REAL ID Act Opposed by Some States

The REAL ID Act was passed by Congress in 2005 in response to the significant risk that terrorists could obtain driver's licenses and other official identity documents.^[1] The REAL ID Act requires that driver's licenses and other government issued identity documents meet certain security standards to ensure that they are not abused by terrorists and other criminals.^[2] The 9/11 Commission cited easy access to driver's licenses and other identity documents as a critical component to the terrorists' attacks against the United States, in fact, many of the 9/11 terrorists were able to obtain valid driver's licenses despite their expired visas.^[3]

Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform asserts, ''the need to determine with a high degree of certainty to whom we are issuing government identity documents, and the ability to verify the authenticity of those documents, is vital to our national security.”^[4] Stein continued, “[T]he only people who would be harmed by the REAL ID Act are terrorists, identity thieves, [illegal aliens], and a small number of bureaucrats….”^[5]

Stein made clear that in addition to addressing homeland security concerns, full implementation of REAL ID is critical for other domestic priorities, including combating mass illegal immigration and identity theft.^[6] Drivers Licenses are highly coveted by potential illegal aliens because they can make them invisible to the INS, and allows them access to many amenities in the U.S.^[7]

Not everyone is pleased about this; the state of Maine overwhelmingly rejected federal requirements for national identification cards on Thursday, January 25, making it the first formal state opposition to the REAL ID program.^[8] Both chambers of the Maine legislature approved the resolution which flatly "refuses" to force its citizens to comply with the REAL ID standards.^[9] Maine and several other states have asked the U.S. Congress to repeal the law.^[10]

Of the myriad problems states have with this plan; one of the most powerful is the immense cost. This is a huge unfunded command to the states from the federal government; Maine estimates that it would cost upwards if $185 million over five years.^[11] Another cause for concern is the looming reason privacy debate.^[12] All of the information garnered by the government would become part of a nationwide, digitally stored, database.^[13] This database would be easily accessible by federal, state, and local government employees, and taking into account the weak U.S. data protection laws and a series of incidents where federal agencies lost track of personal data, this concern over our privacy is far from groundless.^[14]

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^[1]The REAL ID Act of 2005 is Division B of the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005, Pub. L. No. 109-13, 119 Stat. 231 (May 11, 2005) (REAL ID Act)
^[2] Id.
^[3] REAL ID Offers Real Protections to Personal and National Security, PRNewswire-USNewswire, February 7, 2007
^[4] Id.
^[5] Id.
^[6] Id.
^[7] Id.
^[8] Declan McCullagh, Maine rejects Real ID Act, CNET News.com, January 25, 2007.
^[9] Id.
^[10] Id.
^[11] Id.
^[12] Stacy A. Anderson, Maine Legislature Rejects Real ID Act, Los Angeles Times (via Concord Monitor), January 26, 2007.
^[13] Id.
^[14] Id.