"I haven't been this frustrated, professionally, maybe ever," the Illinois secretary of state said Monday. "Because we've done so much work to create efficiencies, and they're all being unraveled by this unprecedented demand."
Real ID is a ticking time bomb of security theater, signed into law by President George W. Bush on May 11, 2005. A law designed, basically, to keep the Sept. 11 hijackers off those planes, ex post facto, by ensuring that people given special driver's licenses really, truly are who they say they are, making them jump through documentation hoops.
"We have zero control," said Giannoulias. "We're required to scan and send this information, this crazy paperwork and documentation requirements. It's not something we put in. We have to take it. We have to put it in a scanner. It's brutal."
Years of prepping the public, begging them not to wait until the last minute, proved insufficient, and now collective lifetimes evaporate in blocklong lines as frustrated Illinoisans battle to DMV windows only to find their paperwork not in order.
"I had carefully reviewed the Real ID checklist on the website and believed I had the required documentation," wrote my neighbor, an insurance executive who often travels by air. Normally the most placid person, I bumped into her, irate, coming back from another failed attempt to get her Real ID, thwarted because she changed her name when she got married.
"The need for a marriage certificate to verify a name change should be called out more explicitly — especially as it often applies to women," she wrote in a complaint I nudged in Giannoulias' direction, prompting our conversation. "It’s an easy detail to miss, and not something people carry daily. Yet it can derail the entire process."
Nor is this a local problem. From coast to coast, DMV offices are swamped.
"This is national. It's literally chaos and mayhem around the country," said Giannoulias. "In Florida, they're sleeping in their cars, in tents, in front of the DMV. Other states are shutting down their systems."
And for what? To create reams of data that former staffers who are no longer at decimated federal bureaus won't ever look at.
"This is national. It's literally chaos and mayhem around the country," said Giannoulias. "In Florida, they're sleeping in their cars, in tents, in front of the DMV. Other states are shutting down their systems."
And for what? To create reams of data that former staffers who are no longer at decimated federal bureaus won't ever look at.
"I'm not a national security expert," said Giannoulias. "But to me, it seems an enormous waste of time and resources for this little star on your license."
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It may not make a lot of sense, but the deadline wasn't a secret. I've had a Real ID for quite a while. Why did all these people wait so long?
ReplyDeleteexactly... why wait till the last minute?
Deletepart of the reason is because the feds kept pushing back the date, unsurprisingly giving people a false sense of security. now, tsa agents have been pushing the isssue as the heavy spring break/passover/easter travel season arrived. i travel a lot, but my trip to nyc 2 weeks ago was the 1st reminder i received even though i had 4 flights in december, january and february. not a big deal for me because i have global entry and a passport. i did go to the elston avenue site after i returned from. nyc, but still didn't have all the right docs.
Deletei'm actually surprised that so mmanny. Hispics were lined up, given the fear of ice permeating everything
clearly you "both" were able to do it. good for you.
DeletePlease don't judge other people and what they have going on in their lives to successfully accomplish this.
Anyone who works multiple jobs, has children, or lives in a transportation/dmv desert struggled to get this done.
"It was easy for me" is a great way to show how detached from reality and society you are. as they kids say/used to say "sorry not sorry"
It wasn’t a secret to you. That doesn’t mean thousands of other people weren’t aware. I’m sure there are many who still are not.
DeleteWhy did people wait? One reason is that it was "signed into law by President George W. Bush on May 11, 2005" and they've postponed the deadline so many times since then. There was not a valid sense of urgency until now. In a sane administration, they'd postpone it again. In a more evidence-based, less xenophobic society, it would be canceled altogether.
DeleteI'll tell you why I don't have a Real ID. Years ago, I assembled the documentation and went to get one. I happen to have my original Social Security card, issued when I was about 5 years old, and I thought, well that's the gold standard. But, though a SS card IS one of the forms of ID accepted, I was told that mine was "too old" and I needed to get a new one! Which I did, but that took a while.
The next time my license was going to expire, it's so easy to renew online that I just decided to do that, figuring I'd go through the Real ID hassle "some other time." We don't fly much and have passports, so we don't really need one. I'm certainly not going to be getting one before May 7, given these conditions.
during the pandemic, those needing to renew their licenses were instructed NOT to pursue a Real ID at that time- were told it was best to wait until operations were 'back to normal'.
DeleteStars! Why do they symbolize so much?
DeleteIt reminds me of the Dr Seuss story, The Sneetches.
Opening lines:
"Now, the Star-belly Sneetches
had bellies with stars.
The Plain-belly Sneetches
had none upon thars.
Those stars weren't so big. They were really quite small
you might think such a thing wouldn't matter at all.
But because they had stars, all the Star-belly Sneetches
would brag, "we're the best kind of Sneetch on the beaches."
With their snoots in the air, they would sniff and they'd snort
"We'll have nothing to do with the Plain-belly sort!".
Star? To prove identity? Coming to fruition under this administration? No chill down the spine?
DeleteThis was in place years before the current administration, for all their sins.
DeleteWhat else would expect when you have a clown as president, you get a circus, but a demented, insane out of control circus train, with a lunatic moron as the engineer, heading straight into tunnel, but the tunnel only has one entrance, as they haven't finished the tunnel & the train will destroy itself, before it can stop! Plus the lunatic moron engineer, never had an training of any kind & just does everything based on how his fat gut feels that day!
ReplyDeleteAs NS & Giannoulias make clear, the key word is "immigrant." The fascist gangsters running our government are ransacking every database possible to find and terrorize them. This Real ID nonsense -- a leftover from George Bush's war on terror -- is a gift to them.
ReplyDeletePerhaps now newly-married American women will stop the ridiculous practice of dropping the name they were born with. Why not keep her name and simply add it to both partners' names? Yes, take one another's names. Problem solved, and one person's identity prior to marriage is no longer eradicated. As far as the Real ID problem goes, the issues have been there from the get go. Yes it's a royal pain, but the problems were there when I got my Real ID four years ago. It's hard to muster much sympathy for those who chose to wait till now to do something they have been telling us to do for YEARS.
ReplyDeleteI was happy to drop the name I was born with and had no wish to hyphenate. Perhaps women can continue to make their own choices in the matter.
DeleteI fail to see how your “solution” does anything but inconvenience both parties instead of one.
but if you change your name by adding another or hyphenating it, aren't you changing it? Couldn't that result in both partners in the marriage having an identity crisis at the DMV?
DeleteI should have my real id. It should have been given to me five years ago. I brought everything i needed to. turns out, one of the papers i had wasn't right. But i could have pulled it up on my phone, legally, I wasn't told until i left, with my regular id. i was so peeved.
ReplyDeleteMy license was expiring in December, so I got my Real ID then. I had the option of renewing the license online, but I wanted to get a glasses restriction removed after having cataract surgery. Luckily, my paperwork was in order and the process was smooth.
ReplyDeleteMy wife, on the other hand, wasn't as lucky. She went last month, was missing one item and was turned away, but not before the DMV worker chewed her up and spit her out. She went back a couple of weeks later with all the correct items and was treated like a human being.
Be prepared.
Had a similar experience, here in Ohio, but FOUR YEARS earlier. Ohio began pushing for its residents to get the Real ID in 2020, just at the Plague was getting worse, and locking down the state, and the rest of the country. My license expired in August, and you never know when you might need to fly on short notice. A wedding? At our age, a funeral is far more likely.
DeleteSo I got all my ducks in a row. The final duck was my birth certificate. All I had had, for 73 years, was a photostatic copy of the one issued in '47. Photostats came from the grandfather of the copy machine, and they're invalid for the Real ID. I needed a fresh and notarized copy, with the notary seal. So I eventually obtained one from Cook County, back in Illinois.
Presented all my documents. No dice, i was told. The first letter of my middle name was slightly smudged. Wouldn't pass. When I protested, the office manager became a total bitch. Looked at it under a magnifying glass and practically called me a forger and a terrorist. Worse still, I had already paid for the new license. No refund, no starred ID, no flying privileges. The entire office turned on the snark, and seemed to think I was a scammer. Was I pissed? Damn betcha.
My wife called Chicago, and a kind woman named Lucinda heard our story, waived the fee, and sent another copy. A week later, I tried again. Completed the whole process, but still had to pay a second time. They were very nice to me. And here's the sick joke: A month later, the deadline was extended into the fall of '21. And still later, into '22. And beyond. The Plague, doncha know.
Finally flew last December, four years later. My first plane trip since 2012. The whole Real ID program is a fiasco.. Has it prevented another attack? Maybe we've just been lucky up to now. And anyone who waits until the last minute should expect a hassle. Come back in June. Why the hell have so many procrastinated for so long? That is something best left to the shrinks.
I might not have bothered with the Real ID but I needed to go in to get that restriction removed anyway. I had already put that off for a year and a half.
DeleteThis is, of course, the bomb embedded in the so-called SAVE act, about to be voted on by the Senate. They keep telling us that of COURSE married women who changed their name won't have to worry, and of COURSE there will be allowances made for women who can no longer locate their marriage certificates, and of COURSE of COURSE of COURSE. I called both my senators, one of whom is allegedly waffling on whether to oppose the SAVE act, and told him don't you dare.
ReplyDeleteTold my daughter, do not change your name at the Soc.Sec. office when you marry. No need for it.
ReplyDeleteIt's worse than a marriage license. Women may need a divorce decree as well if a name change is reflected there. A glimpse of how many women won't be able to vote if the SAVE Act passes.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to "valid U.S. passport, military ID or Global Entry" (as shown on the Secretary of State's poster), there are many more forms of ID which are accepted by TSA.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/identification
Including:
U.S. passport card
Permanent resident card
Border crossing card
Foreign government-issued passport
USCIS Employment Authorization Card
Veteran Health Identification Card (VHIC)
I use a US passport card. It was easy to obtain.
Given that a passport is sufficient for air travel, I am mystified why any documentation beyond a passport is needed to get a Real ID.
ReplyDeleteA passport is large expense for people on fixed incomes. I know seniors who have zero extra money for extraordinary expenses. They will be unable to vote in the future. God Bless 'Murica.
ReplyDeleteYou can vote with a regular ID. Where does it say you cannot?
DeleteIf you pay attention and keep up on this administration's efforts to turn the US into a dictatorship, you tend to notice little things like this:
Delete"House passes Republican bill requiring voters provide proof of U.S. citizenship"
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/house-passes-republican-bill-requiring-voters-provide-proof-of-u-s-citizenship
Here's a question I cannot find an answer to: What constitutes a federal facility? Does it include a post office? The local Social Security office? How about if I'm summoned to jury duty in a federal court? Will I be required to have a Real ID to enter? I don't need real ID to travel domestically, and don't need to renew my passport for international travel; congestive heart failure and sciatica have ended my globetrotting after decades of travel. But dammit, what if I just want to mail my rent inside the post office instead of using a mailbox, where thieves could steal my check and then checkwash it! Someone here must have an answer. Many thanks in advance.
ReplyDeleteI was astounded when I found out my adult daughter didn't her real ID! Here's why she waited: Her license is up for renewal in September of 2025. (on her birth date). If she paid for a "real license" now, in September she' d have to pay again for the renewal of that "real license". She'd be paying twice. And since she's still paying off student loans in spite of Biden's help, she's frugal. In the meantime she has a passport to prove her identity.
ReplyDeletegood point! The cost of a drivers license is considerable. it makes sense to wait til it needs to renew. I am wondering, though, what will happen once we've all gotten on board with the stars - scary to think about, actually.
DeleteIf you are within 6 months of your renewal date, you can renew your license. No need to wait until your birthday.
ReplyDeleteDrivers license is $20.00
ReplyDeleteA passport is $165 that's quite a bit more than a driver's license but I have never been out of the country but once back in the 90s I went to Canada for the day hardly felt like I left America he didn't need a passport at the time brought my kid no ID no birth certificate I didn't want to go both ways they just said maybe you should get something for your kid so we got them both passports
ReplyDeleteJill A nailed it with "The Sneetches"
ReplyDelete