Date: November 10th, 2015
RE: Will Airport Security Accept Your Driver’s License, NYT November 5th, 2015
Adult passengers 18 and over must show valid identification at the airport checkpoint in order to travel. Driver’s licenses or other state photo identity cards issued by Department of Motor Vehicles or equivalent. There’s plenty of confusion about whether your standard-issue driver’s license will get you through security checks at the airport for much longer. The Department of Homeland Security this past week denied Washington state an extension from complying with tougher federal standards — part of the 2005 federal REAL ID Act — that require proof of legal U.S. residency in order for state driver’s licenses and ID cards to be valid for federal purposes, including, eventually, boarding commercial flights. In the article, the feds offered a three-month grace period before the current temporary extension expires. The Homeland Security had granted the state an extension through October, 10. If that’s the date of starting then it ended January,10. This is happen in many states including New York in order to comply but American Samoa and Minnesota have yet to make effort to comply. The department plans to announce the schedule for any changes to air-travel requirements by the end of the year, and will ensure that state governments and the traveling public are notified in advance of implementation. Are we different from other states in how we issue our driver’s licenses? Yes. Washington and New Mexico are the only states that issue standard driver’s licenses without proof of legal residency, one of the REAL ID stipulations for state-issued ID that can be used at airports and federal facilities. But we’re by no means alone in being out of compliance with REAL ID requirements. Sermonti says some 24 states still issue driver’s licenses that are not compliant, which might mean the license doesn’t incorporate special security features, or the agencies don’t conduct required employee-background checks or any of many detailed criteria.
