ACLU: Scrap Real I.D.
Even though Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is giving states more time to comply with legislation imposing strict federal standards for state driver's licenses, the American Civil Liberties Union said the repeated delays in implementing the law show it is unfeasible and should be scrapped. Under the law, citizens from states who do not have driver's licenses that comply with REAL I.D. will be subjected to secondary screening at airports.
But with 46 of 56 states and territories indicating they will not meet a Dec. 31 deadline, the Homeland Security Department announced late Friday that it is extending the deadline for complying with the law. States will now have until May 10 to comply with the law. In a statement, a department spokesman urged Congress to "address systemic problems with the REAL I.D. Act to advance our security interests over the long term."
In a statement Saturday, the ACLU noted that many states have rejected REAL I.D., going so far as passing legislation prohibiting them from adhering to the law. "Deadline after deadline passes with no action but [Homeland Security] continues the facade that Real I.D. should be implemented despite the fact that half of our country's states have flat out refused to comply," ACLU Legislative Counsel Christopher Calabrese said. "Congress should listen to its constituents and resist pressure to advance anything resembling Real I.D. Twenty-four states have already rejected Real I.D., citing its high cost, invasiveness and the bureaucratic hassles it creates for citizens.
Both the National Governors Association and the U.S. Travel Association sent letters to the department urging a delay in implementing Real I.D. The department backs alternative legislation known as the PASS I.D. Act, which would require states to issue driver's licenses that are compliant with federal security standards by 2016 and create a $150 million grant program to help states digitize birth records.
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