It’s been a year and a half since REAL-ID passed 100-0 in the Senate and 368-58 in the House. We are now halfway to the point where we’ll be asked to show our papers. REAL-ID strips us of more of our privacy, takes away more States’ rights, and bullies the States into complying with the wishes of the Department of Homeland Security. REAL-ID requires all States to link together, creating a national database. REAL-ID turns your driver’s license into a national ID.
The problem with REAL-ID is that I already have an ID for federal purposes. It’s called a passport but, if I don’t get a REAL-ID, I am going to be forbidden to receive federal aid, social security benefits, the ability to open a bank account and the right to travel on a plane.
The minimum information on this ID card will be name, birth date, sex, ID number, digital photo, and address, with more information capable of being added later. The same requirements now installed into the REAL-ID are ALREADY in place on your passport. Why create more legislation for something that is already there? The Department of Homeland Security has said they plan on adding additional requirements, the first of which will probably be fingerprints or retina scans.
REAL-ID was attached as a rider to the military spending and tsunami relief bill, forcing senators to vote for it or seem like they were heartless politicians. REAL-ID is yet another program that strips States’ rights. Your information will now be digitized and accessible to anyone that asks for ID, including the guy at 7-11 who wants to see ID so you can buy beer. REAL-ID was quietly tucked into the spending bill with no debate, no committees, and no discussion whatsoever on the topic.
There is also no defense that this will deter terrorism because 1) we already have this type of legislation, it’s just not enforced 2) someone will get off their asses and get this voted as unconstitutional, thus preventing nothing and 3) the 9/11 terror suspects already obtained all their IDs legally. Under the new system, they will also be able to obtain their IDs legally. Nothing will have changed other than the ability of the government to further spy on its own citizens.
REAL-ID will also help to increase identity theft instead of preventing it by making your ID machine-readable. How will this happen? You enter a bar and show ID. You enter other businesses that require ID (think supermarkets, liquor stores, etc). Your ID will be scanned at these establishments and they can, and already do, sell your information to places such as Acxiom and ChoicePoint. Your newly issued ID from the government in 2008 may be “airtight” against identity theft but once it’s scanned commercially, all bets are off. How many databases have you heard of that have been breached in the last year?
States are not required to adhere to this legislation, however, if the States do no agree, then they receive no federal funding for things like road repairs, federal aid, federal money for schools, etc. This is just like the No Child Left Behind Act. It bullies the States into accepting what the Federal government wants. It’s tyrannical and unconstitutional.
This IS a national ID and establishes that the Secretary of Homeland Security can add whatever he/she wants to it, without prior approval from anyone, and he/she is now above the law in determining what he/she sees fit to put on your ID.
The Supreme Court also ruled last year that the police can demand to see your ID at any time, even if you’re not doing anything wrong. This ID card will be great for that, don’t you think?
You will also not be allowed to have PO Boxes on your ID. PO Boxes are typically used to protect your privacy and even judges and the police will no longer be exempt from this. It will now be easier than ever to track down people you do not like and do nefarious things to them and/or their families.
In 2008, your State’s DMV will begin to reissue driver’s licenses to meet federal standards at a cost of $11 Billion. You will have to return to your local DMV with a photo ID that has your birth date and address and prove that your Social Security number is real and belongs to you. You will have to prove your status as a US Citizen, whether you were born here or emigrated, and foreigners must produce a valid visa. Each State DMV will then digitize your document to be permanently stored and then verify your documents.
This ID establishes a national database on YOU. You will no longer have any privacy as anyone who wants and demands to see this will see all your private information on it. With the magic of RFID and other technologies, your entire life will be on that card in a matter of a few years.
If this is not challenged, then, in eighteen months, REAL-ID will go into effect, giving the USA their national ID card and placing you in the wild open for anyone to see. New Hampshire was the first state to fight this and many other States are now doing the same. It’s not too late to wake up and stop this legislation before it takes effect.
