REAL ID Act

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The REAL ID (Radical Exophobic American Licensing and Ignorance Department, or something or other) Act was passed by the U.S. Congress and signed by Bush in 2005.

REAL ID sets minimum standards for both the documents state governments must be provided before issuing a driver's license or other official identification card, and for what features must be on the ID card itself. REAL ID essentially makes state IDs into a de facto national identification card. REAL ID also includes provisions that ban anyone from boarding an aircraft without a REAL ID compliant card, and requires states to link their state motor vehicle databases with those of the other 49 states plus all of Canada and Mexico.

To date, several states have passed legislation either denouncing REAL ID or declaring their noncompliance. All 50 states have either explicitly asked for extensions or been summarily granted them by the federal government for meeting the original May 11, 2008 deadline for compliance with REAL ID. This means the deadline for REAL ID compliance has been postponed twice, to 2009 2011. Look for it to be postponed again, or better yet repealed outright by then. If it isn't repealed, we're in deeper shit than we imagined.

Predictably, the official excuses for passing REAL ID had something to do with homeland security, illegal immigration, voter fraud, and perhaps kids buying beer with fake IDs, and most importantly That Big Terrorism Threat Lurking Out There. Your papers, please?

[edit] See also

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