years in the USAF !
My point, flyboy, is that if you have ever worked LEGALLY in America, you have a Social Security card which is a NATIONAL ID CARD issued by the Feds!!!
And so is that military ID you carried around for 24 years.
gezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...and I thought all you flyboys were supposed to be SMART!
I remember very well all the bleeding hearts on the illegal threads. Buying into the amnesty scam; eating it up like Sunday supper.
Yes, the FROBL’s.
Even newborns are required to have SS cards now if they get any type of assistance. Newborns don't work. Have you ever tried to enroll a child in school without a SS#?
Yep; and they made me sick and disgusted. So disgusted, I left FR for a year.
Wrong. If you want to claim your child, you must have already registered the serf.
SS# aren't just for workers anymore.
And my point is that it is not an ID card. ID cards you carry daily. Make it personal, I yell at the the mods, and let them settle it. You ARE familiar with the admonishment to not make personal attacks?
In other words, who pissed in your Wheaties today, and why are you taking it out on me?
Those threads were blood letting weren’t they. I survived be banned a few times. Some good FReepers weren’t so lucky.
Bruce Schneier is an internationally renowned security technologist and author. Described by The Economist as a "security guru," Schneier is best known as a refreshingly candid and lucid security critic and commentator. When people want to know how security really works, they turn to Schneier.
Nope, it's for all serfs, big and little. : )
I was reading some information about the Real ID’s last weekend, and there were pictures of what they would look like. They not only have all your personal data, name, address, gender, d/o/b, but also religion, and medical information.
The new passports have chips in them with all kinds of data.
There is also a new ink (for tatooing) that can carry a chip.
How scary is that?
Aren’t people advised NOT to carry their SS cards with them?
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