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| | Issue #21.05 :: 01/30/2008 - 02/05/2008 | REAL ID Rebellion: Back Off, Big Brother
Opponents Say ID Too Costly, Doesn't Protect Against TE
| BY RON AIKEN
| Back off, Big Brother. That’s the message South Carolina and 36 other states have sent the federal government by passing or introducing legislation blocking implementation of the controversial REAL ID program.
Detailed in a law passed in 2005, the REAL ID program was crafted in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and seeks to make it more difficult for terrorists, illegal immigrants and criminals to obtain U.S. identification documents.
The program was envisioned to begin taking effect this year, but it has spurred a major backlash from civil liberties groups and state governments, which argue that it would threaten constitutional rights, impose financial burdens on taxpayers and governments and do little, if anything, to prevent terrorism.
Because of the backlash, Homeland Security has pushed back the implementation timetable to 2011.
If fully implemented, the program would require every American to get a REAL ID card and be entered into a national database. It also would require people entering federal buildings or wanting to board an airplane or open a bank account to present identification that meets certain security and authentication standards. The Department of Homeland Security has drafted the standards.
The American Civil Liberties Union says REAL ID raises privacy concerns, conflicts with American values and presents a bureaucratic train wreck.
“Real ID will mean higher taxes and fees, longer lines, repeat visits to the DMV, bureaucratic snafus, and, for a lot of people, the inability to obtain a license,” Barry Steinhardt, director of the ACLU’s Technology and Liberty Project, says in a release. “To top it off, it will do little if anything to prevent terrorism; terrorists will continue to get drivers licenses, whether legitimately or through bribery and fraud.”
The expected implementation cost, originally $14.6 billion, has been pared to $3.9 billion in an effort to assuage states concerned about it, according to the web site realnightmare.org.
South Carolina became the sixth state to pass anti-REAL ID legislation last year.
“If the federal government wants stricter ID standards, they should leave it to the states to come up with a way to implement them that works best for each individual state,” Gov. Mark Sanford said in a statement after signing the bill, which banned REAL ID implementation in South Carolina.
Last year, the U.S. Senate voted against $300 million to fund REAL ID, acknowledging the states’ strong opposition to the program. | |
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