We failed to kill the 'Real ID" zombie

[snot]

I recently had to renew my driver's license. The requirements have been drastically heightened; some people may find them difficult to fulfill. These heightened requirements appear intended to reduce voting by some populations and also to convert driver's licenses into the kind digital "Real ID" that the public rejected back in 2012.

Unfortunately, a lot of the political activity around this issue received little or no attention in the media, and we now seem stuck with the results. See https://www.aclu.org/news/national-security/yes-states-really-reject-real-id and https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/tsa-shouldnt-force-a-bad-digital-id-system-on-america .

So the explanation for why we need "Real ID' goes: "[T]he REAL ID Act will make it difficult or impossible for terrorists and other criminals to... gain unlawful access to federally-regulated commercial aircraft, nuclear power plants, and certain federal facilities" (see https://www.keesingtechnologies.com/documentchecker/north-american-ids/real-id/ ).

This is obviously false. Real ID will at best make it difficult or impossible for terrorists to commit terrorism and escape identification afterward -- assuming they had a US driver's license and used it to gain access to such aircraft or facilities. How many terrorist acts had you heard of prior to the implementation of Real ID requirements that remain unattributed? I'm pretty sure we generally managed to identify them after the fact, even before Real ID.

I don't see how Real ID adds anything at all to the deterrence of terrorists. What it does do is tighten the net of surveillance and control over the rest of us.

[brooklynite]

1. " These heightened requirements appear intended to reduce voting by some populations"

Wrong.

You may not like the enhanced ID effort but it’s a Federal post-9/11 policy. You’ll need one starting beginning next year to get on a plane flight.

[snot]

14. Perhaps I should have explained:

the requirements to renew a driver's license in my state have been drastically heightened – you need to produce a certified birth certificate (not a photocopy) or passport AND your actual Social Security card AND current vehicle registration or title and proof of current auto insurance (if you own a vehicle), AND on top of all that you even have to get your application notarized, putting you in jeopardy of having committed perjury if there's any error on your application.

I understand and agree that 9/11 was used as an excuse to push Real ID (and I object to this "back door" imposition of Real ID after the public previously rejected it); but the legislature in my state is extremely conservative, and it just seems very likely to me that these requirements are also partly intended to disenfranchise people who might find it difficult to meet them.

Personally, I'd prefer more emphasis on whether the licensee knows how to drive.

[LeftInTX]

2. I stupidly got one, thinking that it was mandatory. I could have opted for a Passcard instead.

Yes, they can deter voting. It makes it a pain to have your address changed on your DL. I'm glad I own a home and haven't moved in 30 years. If I were a renter, it would suck.

[JI7]

3. Is it required for international travel ?

Last I looked which was long time ago it did seem kind of difficult but not impossible to get.

[LeftInTX]

4. Real ID is going to be required for domestic flights. Or you can use your passport. Passport card fits in your wallet.

The U.S. passport card is a wallet-sized, plastic passport that has no visa pages. The card is proof of U.S. citizenship and identity, and has the same length of validity as the passport book.

The card is for U.S. citizens who travel by land and sea from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and Caribbean countries.

The card is not valid for international travel by air and is cheaper than the passport book.

You can apply for either the book or card, or both documents.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/need-passport/card.html

___________________

[jimfields33]

5. I found it easy and didn't need any more info then a

typical driver’s license when I moved to a state that mandated real ID.

[LeftInTX]

6. I had to provide my birth certificate and another document. If I move, I will need to provide it again.

[Kaleva]

10. I did not think that was hard to do

Providing a birth certificate when I got my enhanced driver's license. I don't recall what I provided for the other document that was required

[LeftInTX]

12. I now remember my passport was one of them.

[localroger]

7. The proof that RealID is bullshit is that you can do anything with a passport

...that you can with a RealID (well except drive a car) but the passport is much easier to apply for and renew.

When the RealID BS came along I had a passport which had been expired for about 5 years. Since it was less than 10 all I needed to do to renew it was get new pictures taken and show up with the fee. For the RealID, imagine my astonishment to find out that simply showing up with my valid electronically keyed state of the art brand-new US passport was Not Good Enough. No, I had to have a work record, and/or some bills, and/or a (notarized!) copy of my birth certificate or some mix of other bullshit.

My wife, who has been self employed her entire life and was born 1,000 miles from here, simply decided it was impossible. For me, the mix of docs simply defied being made. Who gets a paper water bill any more? People told me verbally that I could just print out my electronic one (nearly all of those bills are electronic nowadays, as are my work and tax records). But that is not documented on any of the official guides for getting a RealID. And what purpose would it serve? I could fake up a printed copy of an e-bill with whatever address I wanted as easily as sending out a birthday notice. Meanwhile, assholes, I have a valid US passport. This clearly has no purpose but to inconvenience people who do not live a particular standard of normal lifestyle approved by the fuckwits who came up with it.

So my valid Louisiana driver's license has NOT VALID FOR FEDERAL ID stamped on it, although it does give me driving privileges in all 50 states and those other countries that have always recognized our driver's licenses. And I can always avail myself of the vast array of carriers and pouches which have been developed for people to deal with the passport book, which after all is about the same size as my wallet anyway, and which the rest of the world takes for granted that you have to deal with for regular travel.

[MichMan]

8. Passport is $160

Much more costly than a Real ID.

[brooklynite]

9. Your passport proves citizenship; it doesn't specify State of residence.

[Kaleva]

11. I thought it was really simple to get a RealID

People should have a notarized copy of their birth certificate and also their SS card on hand

Michigan accepts electronic copies of utility bills.

[hunter]

13. I haven't got one yet and intend to be a nuisance when someone actually demands it.

When I recently renewed my California Drivers license the DMV didn't seem to care one way or another.

The requirement that you have one for flying has been postponed several times. It's now set for October.

Before I met my wife and became a responsible adult, I didn't regularly carry any ID at all. I even had a debit card with no name on it. (Do banks do that any more?) A couple of times this complicated my interactions with the police but if I stayed in a place long enough they'd get to know me, often as an amusing and affable diversion from their sordid late night and early morning calls.

One of the scariest interactions I ever had with the police they didn't even ask me for my ID before they started throwing me around. I wasn't homeless at the time but I probably looked homeless to them. That was in the early 'eighties and I was sleeping in my car, just returned to the city from the dusty desert camp of a geologist I knew.

[LeftInTX]

15. You can use a passport in lieu of Real ID.

I wish I would have done it. It's pain to have my driver's license attached to my birth certificate etc.