.
Legislators in 15 states are pushing bills and resolutions that urge noncompliance with the 2005 Real ID Act.
By Ben Arnoldy | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
States from Maine to Montana are rebelling against a federal law meant to make driver’s licenses a definitive form of identification, an issue that cuts across flash points of homeland security, civil liberties, and illegal immigration.
Legislators in 15 states are pushing bills and resolutions that urge noncompliance with the 2005 Real ID Act. The law, based on recommendations by the 9/11 commission, sets minimum standards for verifying the identity of license applicants, and stipulates what
information must be stored on machine-readable cards.
The law is intended to make it harder for terrorists to operate on American soil and for illegal immigrants to get legitimate employment in the US.
But as the 2008 deadline for implementation nears, the Real ID law is raising a host of concerns: cost, hassle for millions of drivers, and fear that government or private industry will misuse the data network. Opponents as divergent as states’ rights politicians, civil
libertarians, and immigration advocates are rallying to undo it.
“When we call around the country, we get Democrats to join [against it], we get Republicans. In one state, they were fighting to see which party was going to file the [anti-Real ID] legislation,” says James Guest (R), a state representative in Missouri. He is at the center of a loose coalition of lawmakers in 34 states who are filing measures opposing Real ID.
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | Uncategorized
Leave a Reply