Homeland Security Issues New ID Requirements for New Yorkers—and Thousands of Others—Heading to the Airport
If you're from New York, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Hampshire, or American Samoa, head’s up. Travelers from those locations soon will be out of luck if they try to travel using a driver’s license as ID.
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, driver’s licenses from the four states and Samoa do not comply with the minimum standards of the federal Real ID system.
The system was created by an act of Congress following recommendations from the 9/11 Commission that the Federal Government should “set standards of the issuance of sources of identification, such as driver’s licenses.” DHS will begin enforcing its final phase, allowing only travelers from compliant states to use their driver’s licenses as ID for domestic air travel, in 2016. New York and Minnesota had obtained a federal extension for implementing the Real ID system, but it will expire on Jan. 19.
The Act requires that all state IDs issued after
Dec. 1, 1964, comply with the REAL ID system,
under which the issuing state’s DMV records must
include social security numbers, photographs,
and home addresses of drivers.
While New York does offer enhanced licenses,
which the state believes makes it compliant with
the law, it does not require that its residents
get one. According to a story in today’s Newsday
in New York, 11.5 million driver licenses are
active in the state, and only 800,000—just
6.9%—are enhanced.
New Hampshire has a separate problem with the
Act, as state law there does not require the DMV
to store social security numbers. Meanwhile, New
Hampshire law doesn’t require a photograph to be
stored at the DMV or a home address be printed
on the license, two things that the Real ID law
requires.
In Louisiana, though the state’s House voted to
adopt federal REAL ID regulations, Gov. Bobby
Jindal vetoed legislation in June, 2014, citing
issues with state versus federal rights as the
reason. The same problem came up when Minnesota
tried to pass laws requiring REAL IDs last
April.
Beside the extra cost of obtaining an enhanced
license, there are also privacy concerns over
the Real ID requirements. Douglas Kidd, the
executive director of the National Association
of Airline Passengers, told Newsday
that while his organization understands the
need for extra security “whether the Real ID and
the additional personal data associated with it
actually provides any real security remains to
be seen.”
Debates notwithstanding—and especially with the
wait for passports
already getting longer—travel agents can
help their customers by reminding them that
citizens from these four states who were born
after Dec. 1, 1964, will no longer be able to
board a domestic flight or cruise without a
passport. And the sooner they get on line, the
better.