REAL ID Act
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The REAL ID Act of 2005 requires people
entering federal buildings, boarding airplanes or opening bank accounts to
present identification that has met certain security and authentication
standards. The Act is Division B of an act of the United States Congress titled
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror,
and Tsunami Relief, 2005. It implements the following:
* Establishing national standards for state-issued driver licenses and
non-driver identification cards;
* Waiving laws that interfere with construction of physical barriers at the
borders;
* Updating and tightening the laws on application for asylum and deportation of
aliens for terrorist activity;
* Introducing rules covering "delivery bonds" (rather like bail bonds but for
aliens who have been released pending hearings);
* Funding some reports and pilot projects related to border security; and
* Changing visa limits for temporary workers, nurses, and Australian citizens.
Legislative history
The Real ID Act started off as H.R. 418, which passed the House[1] and went
stagnant. Representative James Sensenbrenner (R) of Wisconsin, the author of the
original Real ID Act, then attached it as a rider on a military spending bill
(H.R. 1268). The House of Representatives passed that spending bill with the
Real ID rider 368-58,[2] and the Senate passed the joint House-Senate conference
report on that bill 100-0. There was no debate whatsoever on this piece of
legislation. President Bush signed it into law on May 11, 2005.
On March 2, 2007, it was announced that enforcement of the Act would be
postponed for two years. The provisions of the bill will be delayed from going
into effect until December 2009. On January 11, 2008, it was announced that the
deadline has been extended again, until 2011, in hopes of gaining more support
from states. On the same date the Department of Homeland Security released the
final rule regarding the implementation of the driver's licenses
provisions of the Real ID Act. A pdf of the final rule, as well as DHS Secretary
Chertoff's press conference, in pdf transcript, audio and video formats, can be
found at BiometricBits.com.
Minimum nationwide standards for state driver's licenses or ID cards,
employment, and banking
In the United States, driver's licenses are issued by the states, not by the
federal government. States also issue voluntary identification cards for
non-drivers, and set the rules for what data is on the card and what documents
must be provided to obtain one. States also maintain databases of licensed
drivers and ID cardholders.
Driver's license implications
* The REAL ID Act's implications for driver's licenses and ID cards is detailed
in Title II of the Act. Title II of REAL ID — “Improved Security for Driver’s
License and Personal Identification Cards” — repeals the provisions of a
December 2004 law that established a cooperative state-federal process to create
federal standards for driver’s licenses and instead directly imposes
prescriptive federal driver’s license standards.
The REAL ID Act Driver's License Summary details the following provisions of the
Act's driver's license title:
* Repeal of 9/11 Commission Implementation Act DL/ID Provisions
* Minimum Standards for Federal Use
* DL/ID Document Standards
* Minimum DL/ID Issuance Standards
* Verification of Documents
* Immigration Requirements
* Security and Fraud Prevention Standards
* Data Retention and Storage
* Linking of Databases
* Grants to States
* Authority
After 2011, "a Federal agency may not accept, for any official purpose, a
driver's license or identification card issued by a state to any person unless
the state is meeting the requirements" specified in the REAL ID Act. States
remain free to also issue non-complying licenses and IDs, so long as these have
a unique design and a clear statement that they cannot be accepted for any
Federal identification purpose. The federal Transportation Security
Administration is responsible for security check-in at airports, so bearers of
non-compliant documents would no longer be able to travel on common carrier
aircraft without additional screening.
Employers would no longer be able to accept, or ultimately hire, bearers of
non-compliant documents for employment.
Financial institutions would require compliant documents from all customers.
Bearers of non-compliant documents would be denied financial or banking
services.
People born on or after December 1, 1964, will have to obtain a REAL ID by
December 1, 2014. Those born before December 1, 1964, will have until December
1, 2017 to obtain their REAL ID.
The national license/ID standards cover:
* What data must be included on the card;
* What documentation must be presented before a card can be issued; and
* How the states must share their databases.
Strictly speaking, many of these requirements are not new. They replace similar
language in Section 7212 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act
of 2004 (Pub.L. 108-458), which had not yet gone into effect before being
repealed by the Real ID Act.
Data requirements
Each card must include, at a minimum, the person's full legal name, signature,
date of birth, gender, driver's license or identification card number. It also
includes a photograph of the person's face and the address of principal
residence. It is required to have physical security features designed to prevent
tampering, counterfeiting, or duplication of the document for fraudulent
purposes. In North Carolina, these new security features include a hologram of a
map of the entire North American continent.
It will use common machine-readable technology, with defined minimum data
elements (the details of which are not spelled out, but left to the Secretary of
Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of Transportation and the
states, to regulate).
Documentation required before issuing a license or ID card
Before a card can be issued, the applicant must provide the following
documentation:
* A photo ID, or a non-photo ID that includes full legal name and birthdate.
* Documentation of birthdate.
* Documentation of legal status and Social Security number
* Documentation showing name and principal residence address.
Digital images of each identity document will be stored in each state DMV
database.
|
